The Diocese

	Bishops

	Clergy

	Giving

	Governance

	Outreach

	Staff

CONVENTION ADDRESS, 111TH DIOCESE OF WASHINGTON
BISHOP JOHN BRYSON CHANE

January 28, 2006

Most gracious and loving God, you have gathered us under the roof of this great cathedral to remind us once again that we belong to one another and to you. All of us here whether lay or clergy are blessed by the Holy Spirit with gifts as numerous as the stars in heaven and as varied as the snowflakes of winter.

We come together to do the business of the Church, the living Body of your Son, Jesus Christ, recognizing the sacredness of our duty and pledging to you our best efforts to move this diocese forward during times of great challenge and change.

You know our inner most thoughts, and what resides deep within our hearts. We never will be of one mind as we respond to the issues that are before us today, whether it be how we raise and spend our treasury, how we live into, or out of our disagreements with one another or how we should or shouldn't build up your church during these times of great cultural shifts and rapid demographic changes. And yet, in all of this, we come together seeking your guidance for wholeness through the breath of the Holy Spirit.

Help us we pray to seize this time and live into the goodness which resides within each of us to move this diocese to a place where it will become a mission driven diocese; where 93 congregations will begin to work as one body, one church committed to making new disciples for the Christ who gave his life for us so that we might, like him become a resurrection people. Help us we pray, to passionately spread the excitement and good news of the Gospel to many who have neither seen your light nor experienced the power of your unconditional love.

In the challenges before us as a diocese help us not to be so fixated on our own individual and parish needs that we forget the needs of the larger communities that surround us. Help us to understand that we have a responsibility not only for our own domestic mission but also a responsibility to reach out and then respond to the needs of a nation and world desperately in need of healing, where your sons and daughters struggle daily with the evils of unemployment, hunger, poverty, disease, illiteracy, violence and homelessness. Help us to remember in our dealings with others that as we have done it to the least among us, so we have done it to you.

You have given to our diocese significant resources. Help us to understand that Stewardship is not a matter of pledge cards and campaigns, of giving formulas and slick fund raisers but rather a state of being that comes from hearts that have been changed to love and serve you and your people. Free us from believing that we will never have enough to knowing that you have provided abundantly for our work to engage the mission and ministries of this diocese that are now before us.

You have called us to make disciples in the name of Jesus and yet the Episcopal Church and much of the Global Anglican Communion still struggle with what disciples will be permitted to have full access to the sacraments, and to positions of authority within the life and Body of your Son. Forgive us for being exclusive instead of inclusive. And in our reading of the work of the Apostles, remind us once again that such exclusivity was long ago resolved by the craftsmen who laid the very foundation stones of the early church which we have now inherited as our own building blocks for the future.

Forgive us of the things that divide the Body and that separate us from the love of Christ. And as we become a mission driven diocese continue to remind us that as our divisions separate us from you, so they also have become a scandal to the world, a world that longs for harmony and wholeness and seeks desperately to know you as a loving and accepting God. And all this we ask in the name of your Son and our blessed Savior, Jesus Christ. AMEN!

Today, a new course is being set for the Diocese of Washington. Today, this diocese is being faced with decision making about its present and future that can and must reshape its very work in doing the mission of Jesus Christ at the beginning of the 21 st Century. Thanks to the hard work of so many, we have now before us the results of the “Three Years Out” study of my episcopacy and how we have lived and worked with one another over these last three years. It is incumbent upon me as your bishop to take this work seriously and to take the information received and act upon it.

As your bishop I have heard your concerns about how I can be a better bishop and pastor to you. As I have studied the results of our “Three Years Out” survey, I am both energized and also challenged; energized by your care for me and your concern for the work load that today defines my Episcopacy; and challenged because there is only one of me, and there are over 45,000 of you, spread out over 93 congregations in the counties of Montgomery, Prince George's, Charles and Saint Mary's in Maryland and the District of Columbia. This is in fact a diocese that historically has had two bishops and national studies have shown that dioceses of this size should be served by at least two bishops. But Washington at this time does not have the financial resources to respond to the recommendations of the “Three Years Out” study for the possible calling of another bishop. Such is the challenge before me as your bishop today, and the challenge before you as a diocese.

The role of the Bishop of Washington is like no other in the life of the Episcopal Church. All other bishops in the Episcopal Church are responsible for a diocese in one geographical location, in a state or a portion of a state. Here in Washington the bishop not only presides over a diocese, but must deal with the complexities of serving within two distinctly different jurisdictions with distinctly different needs. Compounding this complexity is the responsibility that the Bishop of Washington has in serving as President and CEO of the Protestant Episcopal Cathedral Foundation, with active and direct responsibility for the work of the Board of Trustees who oversee the budgets and work of this cathedral, Beauvoir, Saint Albans and National Cathedral Schools . This is no easy task and yet it is an important ministry defined by the Congressional Charter that has given these institutions their life.

Likewise, as the Bishop of Washington, the expectation and reality is that I will support and work with our Episcopal Office of Government Relations, located on Capital Hill and engage in pertinent legislative issues that impact the work of the Episcopal Church nationally and globally. The expectations are that the Bishop of Washington will take an active part in helping to form, support and implement legislative work and communicate the nature of this work to all the bishops of the Episcopal Church as a bridge building mechanism.

Located in the nation's capital, the Bishop of Washington not only has access to the workings of Congress but also has access to the White House and is expected to take a leadership position with both governmental agencies on domestic and global policy. Because the Presiding Bishop is located in New York City , accessibility of the bishop of Washington to the Federal Government is encouraged by the National Church , and expected by the House of Bishops. Not long after my election as your bishop, I received a call from Frank Griswold, our Presiding Bishop, who after congratulating me on being elected as the 8 th Bishop of Washington said: “you will hold one of the most influential positions in the Episcopal Church. Much will be expected of you.”

I truly love my work as your bishop and embrace it with a passion. Karen and I love our visitation time with parishes. And the clergy and laity of this diocese are some of the smartest, most dedicated people I have ever worked with. God has truly blessed me by calling me to be your bishop, and I thank you again and again for the honor that you have bestowed upon me. But the fact remains that there are only 24 hours in a day and 7 days in a week and 52 weeks in a year. In priority the pastoral needs of our parishes, clergy and people are my number one commitment. My staff has repeatedly been told that this is our first priority, and yet being responsive requires careful calendar management. One of the gifts that I brought to this diocese was my love of pastoral ministry and I hope that I can continue to share that gift with you even as I live into the demands of what many of you have called an impossible episcopacy for one person to carry alone.

Your wishes to possibly call a second full time bishop to assist me in the work of the episcopacy moves me to now call upon Diocesan Council to form a special task force to explore the possibility of conducting a Capital Campaign that might provide us with the resources to make such a call. This task force would also explore our need to wean ourselves from reliance on the Soper Trust as our only tool for church growth and development. It would also begin to explore the much needed development of financial resources to purchase land to plant congregations, and to provide additional resources to assist current congregations in expanding their facilities to extend the outreach of the Church. This task force will report directly to the 112 th Diocesan Convention in 2007 with its findings and recommendations.

Our ability to continue the successful work begun in Academic Ministries through our 8 college chaplaincies, and Canon Hannibal's work with the 19 Episcopal Schools, their chaplains and school heads, along with his new work with young adults now emerging as an exciting new ministry in many of our parishes depends on additional financial support. Likewise our creative and very successful Youth Ministry Program under the able leadership of Paul Canady needs additional programmatic and scholarship funds for the work that lies ahead. This diocese in its search for the 8 th bishop of Washington listed as high priorities youth and college work. My staff has not disappointed. Now the diocese must live into its own mandate and support financially what it asked for from the bishop you elected.

Our outreach into the Spanish Speaking Community through the able leadership of our full time Latino Missioner Simon Bautista has been financed by chewing gum and bailing wire. If we are really serious about reaching out to the diversity of who we are as a diocese, this ministry must find additional financial resources within the next year or so. Currently we have 7 nested Spanish speaking congregations located within existing Anglo congregations, and in time that number will certainly grow; but not without increased funding.

In calling on Council to form a task force to explore the feasibility of undertaking a Capital Campaign, I am taking what I believe is an essential, unavoidable next step for our diocese. If we expect to grow in numbers, and if we expect to grow in ministry, we can no longer rely on contributions of a little over 7% of net operating income from our parishes, supplemented by income from the Soper Trust. We can no longer ignore what we know must be done if we are to be faithful to Christ's Gospel in growing the mission and ministry of this diocese. This task force must be made up of some of the best financial minds that we can find in the diocese, people who have a passion for growing this diocese and believe in its mission and who are willing to erase 38 years of financial inactivity that have inhibited our ability to grow. Help me and Council to find the men and women needed to take us into the 21 st Century as a mission driven diocese. The time is now to bite the bullet, or the bullet will bite us. Enough said!

As I call upon Diocesan Council to form a task force to explore the feasibility of engaging in a diocesan wide Capital Campaign, I also call upon this Convention through our Diocesan Council to begin to address in more ways than just conversation the crisis that impacts every part of this diocese, low cost and affordable housing. The issue of affordable housing is a moral issue that will not go away in one of the most expensive housing markets in the country. This task force will be charged with studying the availability of developable land within the diocese, either owned by the diocese outright, or under the control of parishes and their vestries where cooperative efforts at partnering with appropriate agencies and developers can take place. At the same time, this same task force will be asked to begin the long search for potential developable land that could be used in the future for new church starts, where such starts are deemed feasible. Responsible land management and development must be part of what it means to be a mission driven diocese for the 21 st Century. This task force must be an important part of the emerging mission strategy of this diocese and will submit its findings and recommendations to the 112th Convention of the Diocese in 2007.

One of the challenges that comes from the “Three Years Out” study has been for me to define a mission strategy for the Diocese of Washington. A part of that developing mission strategy must incorporate the work of the two task forces I am asking to be formed by Council. Our mission strategy must also be developed through a variety of collegial conversations, initiated by the bishop, and then directed through Diocesan Council, and then ultimately to the stake holders in such a process: the clergy, people and congregations of the diocese. But for now it is important for me to lay out the beginnings of a process that will lead us, to such intense and productive conversations, ultimately leading us to action that defines what it means to be a mission driven diocese for the 21 st Century. To that end, I place the following before you as initial building blocks for the foundational development of our future.

It is a given that the diocese clearly does have congregations that for a variety of reasons are struggling to define their own mission strategies and engage in the making of new disciples for Christ. It is the responsibility of the whole diocese with all of its congregations to become involved and engaged in studying how we can assist such congregations. If we can use our resources of time, talent and treasure to engage in overseas mission work, then why has it been so difficult for us as a diocese to engage in the same intentional mission development within our own diocese?

The Apostle Paul was the first “church builder” of the newly emerging Christian community. He gathered the abundance of money and material talent from the churches in Asia and Greece and moved them to the mother church in Jerusalem which was suffering because of want caused by famine and low morale.

Like Paul, we have to become a diocese that understands that any mission strategy must be centered in a church building and support process that involves everyone, not just diocesan staff or a few individuals. Paul knew that many churches must be connected to the mission of the one church which he knew as the living Body of the resurrected Christ if church growth and expansion was to occur. Paul also saw that the chief mission strategy of the emerging church was in making disciples for Christ. That premise must lie at the very heart of any mission strategy developed within the Diocese of Washington.

To that end beginning in April, I have asked my staff to schedule meetings with the clergy, wardens and laity within each region of the diocese. During those meetings we will share by way of a CD ROM presentation, information that is currently a part of our annual reports of congregations as contained in the Diocesan Journal; salaries of clergy, data pertaining to the number of baptisms, burials, confirmations, marriages, attendance on Sundays and other days, the number of young people and adults enrolled in Christian education, trends in attendance over the last five years, giving patterns over the last five years, trends in giving to the diocese and other forms of outreach and ministry along with other pertinent data that will help us identify as best we can congregations in need, and congregations that have not grown significantly in their mission and outreach for making disciples for Christ over a period of time. This data will be presented for discussion and suggestions from gathered clergy and lay leaders of each region to determine how congregations in that region can best be supported in growing their ministry through the human and material resources of other congregations within the region and possibly from other parts of the diocese. Also, we will analyze whether we have congregations in the right places to engage in growing the ministry of Christ. This will not only be a time of truth telling, it will be a time of honest talk about the health of our diocese, and how we ought to be doing the ministry of Christ in more cooperative, collegial ways.

Following these series of Regional meetings the data will be presented to the Congregational Development Task Force, Diocesan Council, and the Standing Committee which acts as a Council of Advice to the bishop. This will be time consuming and will require the will of the clergy and people of the diocese to make it happen but we must begin to change our course if we really are to become a mission driven diocese for the 21st Century.

As this work unfolds so will the ongoing work of the recently formed Congregational Development Task Force. Still working to define the phrase “congregational development” I will ask Council to dedicate some financial resources for the work of this task force and to bring on board outside resources to help in defining the phrase “congregational development” and what it means for the Diocese of Washington. Right now “congregational development” possesses many different meanings to the people and clergy of the diocese. We need to be much clearer in understanding what we mean and what the scope of “congregational development” will look like for us as a diocese. Also the task force will require support in defining how it can begin to work with the emerging mission growth strategies of the diocese as they are revealed within each region.

As this work moves forward, I have asked Canon Carol Cole Flanagan to pass her baton of leading Congregational Development over to the emerging work of the Congregational Development task force. I am appointing Carol to the new position of Canon for Congregations in Transition. In this position she will work with me, Canon Mary Sulerud and Canon Paul Cooney , dealing as she has so expertly done in the last 18 months with congregations that are currently struggling with a variety of issues that are making it difficult for them to live into a cohesive plan for mission development and congregational growth. In all of this I am reminded of a conversation I had with my good friend Bishop David Jones, Suffragan of Virginia when he met with some of our staff. After hearing our story, he offered that we were about ten years behind the Diocese of Virginia in developing cohesive plans and operations for new church growth and planting. It is now time to get off the dime and start moving forward. We must be patient in building our movement forward. It took a number of years to get to where we are right now, and it will surely take some years to get our diocese into a creative position from which we can aggressively pursue broadening its mission.

I have a great concern for the future of our historic African American Congregations in this diocese, and in the larger Church. In our diocese many of these congregations are located within the District of Columbia , as they are likewise urban-centered in much of the Church. Our concern as a diocese for their ongoing ministry, vitality and growth must be based on the work of emerging mission strategies for the diocese as a whole. At the same time the Diocese of Washington must come to terms with the racism that has defined the District and region for so many years. It must also address the racism that has characterized church placements, new church starts and the formation of parochial boundaries within the diocese. The Race and Reconciliation Task Force was formed to begin to influence our understanding of and conversations about racism, but as a diocese we must go beyond these efforts. We must tell the story of the history of the African American Church in the Diocese of Washington. It is an important and yet untold story that must be written, read and understood by all if we are to work collegially in addressing the needs of our city and the future life of our common mission growth and development as a diocese. To that end I will be seeking funds through Council to initiate the writing of a history of this diocese as it relates to its African American heritage and the impact that racism has had on decision making in this diocese. We have knowledgeable academicians who could undertake this work, and I am committed to seeing such a writing project undertaken so that we can finally come to terms with our past in order to grow together for our common future.

On the National and Global front, it would be remiss of me not to say something about where I see the state of the Episcopal Church currently and our relationship within the larger Anglican Communion. In truth nationally, we are a Church that continues to experience division over the issues of human sexuality, theological interpretations of scripture, and the impact of a rapidly changing culture on our reading of the Bible. There is also a struggle as to the current authority of the church as an institution, the role of bishops who have jurisdictional authority and the violation of that integrity by some who disregard the very roots of the Anglican Church's catholicity. These are issues that have compromised the ability of the Episcopal Church to engage in the fullness of Christ's mission and ministry both at home and abroad.

The issue of our Episcopal Church's response to the Windsor Report remains under discussion. What I need you to know is that based on the actions taken by the House of Bishops meeting in Texas a year ago last March, our church's response to date to the Windsor Report and the recommendations of the Primates who met in northern Ireland last year has received affirmation from many of the authors of the Windsor Report, and by a number of Primates communion-wide. The decision by the Executive Council of the Episcopal Church to send our elected delegates to the Anglican Consultative Council meeting in Nottingham as observers rather than full participants was applauded as a positive and unexpected response to the Primates request and was deeply appreciated by many who were responsible for the authoring of the Windsor Report. In fact when Archbishop Robin Eames, one of the chief architects of the Report visited the cathedral and diocese this past fall, he was clear in his public statements that the Episcopal Church had met or exceeded all requests of the Windsor Report to date.

Our response to the Windsor Report, however has not satisfied some primates and bishops who seem to think that they alone will judge what constitutes a satisfactory response, and that they are free to act on these judgments in whatever ways they see fit. Several bishops, with the approval of their primates, continue to violate the recommendations of the Windsor report by crossing local and provincial jurisdictional boundaries to confirm, ordain, or claim property as their own. In my opinion, if these violations do not cease, then the Windsor Report, written to begin a process of reconciliation, will become a lifeless document. I like many of you, am tired of seeing the Episcopal Church used as a punching bag by those who would offer schism instead of reasoned conversation and guerilla warfare tactics of divide and conquer instead of unity in the name of Jesus Christ. Such behavior must end, and end now! For if nothing else, it is the scandal of the world.

I feel at this point that I must mention my ongoing work and association with a group of some 20 bishops who began meeting quietly last July, and who continued to meet in December and will again meet next week in Florida. Our discussions have been frank, respectful and open. Representing the broad theological and biblical spectrum of the Episcopal Church, these gatherings have been times of coming to know one another better. We may, and I say may, be able to bring some constructive work to the next House of Bishops meeting in North Carolina in March, and then hopefully to General Convention in Columbus this June. In all of this, my ongoing relationship with bishops who disagree with me on significant issues has been cordial. I continue to meet with members of the Washington Chapter of the American Anglican Council and our friendship during these difficult times has not wavered even while in strong disagreement over the current complex and divisive issues that are on the table. We continue to remain friends and for that I am grateful.

Our Communications and Information Technology staffs continue to assist parishes in a variety of ways from helping to establish congregational web sites, and to protect existing ones from the various threats of internet security. Peter Turner , our IT Services Manager and Amy Elliot, our Web master spearheaded this effort. Amy and Jim Naughton our director of communications also collaborate on the diocesan web site which, in a few weeks will include some of the videos you've seen at the convention. The Web site and the Washington Window, edited by Lucy Chumbley , both won top prize in their class last year from Episcopal Communicators.

Canon Mary Sulerud is back with us as Canon for Deployment and Ordination, taking the place of Canon Nan Peete who retired last fall. With Mary back, and with her expanded role as canon for Deployment and Ordinations, I am calling for the Commission On Ministry to suspend for at least one year the ordination discernment process so that the Commission can concentrate on refining our discernment process, develop the ministry of the vocational deaconate and work on a catechesis of the baptized, to empower all the baptized for ministry in Jesus Christ. Robert Tomlinson continues to work his magic as our Diocesan Facilities Manager, Mary Manson serves you as our insurance and benefits manager, and Eva Myking our Staff and Diocesan Administrator. All work long hours to serve you and your congregations better. Bishop Barbara Harris continues among us as our assisting bishop and one of the great prophetic preachers in the Episcopal Church today. She is both a friend and mentor and I am so grateful that she shares her episcopacy with all of us. And of course there is Canon Paul Cooney . He continually lives into being the “man of the hour,” taking on much of the work associated with the Office of the Bishop and continues to be a colleague on what I can only say is the most exciting journey in ministry I have ever been engaged in. God Bless you Paul for your friendship, your sensitive pastoral hand in all matters relating to the diocese and your ability to keep me on track, which on occasion has been no easy task. There are so many others at Church House who work so hard for you that I hope that you will take some time during this gathering of the 111th Convention of the Diocese to thank them for their unselfish efforts to make all of us better servants of Jesus Christ during these times of great challenge and even greater possibilities. All of them are here at Convention today, under the able direction of Ann Talty.

Finally, our global outreach continues with the work of our partnership with the Anglican Province of Southern Africa through the Syafundisa Project, a cooperative ministry formed through our $10 million partnership with USAID, Fresh Ministries of Jacksonville , Florida and Bishops David Beetge and Njongonkulu Ndungane of South Africa . It is an honor to have Bishop David and his wife Carol with us at this years Convention. David, you and the Province of Southern Africa have enriched our lives and given us a glimpse of what global Anglican partnerships can do to lessen the suffering of God's children especially in the countries of Namibia , Mozambique and South Africa . We are currently exploring with USAID a similar program to Syafundisa with countries in the Caribbean Basin that we believe will constructively address the rapidly spreading HIV /AIDS virus in that part of the world.

I am also very proud of the work of our South African Partnership Committee and the staff support rendered by Chery Daves Wilburn. Please stop by the SAP table and pick up a copy of their publication “Have A Heart” which provides an opportunity for each of you and your parishes to become more involved in this unique ministry to South Africa . I commend the work of Saint John's Lafeyette Square, Saint Luke's Church, Bethesda, Saint Peter's Church, Poolsville, Elizabeth Swenson and Saint David's Church, All Saint's Church Chevy Chase and the extended programs under the direction of the South African Partnership Committee the Diocese of Washington. Have a heart, and take a heart home with you today by visiting the South African Partnership display. I will be traveling to South Africa in September and would love to have some of you come with me. Once we get past General Convention I will be publicizing more information about this trip. Come and join me! SAP will next move forward in gathering volunteer opportunities for those in the diocese who want to share their professional and material skills with our South African partners. Be on the look out in the Washington Window for more information regarding this effort.

I also want to thank the on going work of our Honduras Committee that continues to work with our partners in mission, through Bishop Lloyd Allen and his staff at making life better in a country whose poverty rate is one of the highest in the world.

In closing, I want to also publicly thank Karen, my bride of 39 years who has constantly been by my side during this great ministry of service and pastoral care to this diocese. I could not do what I do or be what I am without her support, and presence.

In all of this and so much more I thank all of you for responding to the call of Christ, who over and over reminds us that…. as we have done it to the least of these among us so we have done it to Him.

Domestically and globally we are now poised to really become a mission driven diocese for the 21 st Century. The question before this Convention is; “are we now ready to step forward and accept the challenges and opportunities that are ours?” Are we ready to share the people and material resources of our parishes for the benefit of the ministries of all our parishes? Are we ready to do the hard work that will be required of us to make us the church and diocese that God would want us to be? I already answered this question when I accepted the election to become the 8th bishop of Washington . What will your answer be?

The Right Reverend John Bryson Chane
Bishop of Washington
111th convention of the Diocese, January 28 th , 2006