Special Convention will be held on Saturday, June 9, 2012 at Christ Church in East Orange, NJ.
Purpose
The purpose of the Special Convention is:
to amend the diocesan canon on insurance to conform with requirements of the Denominational Health Plan (DHP);
to adopt a process for the implementation of the DHP; and
to receive a report from the Mission Strategy Committee.
Who Should Attend?
The deputies and alternates certified from the congregations to the January 2012 Annual Convention are the representatives expected to attend the Special Convention.
A Message from Bishop Beckwith
While our June 9 Special Convention, to be held at Christ Church, East Orange, has been scheduled to take up an important item of business, our time will be framed by the context of mission.
I will set the mission context in my homily at the 8:30 a.m. Holy Eucharist with which – like all our Conventions – this Special Convention will begin. The Mission Strategy Committee will follow with a brief report summarizing the work they have done to date – and their intention to host gatherings across the diocese over the next several months for the purpose of listening to congregation leaders and posing some ideas about mission.
The Bishop’s Advisory Committee on Human Resources and Benefits has a resolution to present to the Convention, on the implementation of the Denominational Health Plan. It is the result of two years of work – including several listening sessions that were recently held across the diocese. (The text of the resolution has been mailed to churches for distribution to deputies, and is also available on the diocesan website.) Before the resolution is formally presented, there will be an opportunity for deputies to ask clarifying questions about the resolution itself. Its formal introduction will be followed by deliberation and decision.
Our intention is to finish at 12:15 p.m., before lunch. My hope is that we can exercise effective stewardship of time and talent as we sort through a critically important stewardship issue regarding health insurance – and come away with a deeper understanding and commitment of what it means to live into Christ’s mission.