May 21, 2024

Presiding Bishop Michael Curry, Bishop José and the Rev. Joslyn Schaefer explored the Museum of the Cherokee People with James Bradley as a guide during the 2022 visit.

One of the ways we endeavor to live into our Baptismal Covenant is deepening relationships with and honoring the legacy, culture and people of the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians (ECBI). We are blessed to live on the land that the Cherokee and Catawba have called home for over two millennia, and we are called to build and sustain beloved community with our brothers and sisters on and around the Qualla Boundary.

With that goal in mind, our annual diocesan convention is being hosted by the Western Deanery in Cherokee, North Carolina, November 8–9, 2024. We will meet at Harrah’s Cherokee Convention Center and Resort. This particular gathering place is a partnership between the EBCI and Ceasars Entertainment, Inc. in which the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians receive 60% of all annual profits. These funds are used in all kinds of ways, from education to public safety.

While I acknowledge the presence of a casino on the property, I want to emphasize that our time together will be exclusively at the convention hall and hotel. I also recognize that as a result of gathering in Cherokee, the annual convention will come with some increased costs. The hotel connected to the convention center is lovely and offers proximity, one-time parking, and easy access to meeting spaces. The cost of lodging at nearby hotels is similar to our group rate at the convention center hotel.

I also want to affirm that gathering in Cherokee offers us several unique opportunities. First, we will have several occasions to meet and learn from esteemed leaders of the EBCI. Second, we will have an occasion to explore significant sacred sites as well as the Museum of the Cherokee People. Finally, we will be able to actively support the EBCI with our financial resources. Each of these opportunities builds Beloved Community and nurtures relationships. We encourage everyone to come and enjoy all that Cherokee has to offer.

Over my years as bishop, we have been working hard on intentional storytelling of this land and its people, including those instances where we have not lived up to Jesus’ call to love our neighbors. The importance of being present and among those we are called to live with, love, and care for cannot be understated. I hope we approach our 102nd annual diocesan convention in November with engaged commitment to Building Beloved Community.

Faithfully,

The Rt. Rev. José A. McLoughlin,

Bishop