May 12, 2012 to June 16, 2012
- The following congregations are in transition (mostly with respect to calling new clergy leadership): St. Peter’s, Bennington; St. Paul’s, Burlington; St. Luke’s/St. Mark’s, Castleton/Fair Haven; Saint Luke’s, Chester; Christ Church, Island Pond; St. Peter’s, Lyndonville; St. Stephen’s, Middlebury; St. Mark’s, Newport; Gethsemane, Proctorsville; Saint John’s, Randolph; St. Ann’s, Richford; Trinity Church, Rutland; St. Mark’s, Springfield; St. Paul’s, Windsor.
- The Reverend Earl Kooperkamp began his ministry as Priest in Partnership at Good Shepherd, Barre on Pentecost Sunday – May 27th. Welcome Earl!
- The following persons were admitted as Postulants for Holy Orders on June 6, 2012: Robert Wilson and Christine Moseley for the priesthood as members of the Covenant Group at Saint Mark’s, Newport; Ron Corkins for the diaconate as a member of the Covenant Group at Saint Mark’s, Newport; Sean Lanigan for the Priesthood (from St. James’, Arlington).
- Three dioceses in New England recently elected new bishops. 1. New Hampshire = the Rev. Robert Hirschfeld, Rector of Grace, Amherst; 2. Western Massachusetts = the Rev. Douglas John Fisher, Rector of Grace Church, Millbrook, NY; 3. the Very Reverend Nicholas Knisely, Dean of Trinity Cathedral, Phoenix, AZ.
- Our Work Group formed to address the future diocesan direction, policy and practices related to health insurance held their first meeting on June 7th in preparation for our meeting with representatives of the Medical Trust of the Church Pension Group on June 26th. Members of the committee include: Julie Giguere, Lynn Bates, Steve Smith, Franklin Sanders, Diane Root, Gerry Davis, Sarah Gallagher, Paul Habersang, Joyce Nagle, Ken Hitch, C.J. Spirito and the bishop.
- May 30-31, 2012, I attended a very lively gathering of young adults and bishops from around The Episcopal Church in Chicago. It was informative and challenging and hopeful to listen to these young adults speak about their experience in The Episcopal Church and their hopes, visions, and plans for the future of our church.
- Our diocesan deputation for General Convention met on May 29th as part of our preparation of Convention. We will meet again on June 18th. Reports from the various Committees, Commissions and Boards of The Episcopal Church (also known as the Blue Book) are available on line. Here is a link to information about General Convention: http://generalconvention.org/gc/prepare
- I have agreed to provide Delegated Episcopal Pastoral Oversight (DEPO) at the invitation of Bishop Love (Diocese of Albany) to the congregation of Saint Luke’s, Saranac Lake, NY. I will make a visitation to the congregation on September 19th. I will meet soon with the Rector and Wardens of a second congregation in the Diocese of Albany that has also requested DEPO. Bishop Love has asked me to consider becoming their DEPO bishop, as well.
- On June 8th I attended the dedication of the new playground at Brookhaven Treatment and Learning Center (a.k.a. Brookhaven School for Boys). Gifts from the Diocese of Vermont and others help make this playground possible. It is quite wonderful and the boys love it. I spent nearly an hour playing with them at the playground! Here is a link to Brookhaven. See what they are all about these days http://www.brookhaventlc.org/
- On June 9th I participated in the commencement ceremonies at Rock Point School (my 12th). As always it was a powerful event as we listened to testimony from family members and friends of the graduates (and even some of those graduating) about the positive experience and influence Rock Point School has had on their lives.
- I will ordain Auburn Watersong to the transitional diaconate on Sunday June 17th at the 10:00 AM Sunday Eucharist at Christ Church, Montpelier.
- I plan to take some vacation after General Convention and travel to Scotland to play in the next Cranmer Cup golf competition.
Faithfully,
+Thomas