Grace to you, and Peace, my sisters and brothers, in the Name of the One who gives us life and awakens us to all of the promise and hope of creation.

Last May, Archbishop Desmond Tutu preached the Baccalaureate Sermon at graduation time at General Theological Seminary in New York (Tom Ray's and Charlie Piper's and my alma mater). The name of the sermon was "Toward a New Paradigm of Power" and I'd like to tell you something of what he said - because when I read his words in the periodic magazine General seminary sends out - I was touched, and I happen to think it relates in a significant way to where we are and where we are headed as a Church and as a Diocese.

"One of the first lessons you who are graduating learned as you studied theology," said Desmond Tutu to that class of graduating seminarians, "was that our faith is one replete with paradox: as when the Creator becomes a creature, in the Incarnation or when the Transcendent, the Wholly Other, is at one and the same time the Imminent One; where in the sacramental...mundane, secular, material things become the channels of the most sublime Spirit; or when, on the Cross, the Immortal can die..."

Tutu then went on to tell about a recent liturgy in the Church of the Province of Southern Africa, during which the feast day was celebrated for St. Simon of Cyrene, the African who helped Jesus carry his cross: another example of paradox, as he pointed out, "...where a feeble human being is called on to help this one who has claimed to be God. The omnipotent is impotent: extraordinarily, a God who created all there is without our aid is now unwilling to undertake any God-project without the collaboration of a human partner."

This is also seen in the story of the feeding of the 5000, Tutu went on to say: "...where this one who is God, who had before fed not only a multitude but a whole nation, not for one meal but for 40 years — this one waits until he can get loaves and fish from a boy...and then performs the miracle of feeding. The boy's food offerings are totally inadequate, yet seemingly indispensable, giving a clue as to how God would operate in the world." In a manner which combines the actions of God and humanity. "And God is willing to jeopardize the success of whatever divine endeavor by this desire to have a human partner - and you see how frequently God spends a heck of a time trying to persuade somewhat unwilling human partners..."

For example, Tutu says, "God will not usually send lightening-bolts to destroy the perpetrators of injustice and oppression, yet God would like to see an end to oppression and injustice. And God sits waiting, impotently waiting for you, for me, for those who will be God's instruments of justice and peace."

Isn't that remarkable, what Tutu had to say? And do you see what it has to do with our diocese, as we gather in Convention, to review the year gone by, and to re-discover the path which lies head for us? That, by choice, our God sits waiting, impotently waiting for you, for me, for those who will be God's instruments of justice and peace, of unconditional love.

My brothers and sisters of the Episcopal Diocese of Northern Michigan how easy it is to perceive that our offerings are totally inadequate. How important it is for us to remind one another that what we do together for one another and for the world around us is of eternal significance simply because God has chosen to wait for us to do something - anything - in the Name of Love, in the Spirit of Love, for the purpose of Love.

This is a rather ominous year for the Episcopal Church and for the Anglican Communion as a whole, isn't it? As we have prepared for this convention, we have been keeping one eye at least on news reports and press releases coming from Dallas and London. In Dallas, a couple of thousand of our sisters and brothers gathering in protest to decisions made by our General Convention in Minneapolis last summer. And in London, 37 out of 38 Primates of the Anglican Communion - the world-wide leaders of our greater faith community - conferring about the state of our union - stretched to its limits because of our disagreements about human sexuality, scriptural interpretation, and questions of how we live within this communion with our diversity and differences.

I have to tell you that more than one member of our diocesan family has asked me, "In light of all of the controversy, why won't Gene Robinson just step aside? Wouldn't that just solve this crisis?" And, of course, the answer is, "no". What is happening here is far more important than one diocese and one man deciding to be open and honest about a reality which has been in our midst for many, many years. What is happening is that our differences throughout the Anglican Communion are being exposed in a way which cannot be skirted. And what we are learning about ourselves and the fabric of our Church, and about the mission of our Church and about the fierce demands of the Gospel we have been given to preach all of this gives us no choice but to move ahead with courage and confidence in a God who, for so long, has just been waiting for us to act ...just waiting for us to get honest, and to stand together for justice and for liberation for those who have been oppressed for too long.

Bruce Caldwell, the bishop of Wyoming, who came and met with our Rectors and Missioners in early September told us, "You know, in my lifetime of 56 years, the Church has really only risked its life once or twice...and this is one of those times."

There is such power in this moment. It really is a moment in which we might ask ourselves, "Who are we, as the Church, because of this?" and "What are we prepared to do about it?" He went on to point out that during the height of the media coverage of the Minneapolis convention, Newsweek magazine ran an article about it with the following headline: "Who will belong?" They got it right, Bruce suggested. At its heart, the central issue we are dealing with here is diaconal: It's the matter of justice and fairness within our community.

Now, let me tell you my own personal story about it. As I described to you last evening, just before the vote was taken at the House of Bishops as to whether or not to consent to the ordination of Gene Robinson as the next Bishop of New Hampshire, our Presiding Bishop, Frank Griswold, asked the entire House of Bishops to sit in silent prayer for 30 minutes. I will never forget the experience I had during that half hour of complete silence. I was sitting at a table full of colleagues, but I closed my eyes and allowed myself to travel into a deep place within my heart and soul. And several minutes into that meditation, I had an experience of feeling surrounded by a warmth and some sort of presence and I felt myself overcome by a deep, deep sense of gratitude. It brought me to the edge of tears. And I felt profoundly thankful - thankful that I had been given the opportunity to do what I was about to do. I suddenly realized that it might well be the most important thing I ever do in my life-time. To be one of 106 sitting bishops in the Episcopal Church of the United States of America able to cast a vote which could have such an impact upon so many people. I had the chance to do something with my life that mattered. It was (and it is) really important.

As a Church, we have spoken. As a Church, we have acted to stand up for a world in which all people live together in peace and in harmony with all of creation, where all can contribute and the gifts of all are joyfully received, nurtured, and supported, where our diversity is celebrated in community, and every human being is recognized as having eternal significance.

Now, please hear me, I am well aware that not all of us agree about what happened in Minneapolis. Some have been caused great pain and estrangement because of it, but I just need for you all to know that for me, at that moment, it felt to me like the most important thing I have ever done or might ever do, the rest of my days.

So, when that time for silent prayer came to an end, I opened my eyes, and I marked my ballot with a full and confident heart. But I need to tell you that when I opened my eyes that fateful afternoon, I looked across the table at some fellow bishops - and half of them, I knew, were marking the other side of the ballot. These were friends, with whom I had spent many hours over the past few years, sharing in a very powerful way. I love these people. And they were telling me what a huge disruption this was going to cause within their diocesan family. It was a very serious and difficult moment - not at all triumphal or celebratory.

Earlier this week, as I have said, 37 Primates of the 38 Provinces of the Anglican Communion met in London at Lambeth Palace for two days and when they emerged, they delivered a statement which said four things: First, they expressed their unanimous commitment to stay together and to work together to maintain the unity of the Communion. This is no small thing. There are many who had predicted that this meeting would result in an irreconcilable split within the world-wide Anglican Church. But that is not what happened.

Second, the Primates reaffirmed the positions taken in past Lambeth Conferences which have opposed the ordination of non-celibate gay and lesbian persons still acknowledging the legitimacy of the diversity of interpretation of Scripture which arises in our Church and that just because we disagree about such interpretation does not mean that some of us take the authority of Scripture more lightly than others; and further, the Primates re-affirmed the importance stressed at Lambeth in 1998 that the Church needs "to listen to the experience of homosexual persons, and to assure them that they are loved by God, and that all baptized, believing and faithful persons regardless of sexual orientation, are full members of the Body of Christ."

Third, in this final summary statement, the Primates acknowledged that recent developments in North America including those in the Diocese of New Westminster in Canada and New Hampshire and Minneapolis in the United States really do create a stress and strain within our world-wide Communion and that, once the ordination takes place in New Hampshire on November 2nd, there may result some Provinces declaring themselves to be out of Communion, or at least in impaired Communion, with us.

This is serious stuff. And the Primates have made a plea that no Province take precipitous action until a Commission appointed by the Archbishop of Canterbury has an opportunity to study the matter and report back to the Primates in one year's time.

So what is going to happen to us? It does appear the Anglican Church will stay together - for now at least. It does appear that the possibility of a separate, non-geographic Province of the Episcopal Church in the United States (a possibility predicted by some) will not come about - for now at least. It does appear that these disagreements will continue to strain our relationships within our country and throughout the world - for now at least. But it also appears we will be moving on. We will be learning better how to live with our differences. And we will still be a Church which insists on respecting the dignity of every human being and being courageous about that in some very concrete ways.

One thing we know is how little we know. One thing we can be sure of is how little we can be sure of. But there are some things we can know and be sure of and among these things are the truths that our Loving God has made us to be an imperfect yet deeply yearning people; imperfect, yet deeply yearning to embrace and to be embraced by the Love which Created us and which still rests at the heart of the universe and which still calls us deeper into communion with the One who loves us more than we deserve or can imagine. And we yearn to be swept up by the passion of that same love in our own hearts and through our very lives. Imperfect as we are, still we yearn to be partners with God in the work which is still transforming Creation.

Desmond Tutu says that our omnipotent God is willing to jeopardize the success of whatever divine endeavor by this desire to have a human partner. And it's true that you and I are God's partner. For good or for ill, we are asked to make our imperfect offerings so that God may act along with us - to make all things right, to move all things toward perfection.

It is true that we have stretched the limits of the collegiality within this Anglican Communion as far as they can be stretched. What do you think will happen next? The story is not over. There is, no doubt, more drama to unfold over the coming months and years, but we have at least now passed through an important test.

One of the clarifying moments for me last summer, just after the General Convention was over, was when Rise Thew Forrester contacted me with an e-mail with the suggestion that we get a boat-load of those old bumper stickers which say: "The Episcopal Church Welcomes You". Why? Because now they really mean something.

The TV ad we were running early in the summer also quoted that same familiar slogan. And when we ran the same ad after General Convention, those words seemed to take on a whole new meaning - or at least a whole new power:

"When I was baptized, I vowed to respect the dignity of every human being. It's a promise all Episcopalians reaffirm for themselves when anyone is baptized. It's what we mean when we say, "The Episcopal Church Welcomes You." Everybody is welcome. You are welcome. There's an Episcopal Church near you. Come and see us. We look forward to knowing you."

Do you see what I mean? This takes on a whole new meaning when we, as a Church, have actually risked our institutional lives to stand behind what we say. I have encountered a number of people (both Episcopalians and otherwise) who are very angry about what we have done. But I have met quite a few more (and especially, though not exclusively, younger people) who have sought me out to tell me how proud they are of our Church and how they deeply respect us for it.

We can't be sure what lies ahead, but we can be confident that we have done something important. And today, as a Church, and as a Diocese, we stand at the brink of a new possibility for ourselves. The possibility of becoming ourselves again by recommitting ourselves to the very heart of our faith.

It was several months ago when Diocesan Council made the decision to begin this year to use the Baptismal Covenant as a basis for setting the theme for our successive annual Conventions. And this year, we start with the first question posed in our baptismal liturgies. "Do you reaffirm your renunciation of evil and renew your commitment to Jesus Christ?" As a culture, we're not always good at talking about evil - or at least when we do, we tend to talk about the evil we see in other people and their behavior rather than what is going on in our own hearts and in our midst. I won't carry on at length about it, as a preacher might be tempted to do, but I do want to acknowledge that what we are about as a Church and as a Diocese is precisely to do what we can to re-calibrate our vision to better understand both what we need to renounce and to whom we need to re-commit ourselves.

Yesterday morning, I heard Rowan Williams, the Arch-bishop of Canterbury say in an interview with the BBC that what is central in the Church is not rules, but relationships. He was talking about the strained relationships at present within the Anglican Communion, but, of course, he was also talking about what is at the heart of our mission as a Church and as a Diocese. Our relationships with God, with one another, and with our neighbors, and with those who are yet strangers to us. Our relationships, which we seek to deepen and nurture through our life together in prayer, in learning, in friendship, and in partnership. These are our priorities, and these are all ways in which we have grown and continue to grow as a community of faith.

In prayer, as we continue to gathered regularly in our congregations and upon other occasions. At our ECW Gatherings and Retreats and at other occasions, we have sought to nurture our personal and corporate spiritual journeys.

In learning together, we have developed our LifeCycles formation process, and offered this to all of our congregations - not just to those committed to mutual ministry development. At MSTYC, we learned about our inner journey through the Enneagram. Kevin Thew Forrester's newly published book, I Have Called You Friends, which is such an important and articulate contribution to our learning.

In friendship, we have nurtured our community life. In so many ways, we continue to celebrate together the joys and to share the burdens and sorrows which life brings our way.

In partnership, we continue to work together within our congregations, in our regions, with other dioceses in our state, and throughout the national Church and beyond with our ecumenical and interfaith partners, and with community groups of all sorts, we have worked together to extend God's hand of love.

Please look through the various printed reports, and listen well to the spoken reports which have been and will be made from this microphone throughout the course of this Convention. I'm going to resist babbling on with a long laundry list of the many activities and projects which have made these past twelve months such a remarkable and fruitful year, even as we have also tried to take seriously the challenges before us, such as those presented by the struggling economy and our need for a growing sense of stewardship. But I want to take a moment here to identify some priorities I am drawn to over the coming year. To this list, I am eager to add my energies to additional priorities which emerge from you and our common life together. But here are a few which stir my heart, and for which I bring some real passion and commitment as we look ahead to the year to come.

First, in light of all that confronts us in the wake of Minneapolis and related events, I am eager to see - not just how we will hold together as a Church and as a Diocese through these challenging days, I am looking for us to actually step out with confidence and fervor to invite and welcome into our faith community especially those who are estranged and those who share our passion for inclusiveness: to include absolutely everyone in our circle. We have nothing to apologize or to be embarrassed about. This is our moment to step forward together as a radically welcoming and inclusive Church; to show the way which seems today to be pushing the envelope, but which, tomorrow, will be common-place and a societal norm.

Secondly, I want to report to you that I have been devoting some significant time over this past year reflecting upon my own gifts and personality and inner strengths and weaknesses, and especially upon my personal style as a leader in your midst. Over the course of the past four and a half years, since my ordination as bishop, I have become aware of a number of ways in which know I could improve and grow. And I have come to realize how my own behavior can sometimes be my own worst enemy, when it comes to trying to live into the vision of shared, mutual leadership, which so rests at the heart of the vocation we share, and to which I feel I have been called. Over the coming year, we will be exploring some new ways of extending what we have come to call a shared episcopate. We will be forming an intentional core group, which might be thought of as a diocesan ministry support team. We'll see this as a sort of a hub from which many, many spokes will extend into all directions so that communications and shared decision making, consensus building, common vision and clear, owned strategy will engage and involve as many of us throughout the diocese as possible. I'm really excited about this, and I'm sure you'll hear more about it, as it continues to take shape.

Other priorities for the coming year?

The Page Center for Spiritual Life is moving into the next phase of its development with the formation of an outstanding Board of Directors for the new 501.c.3 not-for-profit organization about to come into existence.

Our Standing Committee will be engaged in some important work, further developing Misconduct Prevention Training and Anti-Racism Training - both now mandated by national church canons

Our Commission on Ministry will be expanding its role, given the Title III revisions, and given our continuing efforts to extend ministry development into new settings, including in larger and very small congregations, as well as non-parochial ministry settings and communities. LifeCycles is a vital part of this strategy. The proposal which we'll vote on tomorrow morning to expand the size of the Commission from 8 to 12 members is also important, as we take seriously the opportunities before us for breaking new ground.

This coming year, I propose that we gather those of us who are committed to ministry with youth and young adults and really think through what we're doing and how we can build on our years of ministry with and through Summer Camp and Happening and the Winter Youth Rally and EYE and the Provincial Youth Network and the Dead Saints Society and the EACW - Episcopal Association for College Work, and ministries at Bay College and LSSU in the Soo. How can we work together and extend our cooperative efforts, and expand into new ways of ministering to and with our young people? I want to suggest it's time to look at all of that with a fresh eye and to bring some new energy and maybe some new blood to it.

I also feel we should sit back and do some long range planning concerning our missionary strategy - through our regions and our regional support structures. Especially in light of our encroaching budgetary constraints, what lies ahead for us? I'm thinking especially of the North Central and the Eastern Regions, but certainly this has implications for all of us.

And, finally, I'm hoping over the coming year that we might look for new ways to develop and strengthen our voice around ministries of Peace-Making and Reconciliation. God knows, we have some of that work to do within our own house, given all that is unfolding in the Anglican Communion world-wide and in the Episcopal Church nationally, but I am also thinking about the scene of world politics, the war in Iraq and throughout the Middle East, and so many other areas of instability and violence on our planet. Our upcoming MSTYC Conference in February, featuring Walter and June Wink, will certainly help us work on this. That will be an important gathering for us. And I think it also relates to the theme of this convention. It has to do with renouncing the evil of violence and injustice and renewing our commitment to Jesus - the Prince of Peace whose very life and example calls us back to ourselves.

There are other priorities I might mention. Indeed, I'm sure I'll think of several more before the morning is over, and we need to weigh these possibilities together with the several concerns each of you brings to our diocesan table. Don't forget our annual Diocesan Goal Setting sessions in mid-November. But here, at least, are some matters which are stirring my heart these days and I wanted to share them with you.

I began this address by quoting Desmond Tutu's Baccalaureate sermon at General Theological Seminary last May. Now, I will close with his words as well. This is what he preached:

The new paradigm of power that God asks you to propagate in a land of the successful, in a land of conquerors, of the powerful, is a paradigm of power for the sake of service. Being there for others, so that there may be a little more gentleness; there may be a little more caring; there may be a little more laughter; there may be a little more compassion. A little more sharing. More goodness. More love. More peace.

And God has no one except you.

That's what Desmond Tutu tells us: that God has no one except you. And what I'm telling you this morning is that God has no one except us. Us. Together. Bound together as friends (in the deepest sense of that word), praying and singing and laughing and working together as partners. God has no one except us. And together we step out from here towards a community which alone can fulfill our own yearning and God's own yearning for us.

I thank you.