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The EpEN Ministry Review and Visioning
Retreat was 48 prayerful and intense hours of reviewing what
the EpEN has done in its ministry to the Episcopal Church
and how the EpEN can bring its ministry in line with the concerns
of the Presiding Bishop as expressed in her Investiture Sermon.
From the discussions about what the
EpEN has accomplished since 2002 and about what is happening
around the Episcopal Church (see the previous several e-newsletters),
a portion of time was set aside to reflect on the question,
"I believe I hear the Holy Spirit saying to the EpEN
..."
There were many responses. The group
broke them down into these common threads:
- Interdependency and community of
creation
- Leadership role of the EpEN
- Helping the Episcopal Church strengthen
its prophetic voice for creation.
We then
reflected on the question, "What gives us hope?".
We kept coming back to the sermon
the Presiding Bishop preached at her Investiture with
a focus on a "Shalom Home for all of God's creatures".
Working from what we hear the Holy
Spirit saying and from the things that give us hope, we looked
at a new vision for the EpEN. Through the course of the rest
of the visioning, we modified the vision until we ended with
the vision of the EpEN to be "a Shalom Home for
all of God's creation."
We then looked at a mission statement
for the EpEN, reflecting on the question, "how does the
EpEN build a Shalom Home in the Episcopal Church?". Two
possible mission statements kept coming forward:
- The EpEN will be a prophetic
voice for creation calling the Episcopal Church to being
a center of hope and healing for all God's creation.
- Bring resources to EC to build
a sustainable, caring relationship with nature.
The group then looked at how to present
this information to the Presiding Bishop during an upcoming
meeting with her to discuss the ministry review and revised
vision. During this discussion, the active leadership was
divided into two parts, a Leadership Team that will manage
and direct the day-to-day activities of the EpEN and an Advisory
Team that will support the Leadership Team through advice
and consultation. During a conference call of the whole on
November 30, 2007, a majority approved this concept.
In 2008 the responsibilities of both
teams will be worked out and the mission statement finalized.
Additionally, during one evening, several
individuals and clergy from the Diocese of Chicago met with
the attendees from the EpEN to discuss environmental concerns
and what can be done in the Diocese of Chicago with the arrival
of their new bishop. All involved felt that the meeting was
informative and helpful.
The Episcopal Ecological Network consists
of nearly 600 individuals in 99 dioceses of the Episcopal
Church, USA, and in 6 other countries. There are 31 active
environmental groups at the diocesan level with three more
in formation. If your group is not listed on our website,
please send an e-mail to chair[@eenonline.org]
(remove square brackets before sending).
If you have questions or thoughts about
the Chicago retreat, please send them to chair[@eenonline.org]
(remove square brackets before sending).
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