"A new season of ministry is unfolding"

by the Right Reverend Thomas Clark Ely, Bishop of Vermont
Mountain Echo
October 2004

Rock Point School began a new school year on Sunday September 12, when new and returning students made their way through the registration process, into their dorm rooms, and then on to orientation. New and returning staff members were there to welcome the students and families to the start of another year at Rock Point School. Ann is involved in the registration process, so she was there for a good part of the day. I returned from my visitation at Saint Martin’s, Fairlee, that afternoon in time to attend the annual “Meet the folks who live on Rock Point” part of the “Get to know you” Sunday night program.

After all the introductions, C.J. Spirto, the acting Headmaster while John Rouleau experiences a well-deserved sabbatical, asked the seniors to sit in the chairs that he had arranged in the same configuration as they are for graduation in June. As they sat facing all the other students and staff, C.J. had them place blue baseball helmets on their heads to represent the blue graduation caps used at Rock Point School. He invited me to sit in the chair next to the seniors where I sit during the graduation ceremonies. One of the great joys of this ministry is to present the graduating seniors of Rock Point School with their diplomas. He invited the seniors and the whole community to hold this image in their minds—the image of graduation nine months from now—when the seniors would once again be on that platform and in those chairs and receiving their diplomas from the bishop. He called upon the whole community to claim its share and place in that future as the big goal of the journey upon which they were about to embark.

I greatly appreciated the gentle, simple and fun way C.J. offered for helping us envision a future, inviting us on the journey toward that future, and asking us to take some responsibility for getting to the destination. Afterwards, I found myself thinking about how often Jesus did something similar by helping people to envision God’s future, and then inviting them on the journey toward that future, and asking them to take some responsibility for getting to the destination. I also thought about the promises of the Baptismal Covenant and how they call us to envision, live into, and take responsibility for a future grounded in our life in Christ.

On Saturday September 11—the day before—the Diocesan Council received the final draft of A Strategic Plan for Growth and Ministry: The Episcopal Diocese of Vermont 2005–2010. This action plan is the result of the “Plannaging” process we began nearly two years ago. The goal of the “Plannaging” process was to help us think and plan for our diocesan future in a way that would involve many voices and offer an exciting shared vision for the next five years. Nearly 350 individuals and 46 congregations took part in the process. A steering committee and several sub-committees worked with the data generated in that process and in the parallel long-range planning process of the Rock Point Board.

The end result of the gathering, spinning and weaving of all that conversation, thinking and dreaming is a rich tapestry with five interconnected themes: Formation, Liberation, Communication, Connection and Celebration. The goals of our action plan for growth, vitality, and ministry as a diocese over the next five years are articulated in seven key ministry areas: Christian Education and Youth, Parish Life and Spiritual Growth, Outreach and Social Justice, Communication, Organizational, Structural and Financial, Parish to Parish and Parish to Diocese, and Rock Point.

Like the exercise C.J. led at Rock Point School and like the pattern of our Lord’s ministry and like the promises of the Baptismal Covenant, our diocesan Strategic Plan for Growth and Ministry envisions a future, invites us on the journey toward that future, and asks us to take responsibility for getting to its destination.

Our Pre-Convention Ministry Fairs on October 2 (Montpelier), October 16 (Rutland), and October 30 (Brattleboro) will offer an opportunity to discuss the Action Plan and to prepare for the decision the Diocesan Council is asking us to make at our Diocesan Convention—the decision to “own” this Action Plan, to make it our own, to enter upon this journey together to a destination of growth, vitality and vibrant ministry for our diocese.

So, here is your invitation. Come to the Ministry Fairs. Learn about the Action Plan. Be part of the journey. Share in our diocesan future. Take responsibility for our common life as a diocese. A new season of ministry is unfolding. Lend your voice, your heart, your mind, your time, your talent and your treasure to help make what we believe are some of God’s dreams for us come true.

Looking forward with you,
+Thomas