Short report from the Continuing Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin

Executive Council has ended its winter meeting, held in Stockton, California in the continuing Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin. The message they want to get out there is that they are coming along, despite the financial challenges and administrative challenges that lie ahead of them.

Council decided last fall to change the meeting place from Memphis (we'll go there in October) to San Joaquin as a sign of solidarity. Of course, that change was made prior to the Pittsburgh, Fort Worth and Quincy defections. San Joaquin has turned out to be a wonderful guide for these other continuing dioceses since they have gone through the crucible and are moving forward.


We stayed at a hotel that doesn't know what is name is. It started out as a Hilton, then became a Radisson, then the Stockton Grand Hotel and was in the process of retuning to a Hilton, which meant we were staying in a construction site. Figure, there was no restaurant or bar, public bathrooms or fitness room. The staff was incredibly accommodating, however. The hotel looks out on a pseudo canal that is hardly long but has a pair of mallard ducks who have taken up residence. They even have little ramps they can walk out of the canal onto the street. I was intrigued by the poplars.


We had dinner Friday with the San Joaquin contingent. For those of you who read various blogs and know Beryl's postings, here she is — on the left. Executive Council members appreciated having an opportunity to meet their standing committee (president of which is on the right of the photo) and General Convention deputies. Only one has been to GC before.


Acting bishop Jerry Lamb showed us slides of San Joaquin — up on the screen is a photo of the killer fog they get out here.


This morning eight of us went to Saint Anne's, Stockton. They are a lively congregation that has a lot of energy and enthusiasm. Their leadership is solid and they clearly are coming along. They enjoy the advantage of having retained the building unlike other congregations, such as Grace, Bakersfield, who meets in the chapel of a Congregational church.


The church was formed in the 1940s and met in a church that was at the terminus of the railroad. They moved it to its current location and then through the ensuing years, kept adding onto it. The current church was built in the 1990s.


Caminante always finds votives to light (!).


Prior to the liturgy, the bishop spoke to an Executive Council member.


As we were leaving, the congregation was getting ready for their eighth annual pub night wherein they transform the nave into an English pub. They raise about $15000 for the general operating budget over three nights (seatings of 200-250 each).


We've always seen old church pews in restaurants; here the pew becomes a pub bench in its original context.


Presto! An old English pub. The stations of the cross get covered up with tea towels. And Sunday morning, they worship in the pub because they haven't changed everything back. It's a fun idea.

Now to spend some time outside in this glorious California weather. I have five more hours to hang out around here (saving the church money by sharing a shuttle with someone way earlier than I needed to arrive).