The 122nd Convention of the Diocese of West Virginia took some very important steps when it gathered this past weekend. The one which may impact us most directly is the adoption of the steps leading the call of the next bishop for this diocese. The process is very detailed, so I will give you some highlights here. When the amended form is received it will be posted.

First, each deanery will elect, by June 10th, two clergy and two lay delegates to serve on either the Search Committee or the Transition Committee. The Standing Committee will assign one lay and one cleric to each committee. Any lay person from the deanery can be nominated to the deanery, so please begin thinking and praying about this now. The meeting to elect these delegates will be Sunday, May 30th, 2:00 pm at Grace Church, St. Mary’s, WV. All are welcome to attend, though only delegates vote.

The Standing Committee of the Diocese will interview and is to call an Interim Bishop who would begin his or her duties sometime after November 1, 1999. Note: an Interim Bishop is one who has retired from his or her position as Diocesan or Suffragan Bishop and now serves the Church in this capacity. He or she will not be the Ecclesiastical Authority in the Diocese, that by canon is the Standing Committee in the absence of a Diocesan Bishop. The Interim Bishop will visit, confirm, may ordain as directed, and could be asked to supervise the operation and ministries offered through the Diocesan House.

The timeline for the work of the Search and Transition Committees as well as some of their responsibilities is outlined in the resolution. Their work and ours, which will include participation in a diocesan study to determine our strengths, weaknesses, assets, challenges, hopes and dreams, will take place in a timely fashion.

In April of 2001 all nominees will be presented to the diocese to meet, question, etc. Nominations will be allowed other than those from the committee, but they MUST come within a two week window after the announcement of the committee’s nominees to allow for psychological tests, physicals, background checks, etc. There will be no nominations from the floor of the electing convention.

That convention will be held the first weekend in May, 2001 at Trinity Church, Parkersburg! We must begin now to prepare our church for this time. We must by prayer invite the Holy Spirit to come and abide, dwell, permeate and saturate the room where we worship.

Be assured, you will hear more about this in the days, weeks and months ahead.

I wanted to speak a little bit about music and the arts. Events such as the massacre at Columbine High School always make me think of music and the arts because I've spent so many years fighting for it's inclusion in the public schools. I truly believe that had the kids responsible for the bloodshed been involved in creative activities such as making music or painting ( or tons of other creative things such as poetry writing, cooking, sewing, gardening, etc.) they would not have been making bombs or thinking about death. I don't think this simply because it is an "extra" activity to keep kids busy and off of the streets. Being creative puts us in touch with ourselves because we discover ourselves when we involve our body, mind, and spirit in the
creation of something. This leads to a feeling of self-worth, accomplishment, and gives our life meaning. Most of all, I believe that being creative gives us a direct link to God. After all, God created the world and all that is in it. We are like God when we create. I will close with the words from the chorus of a John Denver tune called "The Potter's Wheel":
"Take a little clay, put it on the wheel
get a little hint how God must feel
Give a little turn, listen to it spin
make it any shape you want it in"