Resolutions adopted at the 128th Diocesan Convention of the Diocese of East Carolina

You can find them here.

Posted in * Anglican - Episcopal, Anglican Covenant, Episcopal Church (TEC), TEC Bishops, TEC Diocesan Conventions/Diocesan Councils

12 comments on “Resolutions adopted at the 128th Diocesan Convention of the Diocese of East Carolina

  1. Don C says:

    In short: East Carolina did not approve the Covenant.

    [i]THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this 128th Convention of the Diocese of East
    Carolina requests that the Executive Council of The Episcopal Church express our earnest desire,
    without approval of the Covenant as presented at this time, to continue in conversation concerning
    issues of the Communion with our fellow Churches of the Anglican Communion; and
    THEREFORE BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that this 128th Convention of the Diocese of East
    Carolina requests that the Executive Council of the Episcopal Church to express our desire that any
    future Covenant presented to this The Episcopal Church represent more truly, and with greater clarity
    and full recognition of voices of laity and clergy, our Anglican tradition and Christian faith. [/i]

  2. Statmann says:

    East Carolina did quite well during 2002 through 2009 with Members down only 1.3 percent, ASA down only 2.7 percent, and Plate & Pledge (adjusted for inflation) down less than 1 percent. (I ranked them at 3 in 95 dioceses considered.) Thus, it is truly surprising to see that Infant Baptisms fell from 380 in 2002 to 243 in 2009, or down 36.1 percent. IF the number keeps falling at about 20 per year, the last Infant Baptism will occur in 2021. Statmann

  3. David Keller says:

    Why do we keep doing anti-racism resolutions? The Episcopal Church is about the least racist orginazition on earth. Now, I agree there is racism out there in the nasty world, but anybody in TEC who would want to do something (crazy) like be on a diocesan council is not very likely to be a relative of Bull Connor. Truth is, anti-racism traning in TEC has become a cottage industry. TEC does loving your neighbor as yourself pretty darn well. What we need are resolutions about going unto all the world baptising in the name of the Trinity, and maybe some required reading on orthodoxy. We aren’t too good on those.

  4. Cennydd13 says:

    It’s unfortunate that there hasn’t been organized pressure within the Anglican Communion for a provision which, if adopted, would ensure that no single province of the Communion would ever be permitted to wield undue influence over its affairs and/or practices at the expense of any emerging proto-province which may petition to join it.

  5. bettcee says:

    Statman, post 2, Are there any statistics that show the membership or ASA of children and teenagers in the Episcopal church?

  6. Bookworm(God keep Snarkster) says:

    “Thus, it is truly surprising to see that Infant Baptisms fell from 380 in 2002 to 243 in 2009, or down 36.1 percent”.

    Perhaps the masses are catching on to the revisionism. There’s a lot of ACNA/AMiA churches in North Carolina. Be interesting to see what their baptism data look like. Maybe those numbers rose in ’09.

  7. Statmann says:

    TEC (815 in NYC) published a very fine report on Parishes in 2008, comparing the Age distribution of TEC versus the USA. For Ages 0 to 17 TEC was 16 percent and USA was 25 percent; for Ages 18 to 34 12 percent for TEC and 23 percent for USA; for 35 to 49 TEC was 21 percent and USA was 22 percent; for 50 to 64 TEC was 24 percent and USA was 18 percent; and for Ages of 65 to ? TEC was 27 percent and USA was 13 percent. Statmann

  8. lostdesert says:

    IF the number keeps falling at about 20 per year, the last Infant Baptism will occur in 2021.

    Thank you for your work Statmann, excellent as always. I will disagree with this assessment however as it presumes a linear decline here. My guess is that this is curvilinear and begins to decline sharply as a critical mass is lost.

  9. driver8 says:

    His [Jesus] mission is, first and foremost, to invite his followers to learn the discipline of co-existence.

    From the Bishop’s sermon. As a description of Our Lord’s mission this is extraordinary. How about using Our Lord’s first description of his mission, “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

  10. Statmann says:

    lostdesert: Good comment. With only 8 data points (6 degrees of freedom), one cannot make any meaningful statements with statistical confidence about a linear shape of this time series. But one is always tempted to do so as a straight line in so easy to understand (maybe, that’s why we call it simplee linear regression). I noted how amazingly linear was the total TEC data for 2002 through 2009 with an annual loss of 2,088 Infant Baptisms a year. So, with “tongue in cheek”, I forecasted the last Infant Baptism in TEC to take place in 2023 on a specific month and day. Thus, I make linear statements about individual dioceses just because it is simpler to do so. Mea culpa. Statmann

  11. lostdesert says:

    No mea culpa accepted. A fine analysis, you are an asset to us all and we are indebted, the numbers bring life to the situation. Sadly, the news is always bad, but perhaps the loss of TEC will mean the rebirth of the beautiful faith that was my home for so long. I always read your posts with interest and attention.

    With gratitude,
    lostdesert.

  12. Statmann says:

    lostdesert: Thank you for your kind words. And the news is not always bad. Infant Baptisms in Diocese of Fond Du Lac increased from 101 in 2002 to 138 in 2009. (Could it be the cheese?) I believe no other diocese in TEC (USA) had an increase. Statmann