EASTERTIDE - AD 2002
In the parlor car the windows looked as if we had just plowed through a muddy puddle. The Amtrak staff had carefully circulated the rumor that someone had used the wrong sort of washing fluid; the windows were now permanently etched and soon to be replaced. The views of Mt. Shasta, bathed in early morning light, and the snow-laden crest of the Cascades were without parallel. With a little practice we were able to incorporate the etching in the windows into the vista, the result being pleasurably like a Seurat painting. We were on our regular post-convention tour to the Pacific Northwest. Convention is not so draining that we need to get away to recuperate, but it seems we almost always go to Convention and then to the Northwest.

This year the Convention of the Diocese of El Camino Real was different. Perhaps it started with the triennial assessment of the Diocese that was presented at the close of last year’s (2001) convention. Triennial, it turns out, is a euphemism for something like five or six years, because that is how long it took to get it done. When it was done and presented, we found out — no surprise to most — we had some problems that required our honest attention. A strategic planning committee took the assessment and developed a plan that was adopted by this year’s Convention. The plan says: "We got troubles right here in El Camino Real, it starts with "C" and it ends with "N" and its name is COMMUNICATION. For the most part, this is communication from the Bishop and diocesan structure to the people of the diocese, but there was also identified a failure to foster open dialogue between the various entities of the diocesan structure. These things happen in the best of families, but the report of the Standing Committee, for the year 2001, gave the impression that we may not qualify for "best of families"status. Actions and happenings in the Diocese this past year have done much to retard progress toward eliminating the "us" versus "them" perception. That is to say "us" being the people of the parishes and "them" being the Diocese. Our charge is to start doing ALL that is necessary to bring us together as the Church, without regard to title, prerogatives, or orientation.

St. Paul’s was represented by Dan Field, who spent a good deal of his time trying to find out where Robert’s Rules of Order can be found in the Gospel; Anne Meyer, who goes to Convention . . . because she has always gone to Convention and can’t imagine it without Robert’s Rules; Donna Ross, who feels that Robert’s Rules helps in our struggle with Original Sin; Frank Michel, who has no stated position regarding Robert’s Rules; and "yours truly," who thinks that he is Robert. We did some things of which we are not terribly proud, but these were vastly overshadowed by the confrontation of our problems. The proof will be in what we do from here. We will gladly share our experiences and make suggestions as to how you might possibly become involved.

We are a diocese in crisis. A church structure fired out of the Renaissance and the Reformation still clinging to its catholic roots, badly in need of its own Easter, badly in need of understanding and its own Reformation. Badly in need of a trip to the Pacific Northwest on the Coast Starlight.

"Noah"
("commonly know as Jim [Wilson]")

Parish member Jim Wilson recently completed a four-year term on the Standing Committee of our diocese.