The 76th General Convention is upon us. This triennial gathering of the Episcopal Church meets in July of this year in Anaheim, Calif. The Archbishop of Canterbury will address the convention, days will be busy with legislative process, and we will be assembled in worship and prayer. I bid your prayers for your elected deputation and me as we travel and participate in the work of the church.
Friday, May 1, saw the conclusion of the deanery spring convocations in our diocese. Those congregational and diocesan leader participants heard me present some particular thoughts on directions for the life of our diocese. I recap them here.
Dear friends,
In the year of our Lord 2009 we are well into our 40th anniversary year as the Diocese of Southwest Florida. At our diocesan convention last October, I called upon the diocesan family to establish and develop the Episcopal Charities Fund of the Diocese of Southwest Florida.
The liturgy for Ash Wednesday invites the baptized to observe a holy Lent and reminds us “of the need which all Christians continually have to renew their repentance and faith.”
Perhaps most of us use the Book of Common Prayer only when we assemble in our congregation for corporate worship. That usage is, of course, helpful in our lives of sanctification, but we will miss so much by not utilizing the Prayer Book for daily enrichment.
View the archive of past articles and pastoral letters
Confirmation schedules changing
A new component to each individual parish Visitation by Bishop Smith will be the added celebration of Confirmation, Reception and Reaffirmation. In addition, Bishop Smith has announced his intention to do one diocesan wide Confirmation Service per year.
For more information, contact Jan Nothum via email.
At this time no Deanery wide or other special services of Confirmation will be scheduled.
The Rt. Rev. Dabney T. Smith was elected bishop coadjutor of the Diocese of Southwest Florida on Dec. 9, 2006. He was consecrated as a bishop on March 10, 2007 at the Cathedral of St. Jude the Apostle in St. Petersburg, Fla. He was seated as the fifth bishop of the diocese Sept. 15, 2007 at St. Peter's Cathedral in St. Petersburg, succeeding the Rt. Rev. John B. Lipscomb.
