From the Rector: Generational Plan, General Convention

Dear friends,

As I announced last Sunday, at its June meeting last week our vestry officially voted to adopt our Generational Campus Plan. This is a great milestone for us! For the past two years we have been engaged in a congregation-wide process, first to distill our initial hopes and dreams for our campus, then to work through them with a professional team. The document the vestry approved last week is the writeup by our architects at Siegel & Strain of what was also presented at our fourth and final congregational workshop on April 21.

We'll be making hard copies of these available soon. In the meantime, you're invited to download and read the complete Generational Plan at the link below:

Imagine Incarnation: Incarnation's Generational Campus Plan

As I wrote in the intro to the document, "A church, of course, is not a building. A church is God’s people. Buildings and grounds are just one small part of who we are as a faith community. If our whole campus vanished tomorrow and we had to meet in homes or storefronts, we would be every bit as much the Body of Christ. Yet our buildings and grounds also matter, because they are tools God can use for mission, and they are visible signs of our faith and the faith of those before us. We at Incarnation are grateful for the work of our congregation, our vestry, our Generational Plan Task Force, and our team of architecture professionals in developing this plan. It seeks to be comprehensive enough to be a reliable guide for the next 30 to 50 years, while being flexible enough for future vestries of Incarnation to adapt its principles to future conditions."

Meanwhile, this past week was also the Episcopal Church's 81st General Convention. Deputies (lay and ordained leaders elected by every diocese) and bishops gathered in Louisville, Kentucky, for six days of worship, fellowship, learning, and conducting the business of the church. There was quite a bit of that, including:

• Electing our next Presiding Bishop, Sean Rowe, and giving thanks for the past nine years of leadership of Presiding Bishop Michael Curry;
• Amending the Church's constitution to clarify how new liturgies can be authorized either as part of the Prayer Book or as supplements to it;
• Working toward closer communion with the United Methodist Church and other denominational partners;
• Passing a resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and advocating an independent Palestinian state alongside the state of Israel;

And more, some of which you can read about in the piece below by Amy Nykamp, who served as a deputy from our diocese. Next week we'll hear some more reflections from Miriam Casey, who served as an alternate. You can also read Episcopal News Service's writeup of General Convention.

I'm praying for all who are out in the heat this week, for all celebrating Independence Day, and for the well-being of this nation and every nation. See you Sunday.

In Christ's peace,

Stephen