Stepping out of the Boat

Stepping Out of the Boat: Reflections on the 242nd Annual Convention of the Episcopal Church in Connecticut

 A report from Convention by Gail Bindley-Taylor

The weekend of October 23–24 was firmly marked on my calendar and imprinted on my brain. This year, for the third time, I would attend the Annual Convention of the Episcopal Church in Connecticut (ECCT) as a delegate from St. Paul’s on the Green.

Convention is the annual gathering of two lay delegates from each of the Diocese’s 153 worshipping communities and all canonically resident clergy. It is where we come together to worship, pray, discuss the business of the Church, consider resolutions and vote on matters affecting the life and mission of the Diocese.

Our delegates are elected to represent their parishes, speaking and voting on their behalf. For those attending for the first time, Convention is a fascinating combination of listening and learning, worship and prayer. Above all, it is a unique opportunity to meet and share the love of Christ with Episcopalians from across the breadth of Connecticut. Familiarising oneself beforehand with the budget and proposed resolutions makes the experience even more meaningful.

I love Convention. The noise of people warmly greeting one another, the camaraderie, and the sight of hundreds of people praying, singing and worshipping together are priceless.

Each Convention has its own special qualities. This year, I was particularly struck by the depth and honesty of the exchanges, including strongly opposing views reflected in amendments proposed from the floor. Discussions at our tables were equally rich and sometimes controversial, but respectful and full of opportunities to listen and learn. For me, it was both a revealing and reflective experience.

The Business of Convention:

Convention approved nine resolutions, including the 2027 budget of just over $7.7 million. The Diocesan Treasurer, Gordon Ross, reported that the Diocese’s financial position in 2026 “remained solid.” The Canon for Finance and Operations, the Reverend Rosanna Rosado, explained that the budget had increased by 8.46 per cent over the 2026 budget, reflecting higher medical benefits, cost-of-living adjustments and essential operating expenses. Staffing remained steady, and she assured delegates that her office would continue to exercise careful stewardship of the funds contributed by parishes. The budget, she noted, reflected “our mission and the priorities we shared.”

The budget included increases in clergy compensation, welcome news for our clergy. A separate resolution on clergy compensation generated considerable discussion. An amendment proposed by our own Father Paul was adopted, calling for a study of the feasibility of sabbaticals for part-time clergy in the Diocese.

The remaining resolutions addressed a range of issues affecting our congregations and the wider community. One expanded the Equal Employment Opportunity policy to include protections for victims of domestic violence and human trafficking. Another, Resolution 5, raised important questions about how congregations can bear public witness on issues such as immigration and voting rights, and where they can find credible, nonpartisan resources to guide their social justice work.

Resolution 7, “Standing in Solidarity With Palestine,” generated the longest and most passionate debate on the wording. It addressed the plight of the Palestinian people and included a resolution to be sent to the 2027 General Convention of The Episcopal Church. Among other provisions, this resolution encourages congregations and communities in ECCT to engage in prayer, conversation and study about the situation in Gaza and settler violence in the West Bank, and to support efforts towards lasting peace in Palestine and Israel, including the rebuilding of Gaza and the restoration of Palestinian homesteads in the West Bank. After extensive discussion and several amendments, the resolution passed.

Other resolutions looked to the future of the Church and its responsibilities. Resolution 9 called for the establishment of a standing Young Adult Ministry Council to help invest in and empower adults aged 18–39 for the mission of God. Resolution 8 called on parishes to recognize the Sunday closest to Juneteenth (June 19) each year as Reparations Sunday. Resolution 6 called for the establishment of a Diocesan Energy Task Force.

Together, these resolutions reflected the breadth of the Church’s concerns, from employment and clergy welfare to social justice, young adult ministry, reparations and environmental responsibility.

Recognizing ministry and service:

This year also saw the presentation of the first Bishops’ Awards to individuals or groups whose work exemplifies ECCT’s watchwords: “Growing in Faith, Living in Hope and Serving in Love.”

St. Luke’s New Haven Steelband, which performed at Convention, received the Growing in Faith award. Our former Bishop, the Right Reverend Ian T. Douglas, was also recognised for his initiative “Joining Jesus in a New Missional Age.” This initiative has helped raise close to $6 million through individual leadership gifts, bequests and estate commitments which in turn has supported both diocesan  ministries and local initiatives in 13 parishes.

The funding enabled congregations to address important needs in their communities, including rebuilding the chorister program at our Cathedral in Hartford, a transformative greening initiative at St. Mark’s in Mystic, and improvements to air conditioning and security cameras at St. Monica’s in Hartford. These examples demonstrated how shared resources can strengthen local ministry.

The Bishop’s Challenge: Getting out of the Boat:

The highlight of Convention is always the Bishop Diocesan’s address, and our Bishop, the Right Reverend Jeffrey Mello, did not disappoint.  

He reminded us that in difficult times, “when the world seems overwhelming and we don’t know what we can do, we can come together. We can join in prayer and remind ourselves that we are one body, that we need one another.”

 Drawing on the Gospel of Matthew, he recalled Peter stepping out of a boat to go to Jesus on the water. When Peter became frightened by the wind and waves, he began to sink and called out for help. Jesus reached out and rescued him.

Bishop Mello invited us to see each congregation as a boat, filled with faithful disciples doing their best to navigate the challenges before them. Although our boats may be in different conditions, we will all experience moments of fear and uncertainty. But, as he reminded us, “we need not drown and we need not tread water on our own. We can call on Christ and Christ will save us. Precious Lord, take my hand.”

His challenge was to get out of our boats “to meet Jesus where he is calling us.” He pointed to the work of the staff at The Commons, the offices of our Bishops, as an example of how the Diocese serves congregations in many different ways. But he also challenged each congregation to discern, through prayer, what getting out of the boat means for its own mission and ministry. For St. Paul’s, that means asking what God is calling us to do in the year ahead.

Bishop Mello was clear about what getting out of the boat means for the Diocese as a whole: “It means taking some risks, asking hard questions, and trying hard things. We need to explore what it means that our congregations are increasingly unable to sustain the increasing costs of what it means to be Church today. We need to ask ourselves honestly if we are okay that we are increasingly becoming a Church only for those who can pay for it. We need to leverage our resources, financial and otherwise, to support our parishes and communities.”

What resonated most with me was his message on racial justice and the treatment of immigrants: “We will not stand down from our insistence that, regardless of policy or polity, our Scripture is crystal clear on how we are to treat our immigrant neighbors. To proclaim the Good News of Christ means we must repeatedly, emphatically, every opportunity we get, reject White Christian Nationalism in all its forms. And we need to witness to the world that blaming the raging waters on those who are drowning in them is counter to the Gospel we have received in Christ Jesus.”

These words were a powerful reminder that our faith calls us not only to prayer and fellowship, but also to action and public witness.

As Bishop Mello approaches his fifth year as our Diocesan leader in 2027, he hopes that we will enter a period of “mutual discernment that will bring us clarity and sharpen our shared vision for the work in the next season of our life in ECCT.”

He ended his address with this charge: “Let’s get out of the boat and let’s try walking on water.”

With final evening prayer and the packing up of the Ministry Fair, which showcased the work of ECCT’s many Ministry Networks, the 550 delegates said farewell for another year, exchanging warm goodbyes and contact information.

St. Paul’s Place in the Diocese: 

St. Paul’s has a seat at the Diocesan table. Father Daniel has been appointed Regional Dean of the Southwest Region for another three years. The Reverend Edrice Viechweg was elected to a three-year term on the Title IV Disciplinary Board, and I was elected to a three-year term on the Standing Committee. These appointments and elections are a reminder that our congregation is not simply part of a local parish community. We are part of a wider Church, with a voice and a responsibility in its governance, ministry and mission.

As you cast your ballot for the next two delegates and alternates to represent St. Paul’s at next year’s parish annual meeting, I encourage you to think about how you wish our congregation to be represented.

Convention brings us together for worship, prayer, listening, learning and the business of our Church. But it also challenges us to consider what faithful action looks like when we return to our own communities. As we look to the year ahead, let us continue to listen, discern and ask ourselves: What is God calling St. Paul’s to do? And let us have the courage, together, to step out of the boat in faith.