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The Standing Committee is made up of six lay and six clerical representatives elected in staggered terms of four years by the Diocesan Convention. The Committee elects a president from among its members.
Standing Committee is a council of advice to the Bishop and acts as the ecclesiastical authority in the event that the office of bishop is vacant or the bishop is incapacitated.
From the Standing Committee's Report to Diocesan Convention 2011:
The primary purposes of our Diocesan Standing Committee are to be “a council of advice to the bishop…” and to “advise the bishop of its own accord,” as described in our diocesan Constitution and Canons.
The Standing Committee also has some ecclesiastical functions: certifying candidates for Ordination of Priests and Deacons and representing our diocese in consenting to the election, ordination, and consecration of other bishops.
In addition, the group approves property transactions, bylaws, and loans from the Kelton E. White and Alma Mayland White Memorial Fund for parishes within the diocese.
In October of 2009 the Standing Committee took on the role of design team for mission in the diocese to focus on our mission:
Making Disciples
Building Congregations
For the Life of the World.
We made a short video for convention to explain who we are and what we do. Here is the script:
What if you were asked to dream? To look at the church from a different angle? To speak to each other using a different language? What if you were asked to be a body of dreamers? A body that comes together to focus on mission instead of business? Let us tell you our story. In 2006, a major shift in diocesan governance took place. The Standing Committee would no longer act as the Corporation of the Episcopal Diocese of Missouri by passing on the duties to Diocesan Council. It made sense. Council is where the diocesan budget is developed and they provide oversight of the programs and offices that are funded by the budget. When this shift occurred, Standing Committee was, in a way, lost. While we still acted as an ecclesiastical monitor and as a council of advice to the bishop, it seemed like there was something missing. We were searching for our identity and our role in the councils of the church. One might say that we were a bit bored. Asleep at the wheel. Voting on church property sales and making oversight decisions is important, but the conversations were often short and unenthusiastic. Until the day the bishop invited us to do something new. Something exciting. Something so out-of-the-box that at first we didn’t know what to think and we didn’t know how to act. We were asked to dream. Yes dream. To take on the role of the diocesan design team we were commissioned to dig deep. To pray, talk, and envision… We were asked to spend time at every meeting with the simple task of asking big dreamer questions: “What would this look like?” “How would that work?” “Where should we go next?” Suddenly there was life: An energy that hadn’t been at the table. We were acting as a mission instead of a business. And our membership was no longer a responsibility, but rather a call. We have been blessed to ask big questions with the bishop while envisioning a new ministry in Old North Saint Louis. We met in Old North St. Louis to get the feel of what a ministry might be like there. And we’ve explored other ministries too. We’ve begun to explore what a shared parish nurse might look like in the diocese and we are asking how we as the Standing Committee can act as an agent of such transformation and change. We have been transformed and continue to transform into a missonal body. What if you were asked to dream? To look at the church from a different angle? To speak to each other using a different language? To be a body of mission instead of a body of business? What if?
Following the 171st Diocesan Convention, the Standing Committee met in November and December 2010, and in January, February, March, April, May, June, August, September and October 2011. Thanks to the Rev. Sally Weaver, Mr. Michael Reiser, the Rev. Kitty Hillquist, Ms. Lynette Ballard, Mr. Richard Coburn, Mr. Randy Mariani, the Rev. Shariya Molegoda, Ms. Nan Haynes, the Rev. Doris Westfall, the Rev. Dan Handschy (secretary), and Mr. Todd Eller (vice president) for their service on the Standing Committee this year.
During the year, the Standing Committee considered requests for nominations or consents for bishops in the Episcopal Dioceses of Haiti, Virginia, New York, East Tennessee, West Missouri, Northern Michigan, Western New York, Atlanta, and Alabama. We addressed property issues involving Calvary, Columbia; St. Francis, Eureka; and Grace, Clarksville; and we approved renovations for Grace, Jefferson City. We accepted the full repayment of Christ Church Cathedral’s White Fund loan and by request we are working with Trinity, St. Charles, on a reasonable repayment plan for their White Fund loan. We also approved a bridge loan for Grace, Kirkwood.
In March we hosted the Diocesan Leadership Conference titled, “Church in the 21st Century.” We welcomed Sabine McDowell as the keynote speaker to speak about living green in the church. We commended to the ordinations of Suzanne Wolfenbarger and Marc Smith in May. In June, we received an admonition against a Diocese of Missouri clergy member.
Finally, thanks to Bishop Smith and the Rev. Dan Smith, Canon to the Ordinary, and his administrative assistant, Robin Weisenborn, for their constant support of the Standing Committee and its work.
Respectfully submitted,
The Rev. Joseph M.C. Chambers, President
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