07 Jan Culture and Order – News Roundup January 2025

Welcome to the News Roundup, where we aim to provide brief recaps of current news from the Diocese, including the Standing Committee, Task Forces, and more. In this issue, find updates from the Synod* meeting in October, plus links to Revive 2024 talks.

In This Issue:

Synod
Culture and Order
Annual Report
Standing Committee Elections
Congregations Welcomed
Canon Theologian Installed
Safeguarding Task Force
New Safeguarding Coordinator

Revive
Revive 2024 Talks

Notes
Bishop Stewart’s Travels
Trial Schedule Explanation
Revive 2025
Job Opportunities

Synod
Culture and Order
Bishop Stewart’s plenary address explained the diocese’s need for a healthy balance on the two legs of culture and order. Both legs build up the church and reflect God’s character. Culture embodies the presence of God among us, whereas order speaks to God’s character of peace. Too much culture and not enough order can lead to disorganization and burnout, while the reverse can result in stagnation and overdependence on policy and rules at the expense of vision.
View the plenary slides here.

Annual Report
Glean an overview of the last year in our Annual Report here.

Standing Committee Elections
Fr. Kent Anderson of Christ Church Madison (WI) and Alyssa Tennison of Church of the Cross (MN) were re-elected to the Standing Committee for three-year terms. They both had completed a one-year term that began when the Standing Committee formed in late 2023. After the Synod, per our Canons, Bishop Stewart asked Fr. Kent to continue serving as Chair, and the Standing Committee elected Alyssa to continue serving as the Vice Chair.

Congregations Welcomed
Delegates voted to receive Church of the Incarnation (WI) and Cornerstone Anglican Church (IL) as official congregations in the Upper Midwest. Church of the Incarnation was a church plant that has become self-supporting, and Cornerstone Anglican Church transitioned from the Greenhouse Movement.

View an organizational chart of congregations in the Upper Midwest here.

Canon Theologian Installed
The Rev. Canon Dr. John Clark was installed as the Upper Midwest’s second Canon Theologian on Saturday, Oct 26, at Revive. He will serve alongside The Rev. Canon Dr. Stephen Gauthier, who has faithfully served as the first Canon Theologian of the Diocese since 2014.

Canon John will help relaunch Gregory House, develop a team of diocesan theologians to build collegial relationships and produce scholarly work for catechesis within the diocese, and work collaboratively with our other canons (Canon to the Ordinary Brenda Dumper and Canon for Church Planting Molly Ruch). Read our interview with Canon John here.

Safeguarding Task Force
Now that the ACNA has released its Sample Policy for the Protection of Children and Adults in August, the Standing Committee has relaunched the diocesan Safeguarding Task Force. It aims to complete its initial work and develop a comprehensive Protection Policy and a Registered Sex Offender (RSO) Policy. In addition to the ACNA’s aforementioned Sample Policy, the Upper Midwest is drawing from the existing diocesan Child Protection Policy Standards, plus the work products of the previous diocesan Misconduct Prevention and RSO Task Forces as source material. The Diocese is ensuring that all requirements of the ACNA Constitution and Canons and the Upper Midwest’s Constitution and Canons are met and exceeded.

New Safeguarding Coordinator
In September the Diocese welcomed Dorie Moore as part-time Safeguarding Coordinator. She, her husband Nathaniel, and their two sons attend St. Aidan’s Anglican Church in Kansas City where Dorie also works part-time in Children’s Ministry. She holds a double major in Bible and Education, and has worked in a variety of public and private schools, and in Ukraine.

Dorie will be working with our diocesan churches to help them utilize best practices and policies as they seek to protect their people from any form of misconduct. After the aforementioned Safeguarding Task Force completes its work, Dorie will lead an ongoing Safeguarding Sub-Committee composed of licensed therapists and counselors and other professionals with expertise in trauma response, risk management knowledge, and legal issues.

Revive 2024 Talks
The Revive Conference took place at Church of the Resurrection (IL) in October and included plenary talks on prayer, Bible reading, and fasting, plus testimonies from various churches. An afternoon of teachings and talks for Leaders & Artists was added this year.
Listen to Revive and Leaders & Artists key talks here.
Enjoy photos from Revive here.

Bishop Stewart’s Travels
Bishop Stewart was honored to attend Archbishop Wood’s investiture in South Carolina in October. By year end, he will also have visited more than a dozen diocesan churches and a team serving in the Middle East.

Trial Schedule Explanation
Read an explanation of legal terms for the schedule of trial and pre-trial proceedings for Bishop Stewart here. In September, the Court for the Trial of a Bishop posted the schedule of proceedings here.

Revive 2025
Save the dates for Revive: October 24-25, 2025

Job Opportunities
Find openings at our diocesan churches here.

Stay Connected
The Upper Midwest seeks to connect you to leaders and ministries across the Diocese via timely updates, clear information, and encouraging ministry reports. In addition to the News Roundup, you’ll receive:

• Our regular e-newsletter, Upper Midwest Anglican Stories (UMD Stories), with highlights from different churches, events, and ministries where the Lord is on the move. Read the last issue here.
• Leaders’ Latest, greetings from Bishop Stewart and his introduction to an inspiring lay person, church staff, or leader in the Diocese. Find the last issue here.
• Subscribe here.

*The Synod is the Diocese’s primary legislative body composed of clergy and an elected number of lay delegates based on each congregation’s average Sunday attendance. It historically meets in conjunction with the Revive Conference. Synod 2025 will be on Friday, October 24, at the Cathedral.