Author’s Note: The following report was prepared to share the work of the 2017 PNW Annual Conference across the connection. It is also hoped that this summary will be helpful to PNW lay and clergy members seeking to report what was accomplished at Annual Conference this year. Links are provided throughout for more thorough coverage.
Photos – Numerous photos can be found here: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4
Videos – Click here for a playlist/streaming archive on YouTube.
June 14-17, 2017, Portland, Oregon
The 144th session of the Pacific Northwest Annual Conference took place at the Red Lion on the River – Jantzen Beach in Portland, Oregon, June 14-17, 2017. Bishop Elaine JW Stanovsky of the Greater Northwest Episcopal Area was the officiating bishop.
This was the first time in recent memory that an annual conference session was held outside of the conference bounds, though admittedly the location in Portland, Oregon was just minutes from the border of Washington state. The setting was practical as the venue was shared with the Oregon-Idaho Conference. Significant efforts were made throughout the planning, and during the actual session, to share resources and time between the two conferences while allowing for each to do necessary business separately. A delegation from the Alaska Conference was also present and contributed to the shared work of the body.
Significant Messages
Worship was an essential part of the conference session and one of the elements we were blessed to share with Oregon-Idaho. After a welcome from Native American tribal members, the conference began with an Installation Service for Bishop Elaine Stanovsky. During the service the Bishop offered an Episcopal Address where she introduced the theme of the conference, “Do This and You Will Live.” Much of her sermon ruminated over the purpose of the Church, our calling to be life bringers, and the need to forge new ways of being. “We declined because we kept doing what we knew how to do,” Bishop Stanovsky said. “We lived that cycle. Now it’s a new season. We can take the treasures from the past with new possibilities of the future.”
The Rev. Shalom Agtarap offered the message at the Memorial Worship. Her sermon, “Rivers of Life” was based on the scripture passages of Isaiah 44:1-5 and John 7:37-39. Throughout her message, and during the rest of the service, water was used as a symbol of life. Rev. Agtarap asked, “What places do we need to be delivered from and ushered into the presence of living water? What brings heartbreak and sorrow today?” These questions and others resonated in a context both reflective and socially aware.
At the Ordination and Commissioning Service, the Rev. Jeremy Smith delivered a sermon entitled “Can’t Stop the Beat” based on Deuteronomy 6:4-9. His message was often humorous but the light touch was balanced with one that took seriously the matter of commissioning and ordination; climbing was utilized as an overarching metaphor. “We lift each other up when we stumble, we spur each other on when we succeed,” Rev. Smith preached. “We push each other so that when we fall, we fall forward up the mountain together.”
During the final PNW plenary session, the Rev. Elizabeth Schindler offered a reflection on the installation of the Greater Northwest Area’s first female bishop. She was moved that her daughter “will never wonder whether God could possibly call her into ministry, whether God could possibly have her do the work of mothering and pastoring at the same time, whether she could be a “successful” leader in the church, even without a booming baritone voice.”
Shared Highlights
Shared planning teams led by conference lay leaders Nancy Tam Davis (PNW) and Jan Nelson (OR-ID) were responsible for significant portions of the shared schedule including a combined Laity Session, Laity Address, and a Celebration of Abundance Banquet. A spotlight on vital local church ministry and mission opportunities carried throughout each.
During shared plenary, a report was also heard from conference leaders explaining the vision for, and ongoing collaboration of, staff work across the area including new church starts, revitalization, and intercultural competency. Discussion and voting on the five constitutional amendments also took place together while votes were tallied separately
On the final morning of conference, members were invited to participate in workshops on numerous topics as part of a Ministry Alive event. Most of the workshops focused on resourcing churches to engage with their communities in mission and/or solidarity. It culminated with a public witness on the shore of the Columbia River behind the hotel.
Offerings and gifts were received during the week for the Rebuild efforts in Washington State, a new church project in Anchorage, Alaska, our ministry with the Jamaa Letu Orphanages in the Congo, a request to help provide desks for school children in the South Congo Episcopal Area and to supply UMCOR Health Kits. Giving for these items at the conference totaled $31,216.43, $3,701.25, $11,379.89, $5,289.95 and $584.00 respectively.
During PNW Plenary
A petition to reduce the number of districts in the PNW from six to five was approved. Work will take place over the coming months to redraw district lines on the west side of Washington State. Eight church closures were also affirmed with a recognition for them taking place during the Memorial Service. Late breaking petitions affirming LGBTQI Clergy and supporting the Western Jurisdiction’s College of Bishop’s response to the Judicial Council were also affirmed.
Members approved a smaller conference budget than they did in 2016, reducing it by .96% to $5,275,138. Apportionment allocations were also reduced for local churches as churches collectively honored their commitment at 93%, the highest level since the mid 1970’s. A 1.5% increase in minimum salary, changes effecting moving allowances, and a number of other grants and benefits changes were enacted. A five year plan to honor a directive from last year’s conference to divest from fossil fuels was also approved. Click here for the Legislative Summary.
Awards recognizing Women in Ministry, Peace with Justice and work in Campus Ministry were among other items allotted plenary time. We also commissioned leaders for a new branch of Project Transformation in Vancouver, Washington.
Conference dates for 2018 were set for June 21-24 and the body received an invitation, from Tacoma District Superintendent Cara Scriven and Lay Leader Megan Kilpatrick, to meet in Puyallup, Washington.
Some Data Points
For this report we were asked to answer the following question: “Did your clergy session approve any openly gay candidates for ministry? If so, how many?” It is certainly a possibility that our clergy session approved one or more “openly gay candidates” for ministry just as it’s likely that several openly heterosexual candidates may have been recommended. Given that our Board of Ordained Ministry reaffirmed its position to give equal consideration to all ministry candidates irrespective of sexual orientation and gender identity, this is not data we collect.
During a shared Ordination and Commissioning Service, two individuals from the PNW Conference were ordained as elders and admitted to full connection with an average age of 28.5. Nine individuals were commissioned in preparation for the order of elder and one into the order of deacon with an average age is 41.3. We recognized the new licenses of 4 local pastors, and the retirement of 16 pastoral leaders including 13 elders, 1 deacon, and 2 local pastors.
Finally at the Memorial Service, in grief we mourned, and with joy we honored, 48 saints who have gone on before us and ten churches from across the two conferences whose ministries will end, but whose legacies will live on.
- Membership stands at 39,189, down 1,245 from the previous year.
- Worship attendance stands at 17,358, down 603.
- Church school attendance stands at 3,697, up 33.
- Professions or reaffirmations of faith for 2016 stand at 562, down from 2015 211.
- Baptisms stand at 347, down 51 from the previous year.
- Adults and young adults in small groups for 2016 10,820, up from 2015 331.
- Worshippers engaged in mission for 2016 9,086, up from 2015 466.
Respectfully submitted by,
Patrick Scriven, Director of Communications & Young People’s Ministries
Pacific Northwest Conference
