The 213th Annual Council - Diocese of Virginia

Proceedings
Molly Davis, Asbury Seminary; presenting parish: Trinity, Charlottesville
Libby Gibson, Virginia Seminary; presenting parish: St. Paul’s, Ivy
Meredith Heffner, Virginia Seminary; presenting parish: St. Alban’s, Annandale
Matthew Johnson, General Seminary; presenting parish: St. James’s, Richmond
David Niemeyer, Virginia Seminary; presenting parish: Christ Church, Glen Allen
Ann Ritonia, Virginia Seminary; presenting parish: St. Gabriel’s, Leesburg
Cathy Tibbetts, Virginia Seminary; presenting parish: Trinity, Washington
Denise Trogden, Virginia Seminary; presenting parish: St. Gabriel’s, Leesburg
Keith Turbeville, Seminary of the Southwest; presenting parish: St. James’, Leesburg
Sven vanBaars, Virginia Seminary; presenting parish: Abingdon, White Marsh
Report of Bishop Coadjutor Johnston
Bishop Johnston addessed the Council:
Good Afternoon. The Lord be with you. Let us pray.
Almighty and eternal God. So draw our hearts to you, so guide our minds, so fill our
imaginations, so control our wills that we may be wholly yours utterly dedicated to you;
and then use us we pray you, as you will, and always to your glory and the welfare of
your people; through our Lord and savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
Bishop Lee and Bishop Jones, honored guest Bishop Matthews, officers and members
of Council, it is wonderfully appropriate that the theme for my first Annual Council as
your Bishop Coadjutor is “God’s Abundant Love.” Personally here, I will add the word
“Grace” to our theme because I have experienced God’s abundant love most pointedly
in my own life during the past year through the grace of being made a bishop in God’s
Church. I happily note that tomorrow—January 26—is the exact anniversary date
of my election as coadjutor by your predecessor Council of the Diocese of Virginia.
And now, here we are. I can scarcely imagine that it has been a whole year since that
dumbfounding day. How marvelous it is (sentimentalist that I am) that I am able to spend
such a meaningful time with you, the Council—the very structure of my new diocesan
home. And before I go any further, Ellen and I want to say thank you for the terrific
welcome you have given us in so many places since my consecration.
It is a joy to be with you, and to serve you, and to serve with you. The Diocese of Virginia
is to be the place for the rest of my life’s “active” ministry: 22 more years, that is, as I am
able to stand and serve, fulfilling not only the constitutional provisions of the Episcopal
Church but also (I hope) your own hopes and expectations—not to mention such matters
as, oh… the Great Commission of our Lord! Since many (if not most) of you here are the
ones who called me into my ministry as a bishop in the first place, and since all of you are
among those who support and carry out that ministry in this Diocese, I cannot imagine a
more fitting scenario than to be here with you now. “Abundance” I now have an entirely
new appreciation for the phrase, “My cup runneth over.”
For these remarks, I have reflected on my own experiences of God’s abundant love from
my travels throughout the Diocese of Virginia and as I am coming to know it. Though I
have been your Bishop Coadjutor for only eight months, I have had ample opportunities
to experience that abundance first-hand. Between the schedule for my Sunday visitations
and the special events that have required episcopal ministry, I have by this time presided
liturgically and sacramentally in every single one of the 15 regions of the Diocese. I have
also met with or have already scheduled meetings with the clericus groups from all
but two of the Regions, and we are now in the midst of arranging scheduling for those
The Diocese of Virginia t Journal of the the 213 th Annual Council 79