October 20, 2008
By Matthew Davies

WATERLOO, Belgium – Sharing powerful accounts of their churches' histories, turning points and hopes for the future, Episcopalians from the Convocation of American Churches in Europe explored a new model for their annual convention this year and left feeling renewed, energized and inspired by one another's stories.

The convention program, "Telling our Story, Building God's Mission in Europe," was described as "transforming" by delegates meeting at the new home of All Saints' Church in Waterloo, Belgium – eight miles south of Brussels and moments from the site where Napoleon Bonaparte and his French troops were defeated in the famous battle of 1815.

The convocation welcomed Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, and her husband Richard Schori, to hear some of its stories and share in the October 16-19 convention.

"When we connect the stories that we know with great faith stories, we are doing the work of the gospel," Jefferts Schori told the delegates. "We are telling the world and each other how we know God. I give thanks to you and celebrate what is going on here."

The Rev. Kempton Baldridge, rector of All Saints, said in his sermon at the opening Eucharist that "God is writing a story and he's using us to do it. Telling our story and telling God's story is important, but no more than telling our story in relation to God's story."

Using the new model, delegates met in seven breakaway groups of around 15, and members from each parish and mission shared stories about their history (beginnings), a specific event or era that was transforming (turning points), and ministry going forward (exciting futures).

Rich diversity of cultures

As a jurisdiction of Episcopal parishes, missions, and specialized ministries serving in six countries of Europe, the convocation is arguably the most culturally diverse group of churches in the Episcopal Church.

For 149 years, the convocation has ministered to Americans and other English-speaking people in Europe, and more recently, in other languages as well. Its 4,000 members – many of whom are American expatriates – now represent a rich mixture of nationalities and religious backgrounds in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy and Switzerland. Recently a house church in Almaty, Kazakhstan, dissolved as its Episcopal members were reassigned.

"The way of being Christian that is being an Episcopalian is very old, but it's also very adaptable," the Rt. Rev. Pierre Whalon, bishop-in-charge of the convocation since 2001, told ENS.

The Presiding Bishop – who officially exercises jurisdictional authority over the convocation, but by canon law delegates this responsibility to the bishop-in-charge – preached at the October 19 closing Eucharist.

"[S]torytelling is about identity and how that identity is being lived out in mission … directly related to seeing God passing by or discovering where God is already at work," said Jefferts Schori, whose attendance marked only the second time in history that a Presiding Bishop has been a guest to the convocation's convention. "You're recognizing evidence of God at work in the ways that you image God to each other." [Full text available at http://www.episcopalchurch.org/documents/10-20_PBsermonEurope.pdf.]

New model of formation

The convention's new storytelling model is based on the Transformed by Stories (TBS) program currently being developed by the European Institute of Christian Studies (EICS), the education department of the convocation, as "an attempt to approach formation differently," said Felicity Handford, EICS chairman. "The wonderful thing about stories is that you can go to places that you wouldn't ever dream of."

The program, made possible in part through financial support from the Episcopal Church's Office of Ministry Development and a Constable Fund grant, works as a three-part series: telling God's story as my story; telling my story as God's story; and telling our story as God's story.

Describing the initiative as a good way to share and build up community," the Rev. Bill Franklin, a member of the TBS development team and associate director for external affairs at the American Academy in Rome, said, "At this convention we are telling stories that define who we are as a people in Europe at a pivotal moment in the history of the Episcopal Church."

Some delegates described the story of the convocation as dynamic and representing the Episcopal Church at its best, on its mission frontier in Europe. The TBS storytelling format, they say, allows them to tell the convocation story in an interesting and innovative fashion.

But the program won't just be limited to the convocation, since it's currently being developed as an official curriculum of the Episcopal Church. "It has the great benefit of working anywhere in the world, in any language, as well as across cultures," said Whalon in an October 16 pastoral letter written to all members of the convocation.

With two parts of the program already completed in earlier events, TBS's development will culminate with a third and final event to be held in Nice, southern France in January 2009, and led by Whalon and Archbishop of York John Sentamu.

The storytelling at convention "worked beyond any of our expectations," said Handford. "The stimulating conversations, the stories that have been swapped, the remarkable connections that have been made are astonishing and what's really pleasing is that, without building in a lot of spirituality, what came out were really strong spiritual stories … The convocation has been really strengthened by it."

In addition to telling their stories, all nine parishes and six missions of the convocation displayed photos around the church, portraying aspects of ministry in their varying contexts.

"The experience of being the convocation, with dozens of nationalities represented and several languages spoken, has some lessons to offer other Anglicans, beginning with Episcopalians in the United States, even as we ourselves have so much more to learn," said Whalon in his pastoral letter, which included reflections on this summer's 2008 Lambeth Conference of bishops and an overview of the life and mission of the group of churches he leads in Europe.

"What we have learned in the convocation's life is that not participating in a larger common life of churches leads only to isolation and a false sense of being the only ‘real' Episcopalians," he said. "Alternatively, as we have wrestled with the need to harmonize the policies and procedures of our common life, we have seen the need to take time to fully understand the circumstances of each congregation, in their differing contexts, before setting forth common rules of life."

For Christ Church in Clermont-Ferrand, founded in 1996, the convention was cause for much celebration as it was formally welcomed as the ninth parish in the convocation following four years of financial independence under the leadership of a full-time Episcopal priest, the Rev. Luk de Volder.

A former Roman Catholic priest, Volder said he believes that the Episcopal Church is on the cutting edge of what it means to be a church. "We are contributing something to Christianity that no other church is doing through the theology of inclusiveness."

The Church of England's Diocese of Gibraltar in Europe was represented at the convention by the Rev. Robert Innes, chaplain of Holy Trinity in Brussels, and John Hall, a layperson who serves on the diocesan synod. The convocation also welcomed Bishop of Haarlem Dirk Jan Schoon of the Old Catholic Churches of the Union of Utrecht, with which the Episcopal Church shares a full-communion relationship.

During the closing Eucharist, the Canterbury Cross – a gift from Canterbury Cathedral to mark the 1,400th anniversary of St. Augustine's arrival in Canterbury in AD 597 – was passed on to the delegation from Emmanuel Church in Geneva, hosts of the convocation's next convention October 15-18, 2009.

A symbol of pilgrimage, the Canterbury Cross was specially made for the convocation in 1997 from medieval timber removed from the tower at Canterbury Cathedral. It continues the pilgrimage each year by being delivered to the congregation that will host the next annual convention.

Also at the closing Eucharist, children from Sunday schools throughout the convocation presented the Presiding Bishop with a stole they had made and a book of biblical stories about heroines and saints of God.

Convocation calls for name change

In business sessions, the convention resolved to change its name to the Convocation of Episcopal Churches in Europe, since there are other American churches in Europe and the Episcopal Church is multicultural and multinational and no longer considers itself solely American. For the name change to take effect, two successive General Conventions would need to concur with resolutions submitted by the convocation that propose a change to the Episcopal Church's Constitutions and Canons.

Throughout the convention, much reference was made to the success of Mission 2006, a strategic plan adopted in October 2006 to tap the resources of the convocation and the Episcopal Church, "to meet those needs of our congregations that they cannot meet for themselves."

In other business, a revised set of Child Protection Guidelines was adopted for the church. Handford, who presented the guidelines to convention, noted that they are offered as general procedures but should be adapted as appropriate for each country and parish, depending on local laws and circumstances.

Concerning the upcoming presidential election in the U.S., Whalon urged all Americans in the convocation to ensure that they have arranged absentee ballots and told them it is their duty as Christians to vote. "This election is so important that it is imperative we have a good turn out at this pivotal moment in time," he said, noting that France achieved an 85% turnout for its last general election. "It's about time we had the same percentage in America."

The convention heard several reports, including a presentation on the vitality of young adult ministry throughout the convocation, which for the first time sent a delegation to the triennial Episcopal Youth Event that met in Texas in July.

Alison Marker, one of the eight EYE participants from Europe, said the experience "made me more enthusiastic than ever to be an Episcopalian. It was a life changing experience and reaffirming of my faith."

In 2008, the convocation also held a Youth Across Europe event in Rome, titled "Hungry for Christ," during which participants had the opportunity to work at the Joel Nafuma Refugee Center at St. Paul's Within the Walls Episcopal church, the first non-Roman Catholic church to be built inside the walls of Rome.

Several future events and mission trips are being planned and online social networking is helping Europe's youth and young adults stay connected.

Passport Europe, an event planned for the summer of 2010, hopes to bring several young people from the U.S. to the convocation "to learn about our customs and traditions, learn about our parishes and European spirituality, and to find out what the Episcopal Church is doing outside the U.S.," said Phil Trumper, youth minister at Emmanuel Church in Geneva.

The convention resolved that the Youth Across Europe Commission become a separate commission in its own right rather than existing under the umbrella of the Commission on the Ministry of the Baptized. The renamed Youth Commission will have the responsibility for maintaining ministry with young people as a mission priority of the convocation.

Convocation resolves to continue sharing stories

In other resolutions, the convention:

• encouraged youth groups to respond to their experiences at the "Hungry for Christ" event by reporting back to parishes and becoming actively involved in hands-on outreach;

• called for its statistics from congregations to be included in the report to the 77th General Convention after three successive General Conventions failed to include this information;

• urged parishes and organized missions to increase their assessment to the convocation from 7% of net disposable income to 7.5% in 2009 and 8% in 2011;

• approved a 2009 operating budget of E490,628 (US$655,288) for the convocation.

• agreed that, at future conventions, delegates would continue to share stories and each mission and parish should present one story from their lives during the past year; and

• committed to telling the convocation's stories of outreach and work supporting the Millennium Development Goals through its website.

The Episcopal Church, at its General Convention in 2006, adopted the MDGs as a mission priority. Whalon noted that the convocation adopted the MDGs in 2003 and has continued to support them ever since.

Prior to the convention, Jefferts Schori met with Stefano Manservisi, director general for development at the European Union Commission, to discuss opportunities for collaboration, with particular focus on the MDGs. "I am delighted with the constructive and concrete nature of this first dialogue," Jefferts Schori said, "and look forward to a follow-up meeting with the EU representation in the Caribbean when visiting Haiti later this year."

In her closing sermon, the Presiding Bishop lauded the beginnings of a welcome center – part of All Saints' ministry – that will provide support and care for military personnel. "This congregation is in the early stages of offering a divine homecoming and rest to some of the most stressed people around us," she said.

Summing up her experiences of the convocation, Jefferts Schori said, "What I've heard more and more through these days is that you have a conscious and intentional community built around discovering the image of God in the midst of you."

And the Presiding Bishop had one final message for the convocation: "The energy you have for mission can change the whole church, not just the church in Europe."

Episcopal News Service
Matthew Davies is editor of Episcopal Life Online and Episcopal Life Media correspondent for the Anglican Communion.