128^th Synod Held in Mt. Vernon

Bishop Beckwith delivers his Synod Address

The Diocese of Springfield held its 128^th Diocesan Synod on October 28 and 29, 2005 in Mount Vernon, Illinois with the theme, Called and Sent by Christ. The Synod, which was hosted by Trinity Episcopal Church, was held at St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church Parish Center.

Bishop Beckwith addressed the gathering on the first day of synod. He welcomed the invited guests, recognized and welcomed new clergy who joined the Diocese since the last synod, acknowledged those who left the diocese, and remembered the clergy who had died.

In his address, Bishop Beckwith, remarked that “in God’s Kingdom there are no “rights,” but privileges abound.” He drew the analogy of how Israel’s privilege was to be “chosen and loved by God, and saved by Him from slavery in Egypt” with our privilege as being “chosen and loved by God, who in Jesus Christ died for us and, thereby, redeemed us from the slavery of sin.” He expressed that in knowing his own imperfections, it never ceases to amaze him how God cares for him by choosing him to be His servant.   

The Bishop focused on the continued situation in the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion as a whole and his assessment of it. In his view, it appears as if the Episcopal Church has never been closer to the reality of what has been said of the Church as being “one generation from extinction.” He completely agrees with his colleague, John Lipscomb, Bishop of Southwest Florida, who said, “Our decline stems in part…from the corporate timidity to acknowledge the uniqueness of Jesus of Nazareth as the Way, the Truth and the Life for all people.” Bishop Beckwith, who is in the fourteenth year of his episcopacy, feels that too often, the Church, corporately and individually, seems to have either forgotten the Gospel of Christ, or have never been taught what it is and come to believe it. He believes that we, who are Episcopalians, are guilty of being purveyors of “cheap grace.” He reminded members to be “on guard against false teachers. False teaching seems to abound these days and it is a cancer in the Body of Christ. Left untreated it will kill.”

In his closing remarks, he exhorted, “As Christians we are to pray like everything depends on God, and we are to work and witness as if everything depends on us. We are to love as if we’ve never been hurt, dance and sing as if nobody is watching or listening, and live like Earth is Heaven. If we do that, we may be certain that a rainbow will follow each rain, the hand of a friend will always be near, and most importantly God will fill our hearts with overflowing gladness.”

In addition to the Bishop’s Address, a number of invited guests brought greetings to the Synod. These persons included:

Bishop Warren Freiheit of the Central/Southern Illinois Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (E.L.C.A.);

The Rev. David Anderson, Executive Director of the Illinois Conference of Churches; Father Daniel Jurek, Pastor of St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church;

The Very Rev. Dr. Robert S. Munday, Dean and President of Nashotah House Seminary;

The Very Rev. John R. Spencer, Regional Dean of the Peoria Deanery, Diocese of Quincy;

The Ven. Miguel Uchoa, Archdeacon of the South, Diocese of Recife, Brazil.

The first day of business concluded with the presentation of Reports of the various Departments, Commissions and Ministries and the Elections to Diocesan positions. The evening ended with Evensong and the Synod Banquet.

The Synod Eucharist, presided by Bishop Beckwith, was held on the Saturday morning in St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church. The preacher was the Venerable Miguel Uchoa of the Diocese of Recife. Fr. Uchoa urged that we need to “preach the truth in an untruth time.” He said that our greatest enemy today is “within the walls of the church and its most clear manifestation is behind the single word, ‘relativism.’” He mentioned that we are in a persecuted time, a time in which we are experiencing “a wave that comes to shake the structures of the holy and apostolic Church of God” but we are not to worry because the story will have “a happy ending;” the wave “will not prevail.” The Archdeacon encouraged his audience that “we need to be ready to answer the questions of this world,” for God has sent us to be “agents of transformation in this society.”

Two very informative presentations were made during the second business session – the American Anglican Council Relief Development outlining what the organization offers and how one can assist; and the Diocesan Youth Department presented the programs which the diocese offers including Happening, New Beginnings, Diocesan Camp, Work Week, Winter Ball and two extra-diocesan events – Agape Festival and YouthQuake. Several booths formed part of the Resource Center for Diocesan and Episcopal Church information.