26TH ANNUAL CONVENTION, SESSION 2
OCTOBER 21, 2006

On Saturday, October 21,161 lay delegates and 68 clergy representing 46 congregations gathered for the Annual Diocesan Convention. The morning began with Holy Eucharist and homily provided by The Rt. Rev. Sylvestre Romero. The meeting was then called to order by Bishop Romero and Ann Wright, President of Standing Committee.

The first order of business was the passing of the Consent Agenda which contained items relating to:

• Establishment of the Standing Committee as the committee of oversight for the Bishop Search and Transition process,

• Definition of the subcommittee structure for the both Search and Transition Committees,

• Definition of the minimum compensation for full time parochial Clergy,

• Establishment of special rules for the upcoming Electing Convention,

• Charge to the Constitution and Canons Committee to complete any constitution and canon changes that will be required in support of any convention approved structure and funding changes.

Additional business items were considered including:

• Resolution A : Diocesan Structure – the collaborative model was chosen by Convention with the reminder that the next year will be a transition year as we work out the details for the new structure.

• Resolution B: Funding formula – after an amendment was passed that added a COLA of 3% to the formula, the model calling for 10% of the first $178,000 of Net Budgeted Disposable Income (NBDI) and 20% of anything in excess of $178,000 was chosen.

• Resolution E: Bishop Search process. - this resolution requesting that the Search Committee give equal consideration to all qualified candidates without regard to their sexual orientation in compliance with Title III 1.2 of the National Canons passed.

• Resolution F: Millennium Development Goals – this resolution asking that each congregation and parishioner prayerfully consider giving 0.7% of their income to work that supports the United Nations Millennium Goals (MDGs) passed.

• Constitution and Canons Resolution 2: Support of the Diocese – this resolution addresses issues of parochial report due dates and fair share payment due dates and establishes consequences for failure to report or make payments. This does not affect those congregations which have made alternate arrangement for the payment of fair share. This resolution passed.

• Constitution and Canons Resolution 4: Calculation of lay representation at convention –this constitutional change would calculate representation using Average Sunday Attendance (ASA). Because this is a constitutional change it must be passed at two conventions. It passed this year and will be voted on again at the Annual Convention in 2007.

Elections were held for various leadership positions with the results as follows:

• Secretary of the Diocese

  • Ms. Denise Chouinard – St. James, Paso Robles

• Treasurer

  • Mr. Edgar Markham – St. Stephens, Gilroy

• Directors, Diocesan Corporation

  • The Rev. Christopher Creed – St. Francis, San Jose

  • The Rev. Dwight Edwards – St. Mary’s, Pacific Grove

• Diocesan Council

  • Clergy The Rev. Patricia Barrett – Good Shephard, Salinas

  • The Rev. Vincent Raj – St. George’s, Salinas

  • Lay Mr. Robert Pomeroy – St. Joseph’s, Milpitas

  • Mr. Jeff Diehl – Calvary, Santa Cruz

  • Ms. Barbara Miller – St. Luke’s, Atascadero

  • Ms. Patricia Morse – St. Edward’s, San Jose

• Department of Intercultural Evangelism and Mission (DIEM)

  • Ms. Jean Wyatt – St. Joseph, Milpitas

  • Ms. Dorothy Duckett – St. Francis, San Jose

  • Mr. Lee Blankenship – Good Shephard, Salinas

  • Mr. Forrest Huff – St. John’s, Capitola

  • Ms. Meryl Dun – All Saints, Carmel

  • Ms. Jennifer Ezell – St. Timothy’s, Mountain View

• Standing Committee

  • Clergy The Rev. Mary Morrison – St. Luke’s, Los Gatos

  • Lay Ms. Graciela Velasquez – Nuestra Sra. de Guadalupe, San Jose

• Commission on Ministry

  • Clergy The Rev. Michael Ferrito – Holy Spirit, Campbell

  • Lay Mr. Floyd Farlow – St. Francis, San Jose

• Ecclesiastical Trial Court

  • Clergy The Rev. Lance Beizer – Trinity, San Jose

  • Lay Ms. Cynthia Maxwell, Esq. - St. James, Paso Robles

• Diocesan Review Committee

  • Clergy The Rev. Ian Montgomery – All Saints, Palo Alto

Bishop’s Crosses were given to three dedicated and long time servants of the diocese,
the Rev. David Breuer, Mr. Richard Mueller, and the Rev. Donna Ross.

This was a spirit-filled convention and a unifying time for the diocese. We came together with a sense of trust and willingness to move ahead. We spent much of the past year meeting with each other discussing the pros and cons of each issue. The votes on structure and funding were overwhelmingly in favor of each option that won. We have been able to hear each others views, share our own, and come together in a common vision. This is an exciting time for the diocese as we move forward with choosing a bishop who will help us continue the journey.

The Annual Convention for 2007 was set for October 26 and 27, 2007 at Sherwood Hall in Salinas. Also the date of June 16, 2007 was announced for the Electing Convention for the third Bishop of El Camino Real.

Full details of the convention can be found on the website at http://www.edecr.org