Although we had the
same shorter format for Convocation this year, for some reason it seemed to
last a lot longer than previous years.
We crammed a lot into three days.
After last year, we
didn’t hold out much hope of finding somewhere to stop for lunch. So we took a picnic and thought we’d find a
nice spot in the country to stop. Alas,
this also was a difficult task. We ended
up in a layby by the roadside. Still at
least the weather was really nice and hot, we enjoyed our wine and Eric enjoyed
his spot of sunbathing.
We arrived at The
Hayes and proceeded to the stifling large conference room. Bishop John McLean welcomed people attending
for the first time, including our two new ministers from The States, and also
Bishop Meyer who had yet to arrive. We then
re-elected Bishop Paul as General Secretary, got through the various letters
and even received the reports before the first break.
After moving into our
rooms and enjoying a nice cup of tea and piece of flapjack in the sun, business
restarted. We got through all the
reports so quickly that we even had the report from the General Treasurer - the
first time Dad had spoken on day one!
The good news was that the recession hadn’t affected our finances as
much as feared and so the quota was kept at £600.
We then moved onto
the election of officers, the first due to be the new Bishop Primus as Bishop
Ken was retiring. Although this election
was postponed due to Ken’s absence, Bishop McLean proposed that Bishop Ken be
given the title of Bishop Primus Emeritus, in recognition and thanks for his
hard work over many years. This was
agreed unanimously. Most of the
remaining officers were elected back to office, with the exception of Rev John
Leal being elected as the new Webmaster.
The session closed and I went to chat to our new Webmaster about redesigning
our current website, resulting in Rev John deciding I was his new
assistant. Still, I was able to chat to
both new American ministers and it was good to get to know the new faces.
After tea we went to
Evening Prayer where the Convocation Charge was given by Bishop Ken. This centred on the Epistle of James and
building the church. As usual, this was
followed by a trip to the bar where I spent part of the evening talking about
websites with Rev John Leal, and part of it discussing the hierarchy of the
Church of England with Bishop John the Younger.
A most convivial evening!
The next day, business
started with the election of the new Bishop Primus. The ballot was between the two Bishop Johns
and Bishop John McLean was duly elected.
He indicated he would only serve for a year. We then elected all of the committee members,
mostly the same as last year with one or two new additions. We moved onto the motions, and after giving
the second year approval to some amendments to the Articles and Cannons we
moved onto deciding whether we should seek to join Churches Together in England
After a tea break, we
started wading through amendments to the Articles and Cannons. This took a lot of discussion and a lunch
break, but we finally passed the whole motion.
Another motion later, we broke for the evening meal. This was a special occasion and after a quick
trip to the bar for dinner wine and beer, we were surprised to discover wine
had been provided on the table! The meal
was in celebration of Bishop Ken’s long service and retirement as Primus and it
almost developed into a party.
As far as Bishop Ken
was aware, we were then due to go back to the conference room for the evening’s
business session. Much to everyone’s
delight, we were actually treated to a fantastic rendition of the musical
‘Rock’, which gives the story of Simon Peter, the fisherman who followed Jesus
to become a fisher of men and was a rock for the early church. I think everyone in the audience found this
to be an emotional performance and was an event not to be missed.
Once again, following
this event I found myself in the bar where I was able to catch up with old
friends seen annually. After showing Bishop
Gerhard Meyer how to use Facebook, being one of the last in the bar I was about
to leave to go to bed. Unfortunately, my
route took me past someone pouring out a few glasses of something from a
familiar looking bottle. Maybe I should
have known better, but I couldn’t stop myself.
Still in a jubilant
mood following the presentation of the Rock, I paused as I passed the table and
asked if that was Laphroaig he was pouring.
It was indeed, and I was cordially invited to join in. I somehow found myself drinking Scotch with
half a dozen Cannons from the Church of England. I did my best to improve the relationship
between the two denominations and I don’t think I did too bad a job. After finishing the Laphroaig and sampling
two more malts, I finally got to my bed at ten to four in the morning. Maybe that’s why Convocation seemed to last
longer.
Alas, I missed the
morning service. After breakfast, which
included strong painkillers, we got back to business and the last of the
motions. We eventually passed an
alternative funeral service order. That
left us with the last few bits and bobs and business was finished!
Following the annual
photo call, it was time for Holy Communion and the Convocation Sermon, given by
Rev John Graver. A combination of the
previous sermons and the presentation of the Rock meant John was concerned that
his sermon had pretty much already been given.
He need not have worried. It
continued the theme that had been running through Convocation and his main
subject was the story of Simon Peter.
This was one of the most memorable sermons I have heard, not least
because it started with two jokes. Also,
John said that had Jesus asked him to “Follow me” he wouldn’t have hesitated as
he hates fishing. It was inspirational
and also heart warming to hear about the work being done in Exmouth. Bishop McLean later took the opportunity to
let Bishop Ken know he was now Bishop Primus Emeritus.
Following lunch, it
was time for leave taking and the journey home.
This year, Convocation was something special with building our church
the concurrent theme, apparently by coincidence. Certainly not by human design. I left feeling revitalised and inspired to
carry on the good work.
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