We met in Chicago (in Oakbrook, actually) at a rather fancy hotel. Our delegates were Teena Maki, Jan Buchman, Jenny Hansen and me. Also there were Joyce Menard (who is President of the Episcopal Churchwomen for the Province) and Marion Luckey (who has been serving as Secretary for the Province.) Teena Maki also serves as the Provincial Coordinator for the Church Periodical Club. Deputies to General Convention were also invited to attend, but none of ours were able to be there.

During the meeting, officers were elected. Our own Marion Luckey was elected Vice-President of the Province. This means she will coordinate the program networks throughout the Province, and she'll share leadership with the President of the Province: Wendell Gibbs, the bishop of Michigan (the diocese which encompasses the greater Detroit area). Bonnie Anderson (whom some will remember from a MSTYC Conference a few years ago) was elected as a representative from the Province to the national Executive Council. Bonnie is also from the Michigan Diocese (greater Detroit).

As a part of the meeting, I met with the other bishops of the Province, as is our yearly pattern. We discussed areas of mutual concern, and looked ahead towards General Convention.

On Monday evening, the business session took place. Outgoing President Clark Grew (bishop of Ohio) presided. It included reports by a few of the program heads, including Joyce Menard, who extended to all women of the Province an invitation to the 2004 Annual Meeting of the ECW which will take place May 14-16 at Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island. Our diocese is sponsoring the gathering. Put it on your calendar now!

We also heard reports about the initiatives taking place by the national church to develop an advertising campaign. We'll be hearing more about that over the coming months. We also heard from George Werner, who is the President of the House of Deputies of General Convention, and from Jim Lemler, the Dean of Seabury-Western Seminary, who talked about the national initiative known as 20/20.

On Tuesday morning and afternoon, a series of workshops were held for General Convention Deputies designed to prepare us for some of what will be coming to the Convention floor in Minneapolis. I led a couple of well attended workshops on the revisions of Title III (that part of the canons which govern the Ministry of the Church). As a member of the Standing Commission on Ministry Development, I have helped shape the proposed revisions which will be under consideration this summer. There were other workshops on the national church budget, anti-racism initiatives, public policy advocacy out of our national church Washington DC office, 20/20, Church Communications, and an overall orientation to Convention for first-time deputies.

As always, it was a good opportunity to confer with representatives from all of the dioceses of Province V: Missouri, Springfield, Quincy, Chicago, Indianapolis, Northern Indiana, Southern Ohio, Ohio, Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Western Michigan, Northern Michigan, Eau Claire, Fond du Lac, and Milwaukee.

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                             from Jim Kelsey
      in the Episcopal Diocese of Northern Michigan
                     <jimkelsey@dionomi.org>
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