The 156th Diocesan Convention took place on October 18, 2024 from 4:00 – 8:00 PM on Zoom & October 19, 2024 from 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM at Saints Peter and John in Auburn, NY and online on Zoom.
About the 156th Convention
Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the lands!
Serve the Lord with gladness!
Come into his presence with singing!
Know that the Lord is God!
It is he that made us, and we are his;
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
and his courts with praise!
Give thanks to him, bless his name!
For the Lord is good;
his steadfast love endures for ever,
and his faithfulness to all generations.
Inspired by Psalm 100, “A Joyful Noise” is the theme for this year’s diocesan convention, where we come together as a community to celebrate and give thanks for the boundless love and grace of God. In a spirit of unity and joy, we will lift our voices in praise, acknowledging the Lord’s enduring faithfulness and steadfast love. We recognize together that the joy of the Lord can be found in all we do: from our worship and prayer, to care for the earth, to striving for justice and acceptance for all God’s beloved and beautiful children. This convention will be a time to rejoice, serve with gladness, and reflect on the blessings that enrich our lives and our diocese. Join us in making a joyful noise unto the Lord, embracing the joyous spirit that Psalm 100 so beautifully embodies.
The Rev. Kelly Brown Douglas, Ph.D. From 2017 to 2023, she was Dean of the Episcopal Divinity School at Union Theological Seminary and Professor of Theology. She was named the Bill and Judith Moyers Chair in Theology at Union in November 2019 where she is now Dean emeritus. She served as interim Dean of the Episcopal Divinity School from 2023-2024. During the 2023 fall term, she served as Honorary Professor of Global Theology at Emmanuel Theological College in Liverpool, England.
Ordained as an Episcopal Priest in 1983, she currently serves as the Canon Theologian at the Washington National Cathedral and Anglican Communion Canon at Newcastle Cathedral in Newcastle, England.
Prior to EDS@Union, Douglas served as Professor of Religion at Goucher College where she held the Susan D. Morgan Professorship of Religion and is now Professor Emeritus. Before Goucher, she was Associate Professor of Theology at Howard University School of Divinity (1987-2001) and Assistant Professor of Religion at Edward Waters College (1986-1987). Douglas holds a master’s degree in theology and a Ph.D. in systematic theology from Union.
Douglas is the author of many articles and several books including the 2023 Grawemeyer Award winning book, Resurrection Hope: A Future Where Black Lives Matter. Her academic work has focused on womanist theology, racial justice issues as well as sexuality and the Black church. Her current research interest involves expanding the moral imaginary in fostering a more just future.
Douglas proudly serves on the New York City Homeless Coalition Board and the Public Religion and Research Institute Board.
Resolutions: Resolutions are the legislative instruments used to request that Diocesan Convention take some form of action, whether it’s changing our Canons or requesting the Diocese to support a specific group or cause. The deadline to submit was September 11, 2024.
Click here to view the resolutions submitted for the 156th Convention before the deadline
All Resolutions submitted to the Diocesan Convention were passed.
In-Memorium:
The Rt. Rev. David B. Joslin
The Rev. Richard Strauss
The Rev. Ralph Groskoph (LTO)
The Rev. John Rohde
Deb Youngling from St. John’s, Ithaca
Carolyn Grieb from St. Paul’s, Syracuse
John Philip Jones from St. Paul’s Syracuse
Neva Pilgrim from St. Paul’s Syracuse
William Moll from St. James’ Clinton
Harold Bossard from Emmanuel, Elmira
Ernestine Long from St. Mark the Evangelist, Syracuse
Hannah McClennen from St. Thomas’, Hamilton
Nancy Schmitt from St. Thomas’, Hamilton
Dick Chrisfield, from St. Luke’s, Camillus
Mary Anne Hutchinson from Grace, Utica
Ann Moore from Trinity, Fayetteville
Ed Hoffman from St. Paul’s, Chittenango
Election Results: Election Results from the 156th Diocesan Convention
For the Diocesan Board:
The Rev. Jon White
For the Standing Committee:
The Rev. K. Holly Eden
The Rev. Deacon Kay Drebert
Ms. Kathy Lasicki
For the Disciplinary Board:
The Rev. Christine Williams Belt
The Rev. Deacon Lynne Walton
Mr. Charles Zelows
Dr. Kimberly Brown
Bishop’s Appointments 2024 at the 156th Convention:
The Diocesan Board
Ms. Ceril Sandstrom
Foundation for the Episcopal Church at Cornell (FECC):
Ms. Sonja Sandstrom
Foundation for the Episcopal Diocese of CNY:
Mr. Michael Hardin
Mr. Don Adamowsky
Commission on Ministry:
Mr. Lloyd Hall
The Very Rev. Rebecca Roberts
Mr. Charles Abraham
The Rev. Shelly Banner
The Rev. Toppie Bates
The Rev. Christine Williams-Belt, Secretary
Ms. Ruthie Koerts
The Rev. Dcn. Dr. Charles Stewart
Ms. Cindy Adamowsky
Ms. Karen Anderson
The Rev. Dr. Rebecca Drebert*
The Rev. Richard Schaal*
The Rev. Taylor Daynes*
Dr. Bambi Carkey*
Ms. Renee Dallimore*
Ms. Kathy Finch*
*Denotes new appointments in 2024
Videos from the 156th Convention
Well, it continues to be a delight to serve as your bishop. And this past year has seen many changes and many challenges. And we’ve been through a lot, but we’ve also been emboldened in our ministry. We’ve done some really amazing things this last year. When you think that a year ago, we concluded our Diocesan Convention with a celebration of joy at Grace Utica, some of many of us on online, but a lot of us on-site as well. We gathered for the first time in a large group to celebrate convention. And now in this post-pandemic world, as we began to move into new things, we continue this multiple way of gathering, both as an opportunity to be greener with less people driving, lowering our carbon footprint, but also being more inclusive to those who cannot make it or drive, that we have options for all of us to be included here. So our celebration of joy last year, we had Presiding Bishop Michael Curry with us, speaking to us. We also had Bishop Doug Lucia of the Roman Catholic Church and Bishop Lee Miller of the Lutheran Synod, who took part in our Celebration of Joy. And we talked about many things at that celebration, most of which revolved around the way in which joy meets us after sorrow, the way in which we are called to repentance and we are called to be part of what God is doing. We talked about refuting the Doctrine of Discovery and truth was spoken and shared. We talked about ways in which our diocese gathers and supports one another, especially in these trying times. And we also celebrated the many ways that God has blessed our diocese with the strength and resiliency of our parishes and that we continue to serve Jesus. We continue to work for, seek a world healed by love, and we continue to live into our mission, really our mission statement of learning to love God, one another and all God’s creation. And this year saw some challenging times. And so we gathered again, for a substance use disorder workshop, where we learn more about what it is to be well, what it is to care for ourselves and our parishes, and how together we work for not only the sobriety, but the health of one another and all who gather in our spaces. And again, a gathering in which we share truth and a gathering in which we pray together, a gathering in which we supported one another.
This past year, I began to have a podcast. We tried new things. We had a summer series. We had lunch and learns during the summer, and if you’ve not seen those, I hope that you’ll go to our website and click through to our YouTube channel and watch the recordings of those. Sharing, the sharing of information. And together, we also continue to live into our Rule of Life. We prayed together. We listened. We connected. We spoke words of our faith, and we shared our faith and we continue to respond to God’s goodness. We planted gardens, we’ve taken new steps, we’ve been adaptive. Some of our parishes are seeing new growth, new understandings, and so just like those plants we planted in the gardens, we too are coming to life. And it’s an exciting time in our diocese and yes, it continues to be a challenging time.
Christian nationalism is something we’re talking about a lot these days because it’s something that impacts us a lot. Our gospel of Jesus Christ is something we proclaim as people who are devoted to God. It’s something that comes from our faith, something we live together with earnestness. And so this coming year, we have much to look forward to. We have been talking a lot about how we live our faith out loud, how we work together, what it is God is calling us to do in this time, and one of the things that really became clear as we’ve looked at this is our real need to rediscover what it is that we’re about. Now that pandemic and closed buildings and now that we can come back together on-site and online and we have these new adaptive ways of gathering and being, how might God be calling us as a diocese to live more fully into our calling to love God and love one another? And so to rediscover our faith means that we focus on those core values of our faith. This year, we’re going to start Learning Communities Initiative again, something that was so successful before, and this time with a different little bit of a twist, that we rediscover our faith by coming together in communities, and Canon Megan will talk about those more in just a bit.
We also will continue to engage with our world, a world that is hurting, a world that is trying to understand itself, and a world that we too are trying to understand. We need each other now as much, if not more than ever to be a shelter in a time, to be able to understand that it is not our agreement that joins us together, but the love of God, that it is not how much you and I can agree about political or partisan things, but how we can act socially to make sure that all people are loved, all beloved people of God. And in this new year, we have new dreams to dream. Some of our churches are growing and are trying new things. Some of our churches continue to be challenged by population downturns or broken relationships. So my prayer for us this year is that we’ll also rediscover the connections we have as a diocese. I’m looking forward to having more opportunities for us to gather on site at different places around the diocese, to continue to utilize our gathering spaces that we formed during pandemic, but now can serve as hubs and places for us to gather as we continue our ministry together. There is much for us to do, and there is much hope in our diocese, and I’m so excited this year to be rediscovering with you how God continues to call us, continues to embolden us to be people of faith in this time. We have much to share with our neighbors. And so together we will indeed rediscover our faith and share our faith with those around us. I am deeply grateful to each of you for taking part in today. It is wonderful to see you gathered online and it is wonderful to have this time together.
May God continue to guide us and lead us as we rediscover our faith in this coming year and as we work together to share the love of Jesus with our hurting world. God’s blessings be with you and one another, and I’ll see you soon.
