Episcopal Diocese of Minnesota

Attendees: Nelson Thomas and Wanda Copeland (Co-chairs), Helen Hanten, Nan Stokes, Roger and Kathy Weaver, Chuck and Carol Morello, Tom Harries, John Gibbs, and David Christman

Members welcomed John Gibbs and David Christman from Park Rapids, who are retired Presbyterian ministers interested in and committed to environmental stewardship.

Calendar of Upcoming Events:  Calendars were annotated for the following events:

• March 26, 1998: Spring Equinox meeting of MEESC at the Cathedral Church of St. Mark, Minneapolis.
• April 25, 1998: Diocesan Training Event, Breck School, Golden Valley, MN
• June 4-7, 1998: Episcopal Environmental Network (EEN) annual meeting at Canuga.  EEN hopes to "green" Canuga, which does not have an environmental focus.
• June 18-19, 1998: Summer Solstice meeting of MEESC at St. Andrew's by the Lake, Duluth, MN.
• June 19-21, 1998:  Deacon's Conference, St. John's, Collegivlle.  There will be an environmental theme.
• June-July 1998:  Lambeth Conference, Canterbury, England
• August 8-12, 1998:  National Council of Churches (NCC), Baptist Conference Center in North Carolina; to reinforce Estes Park Conference (1997) with denominations sharing where they are with environmental awareness.
• August 23-29, 1998: Environmental Family Camp, Cass Lake Episcopal Camp.
• September 17-18, 1998: Fall Equinox meeting of MEESC in Park Rapids.  Might include a visit to Itsaca State Park and the Mississippi headwaters.
• October 23-24: Diocesan Convention in Bloomington, MN
• April 1999: Clergy Conference
• Summer 2000: General Convention, Denver, CO.  EEN is planning a Eucharist at Rocky Flats

Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW) Resolution. Discussion and information about the resolution were presented at several Region meetings.  Some regions responded and some did not.  Regions in the Twin Cities area don't meet on a regular basis, so there is not much sense of community, and it is hard to generate a meaningful discussion.

We will abandon regional meetings and focus on the Diocesan Training Event.  Give people a chance to talk about childhood experiences related to environment, get a discussion going, show slides of the BWCAW, and send attendees back to their congregations with ideas for further discussion.

We could also draft a presentation which could be given at sermon time in a church.  Most priests are willing to have visitors come and talk to their congregations.  Members should bring ideas and resources to the March meeting.  We need to generate discussion to get people to thing about the environment and creation spirituality.

Diocesan Convention. We will present BWCAW resolution and get dialogue going at tables.  What do we want as a response?  Ask convention delegates present to write about the sacred places with "therefore" clause.  Questions:

• Identify your sacred place -- how does it nourish you?
• How do you return to it and/or take it with you?
• Does it make a difference in what you do and how you act?
• How do you recognize and affirm another person's sacred place?
• What is "portable piety" and how can we practice it?

We will do this exercise at Diocesan Convention in 1998 and put off voting on the BWCAW resolution until 1999.

Legislative Update:  Michael Noble of ME3 (Minnesotans for an Energy Efficient Economy) contacted Wanda concerning legislation to change the state tax structure so companies would be asked on how much they pollute.  We can motivate people to call legislators.  Do we want to do that?  If the church does not take a stand, that is a stand.  We lobbied for Public Service Announcements about Global Warming -- was it ever run?  No one saw it on TV.

Cass Lake Environmental Camp: August 23-29 is Family Camp #4 at Cass Lake Episcopal Camp.  This will be the Environmental Family Camp.  An outline of the NCC curriculum was distributed and discussed.  It has good ideas and is thorough.  The NCC curriculum is also available.  Helen and Nan recommend a 2-hour program time in the morning with environmental focus, and two hours later in the day which could be liturgy and discussion.  Campfire time could be used for myths, music, and storytelling.

Clergy Conference 1999:  MEESC is on the agenda.

Soundings: We need to be more consistent (and insistent) about environmental news in Soundings.  Chuck will e-mail an article on sacred spaces to Susan Barksdale for the February issue.

April 15 is the deadline for articles in the June issue of Soundings. Nelson will ask Steve Schaitberger to write an article about fishing.  Wanda will write an article for the "Weavings" space about the NCC training event in North Carolina.

Diocesan Mailings:  We will prepare an article for the February diocesan mailing which will refer to the Soundings article and invite clergy to have discussion of "sacred" space as part of a Lenten discipline in their churches.

Next meeting: Thursday, March 26, 1998 from 9:00 AM to 4:00 Pm at the Cathedral Church of St. mark, Minneapolis.  Agenda will include discussion of how to structure our presentation at the Diocesan Training Event in April.