The elections of the Rt. Rev. Sean Rowe as the next presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, and the reelection of Julia Ayala Harris were perhaps the biggest news events emerging from the 81^st General Convention, which ended on June 30 in Louisville, but Bishop Nicholas Knisely and the diocese’s deputies say that only begins to cover the good news coming from the convention.

For Deputy Olive Swinski, the highlight of convention was being able to participate in the Under 40 Caucus, a group of dozens of young deputies that emerged both as a political force and a supportive community. “At times it can be lonely being the youngest person in a room, so it was inspiring and life giving to be in a space with other young people who care about the governance and structure of the Episcopal Church,” she says.

For Deputy Scott Avedisian, one of the high points of the 81^st General Convention, which ended on June 30 in Louisville, actually began when the convention met in Austin six years ago.

At that meeting, the Episcopal Church boisterously welcomed the Diocese of Cuba back into its ranks. But due to challenges created by the COVID pandemic, the Cuban deputation couldn’t attend the 80^th General Convention in Baltimore, so the gathering in Louisville was the first post-reunion opportunity for the Cuban diocese to participate as full members of the convention from start to finish.

Avedisian’s other convention highlights also centered on the theme of coming together, and included the juncture of the Dioceses of Eastern and Western Michigan, which created the Episcopal Diocese of the Great Lakes, and the designation of Navajoland as a missionary diocese.

Those two events, along with the reunion on the Dioceses of Eau Claire, Fond du Lac and Milwaukee into the new Diocese of Wisconsin, were greeted with outpourings of enthusiasm at convention.

Deputy Dante Tavolaro, rector of St. Thomas Church, Greenville, made his mark on convention by proposing a successful amendment to the resolution establishing the group of four cities from which the site of the 2030 General Convention would be chosen. His amendment rose out of a widely shared concern that the safety of LGBTQ+ people, people of color and those who might be pregnant be taken into consideration in choosing a site for the convention.

Tavolaro’s amendment did not alter the existing group of finalists: Kansas City, Missouri; Minneapolis; Pittsburgh; Portland, Oregon; and San Juan, Puerto Rico. But it requires that the church’s Joint Standing Committee on Planning Arrangements and the Office of the General Convention to “take into consideration the legal protections and safeguards for vulnerable members of our community attending General Convention,” and it requires the two bodies to “prayerfully and seriously consider current rates of violence against the LGBTQ+ Community and Communities of Color when selecting potential host sites for General Convention.”

“I’m proud of what our deputation did and how hard they all worked,” Bishop Knisely said.

The convention was surprisingly effective, Knisely said.

“It’s hard to keep track of what’s happening in the rush of the daily schedule, but when I step back and look at all that was accomplished, it’s pretty impressive and right up there with some of the other consequential conventions I’ve attended,” he said.

The “big take-away” though, was not what did happen, but what didn’t, the bishop said.

“We went into the convention with real concerns that the level of conflict between passionate advocates for issues around the election of the officers of convention, around questions of Israel and Palestine, for Prayer Book reform and for fairness in the disciplinary process for clergy was going to derail the conversation in multiple ways. But that didn’t happen,” he said.

“What did happen was thoughtful, careful compromise between people across the church. That, to my mind, is Anglican via media at its very best.”

The people of Iglesia Episcopal San Jorge have left their cherished building behind, for the time being, at least, and that has allowed them to focus their energies on being a church. 

The primarily Spanish-speaking congregation that once met in an imposing and historic stone structure in Central Falls now gathers about a mile away on Sunday mornings at St. Luke’s, Pawtucket. So far, the change has done them good. 

“The congregation was experiencing a real burden dealing with the physical and financial costs of maintaining a historic building that was in poor shape,” says the Rev. Jack Lynch, the diocese’s Hispanic missioner who serves as the parish’s priest. “The move has allowed us to rethink how we are doing things, and to reach out to partner in the community, to reach out and do more mission. It has given us a new sense of direction and new ways forward.”  

San Jorge’s story, in some ways, is the story of its neighborhood’s transformation, Lynch says. Central Falls was once a posh address, and St. George’s Episcopal Church was a prominent pulpit. Founded in the mid-19th century by a clergyman whose grandson — James DeWolf Perry — would one day become the bishop of Rhode Island and presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, its programs were so prestigious that people came from the tall steeple churches in New York and Philadelphia to participate in them.  

Today parishioners and their neighbors speak mostly Spanish, and come from “all walks of society,” Lynch says. He ticks off a few demographic categories including small business owners, asylees, veterans and retirees. At one point before the pandemic, the church included 14 nationalities, but most members of the current congregation trace their lineage to Guatemala, Colombia, Ecuador, Honduras, the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico.   

The parish was diverse, and representative of the neighborhood, but it was not rich. During his eight years at San Jorge, Lynch came to understand that the parish’s “gorgeous church that will stand for a thousand years” was a burden the congregation could not sustain.   

“We have a beautiful building that is in such need of care and maintenance that it was soaking up too much energy, and too much of our financial resources,” he says. “And that was making it difficult and unsafe to do our ministry there.”  

The diocese, which was already paying much of Lynch’s salary, offered what resources and guidance it could, eventually helping the parish come to terms with its need to move.   

“It’s encouraging to the parish leadership to know that the diocese did not leave us without help,” Lynch says. “It’s been encouraging to know that we have the bishop’s support and the support of the wider diocese as we try to serve the community we are committed to serve.”  

Fortunately, although the congregation was leaving its building, San Jorge was not leaving its community, Lynch says. St. Luke’s, which was willing to provide a home, was only a few stops away on the same bus route.  

Life has been different for the congregation since it began holding services at St. Luke’s on the first Sunday of Advent. “We are now free to focus more on discipleship and the work of the church and pastoral care,” Lynch says. The church is now hosting a weekly Bible study and a monthly healing service.  “We are looking at what can we do as a church to take care of each other and hoping we can branch out and bring in new people now that we are in a new neighborhood,” Lynch says.   

“We’ve been resilient,” says Judith Carreño, the clerk of the vestry. “We believe this is a good change. We miss the building and we miss our space, but we feel this is a good opportunity for us.  

“I think we need to spread God’s word and I think the place we are now, we have more space, we can do more.”  

The parish is also experiencing a bit of growth. Its Sunday attendance previously hovered around 70, but on three consecutive Sundays this spring, the congregation numbered more than 100.   

On a recent Sunday, the parish celebrated the Feast of St. George, and Bishop Knisely was on hand to preside at the Eucharist and pledge the diocese’s support to San Jorge as it finds its way forward. He told the congregation that the diocese has no plans to sell the building, but cannot currently afford to pay for all of the repairs that would be required for the church to be habitable again.  

In the meantime, San Jorge is growing where it has been replanted.  

“This is a time for us to give,” Carreño says. 

On March 16 from 9 a.m. to noon, the Rev. Maggi Dawn — an English theologian, professor, and author — will lead a retreat for clergy at St. Columba’s, Middletown. Through small groups, worship installations, and quiet time, participants will explore biblical stories of wilderness, including Jesus’ 40 days in the wilderness and stories about Elijah, Noah and Moses. Clergy can register online.

“Marcel Proust wrote that when we read someone else’s story, we are really reading about ourselves,” Dawn writes. “And all of these biblical wilderness stories act as a lens to read our own lives—our encounter with God, discerning and developing our vocations, how to deal with doubts and regrets, and how to handle life and ministry when God seems far away.”

The retreat will also mark a milestone for Dawn, who has been a Church of England priest for 24 years. During the day in Middletown, she will sign the Oath of Conformity required by Article VIII of the Episcopal Church’s Constitution and become a priest of the Diocese of Rhode Island. Bishop Knisely has named her diocesan theologian of the diocese.

Dawn’s relationship with the Diocese of Rhode Island began when she was associate professor of theology and literature and associate dean of Marquand Chapel at Yale Divinity School from 2011 to 2019. During the pandemic, former students invited her to preach, lead bible studies, and even attend online coffee hours.

“Parishes here were trying out creative ways to keep their worship lively during the pandemic, and although online worship had its limits, one of the unique features was the way it linked people up across the miles,” she said. Once lockdown restrictions eased, Dawn served as resident theologian at Emmanuel Church, Newport.

Having served both at Yale and as principal of St Mary’s College at the University of Durham, England, where she remains a professor in the Department of Theology and Religion, Dawn recognizes distinct strengths in the Church of England and the Episcopal Church.

“The Church of England does certain things beautifully — they are renowned for tradition and ritual, and the choral tradition, for instance,” she says. “One of the most fascinating posts I held was as the chaplain of King’s College, Cambridge, where I learned more about Christmas than I knew possible!

“On the other hand, the Episcopal Church has far more readily found its way to making substantial changes that the Church of England still struggles to reconcile. It’s far easier, for instance, for a woman to have a priestly ministry in the United States. The Church of England ordained women 30 years ago this year, but there are still various provisos in place to ensure that there are parishes that can refuse a woman in Holy Orders. One of the things I enjoy in the States is that I never have to waste any energy justifying my existence, and I can simply get on with the work God has called me to do.”

As diocesan theologian, Dawn will teach, preach and lead occasional programs for laypeople and clergy. “I am so delighted to have been welcomed by the Diocese of Rhode Island into a whole new chapter of ministry!” she says. “It is such a pleasure to have begun working with the clergy, staff, and congregations of the diocese. So far it has been a journey of relationship-building, and I am looking forward to developing this further.”