This weekend the Standing Committee will gather in Fairbanks for its annual pre-convention Face to Face Meeting. They have a busy agenda planned. The first item will be a review of the annual Diocesan audit. Every year, the Diocese of Alaska undergoes a professional audit by an independent outside auditing firm. It is the Standing Committee’s responsibility to receive the auditor’s report and review and address any issues that may be presented. While the review of these reports is a significant amount of work, one outcome is clear year after year: we are very fortunate to have the excellent and careful accounting and financial management of Canon Suzanne Krull, and Lynnette Winfrey Frank, our Diocesan Bookkeeper.
The Standing Committee will also receive a report on the work being done on Resolution 2022-03 Supporting the Episcopal Church’s Truth-Telling about Indigenous Boarding Schools. Diocesan Historiographers Adam Lees and Jake Lambers have been working on the first stages of research. Pearl Chanar, the Co-Chair of the Episcopal Church’s Commission on Truth-Telling about Indigenous Boarding Schools will also report on the excellent opportunities the Diocese of Alaska has to partner with the work that is being engaged with that Commission. We can expect to hear more about this work at the Diocesan Convention in October.
The Standing Committee will also complete a review of the plans for the upcoming Diocesan Convention October 3-5 at All Saints’, Anchorage. As part of the business of planning for Diocesan Convention, the Standing Committee will review the proposed budget for 2025, offer any amendments or changes, and then act to recommend the Proposed Budget to Diocesan Convention for adoption.
However, their work will not be all numbers, spreadsheets, and reports. The Standing Committee will also interview two individuals for Candidacy for ordination: Jeanette Dementi of Shageluk, and Judy Gau of Tanana.
Also on the agenda is a report and consideration for action on future plans for the schedule and structure of Diocesan Convention. Following the Convention in Juneau last year, the Standing Committee has been receiving input from surveys and deanery meetings regarding ways to restructure Diocesan Convention including changing it to an online format one year and in-person the next. The goal is to reduce the ever-growing cost of Diocesan Convention and ease the burden of hosting the event, while still completing the required business of convention and maintaining the most important values the Diocese holds for this annual gathering.
This isn’t the full agenda. It will be a very full two days. There will be other business to address, but nothing on the agenda more important than the time scheduled for prayer and fellowship together. I invite you to share with us in that important “work.” Please pray for your Standing Committee as they meet this weekend, and join me in offering thanks to God for their ministry, leadership, and witness.
The Standing Committee members are: Lauran Pifke, President (South Central); Maggie McKay (South Central); John Holz (Interior); Judy Gau (Interior); Enoch Adams (Arctic Coast); Barbara Collison (Arctic Coast); Julie Platson, VP (Southeast); Michael Lukshin (Southeast); and Nancy Burke (Bishop’s Appointee).
