“Friend raising” was the goal of two recent receptions hosted by the Board of Foreign Parishes (BFP) in New York City and Washington DC. “We really focused on a lot of friends – trying to cultivate and reinvigorate old relationships while making new ones,” said Del Glover, BFP board member.
Receptions in the Cathedral House at St. John the Divine (NYC) and the Virginia Theological Seminary (VTS) were well-attended; both raised awareness among audiences that were either unaware there are Episcopal churches in Europe or unfamiliar with the multinational, multilingual, and multicultural makeup of the Convocation, according to Nancy Treuhold, president of the BFP.
“I think that what Bishop Mark Edington did in his introduction about the church in Europe was to engage the church in the US and the Presiding Bishop (The Most Reverend Sean Rowe) in a more active way while, at the same time, reminding people in Europe that they are part of larger organization, they are not alone,” Glover remarked. Edington, along with members of the BFP, were invited to meet with the Presiding Bishop at the Episcopal Church Center in NY in what Treuhold said was a “very productive meeting.” This is the first time the BFP has been invited to meet with Bishop Rowe, and both Treuhold and Glover were excited about Rowe’s awareness and encouragement of our activity in Europe, where he has visited congregations in Munich, Geneva, Rome, and the cathedral in Paris. “Rowe’s support for the Convocation is a welcome continuation of that of (former) Presiding Bishop Michael Curry,” Glover noted.
A primary focus of all the meetings was on the Convocation Refugee Grant Program (CRGP) and the work that the Convocation is doing with refugees and migrants across Europe, in collaboration with Episcopal Relief & Development (ERD). Treuhold and Glover noted that screenings of the new documentary – Welcoming & Walking with Refugees – reminded people that the Episcopal Church remains committed to the work of migrant ministry and continues to do important work with the resources we have available in Europe.
A second focus, particularly at VTS, was on a potential curacy program that would explore offering VTS and other seminary students opportunities to serve within the Convocation. It would allow curates to spend time in the Convocation’s very diverse congregations and gain experience in congregations that are multicultural, multilingual, and multinational. “As Bishop Mark often says, if you can do ministry in Europe, you can do it anywhere,” Treuhold said.
This “multi everything” aspect of the Convocation is often a surprise to people in the US, she added. “Congregants in Europe come with a rich tapestry of backgrounds. They choose to worship with us because of our engaging mix of liturgy and openness and because of what the Episcopal church stands for.”
“Our goal in friend raising is to paint a vision of what we want to do in the future that is so exciting and enticing that you’ll want to be a part of it,” Treuhold concluded.
