Address by Bishop Chane
2004 Diocesan Convention

May they all be one, Father, as you are in me and I am in you,
so that the world may see that it was you who sent me.

Let Us Pray!

Come Holy Spirit and descend upon us who gather in this great cathedral and fill our hearts with the reconciling love of Jesus.

Come Holy Spirit and help each one of us gathered here as delegate, alternate or visitor to understand that we represent something far greater than our own agendas and ourselves.

Come Holy Spirit and be among us at a time when we see the world about us still engulfed in war, racism, abusive patriarchy, pandemic disease and hunger, illiteracy, economic injustices and the rampant infection of self-importance and self-indulgence that sustain our warring ways, our arrogance, our indifference to human need and our unwillingness to share our abundance with those who have so little.

Come Holy Spirit and help each one of us here and those in our congregations and the greater Church to continue the process of healing the wounds that have painfully been opened by our differences, divisions and hard-heartedness.

Come Holy Spirit and help us lift our myopic vision and weary eyes from the too often uncommon ground of our earthly journey to the common ground of heaven where Christ reigns. And help us to remember that Jesus’ death on the Cross was not an end but a new beginning, where at Calvary, the sacred and secular met and were embraced by unconditional love, justice and compassion…a painful embrace, and yet an embrace that by God’s Grace has forever changed the course of human history.

Come Holy Spirit and place in our hearts the truth of our responsibility to be the hands, feet, mind, heart and soul of Jesus Christ in a Church, a country and a world that far too often knows us by our divisions rather than by our presence as the unified Body of Christ.

Come Holy Spirit, and as we lift up our hands in prayer this day help us to raise up with our hands the work of a new and emerging vision and mission for the Diocese of Washington. May our mission work within this diocese be the transforming liturgy of this diocese and truly and rightly become as in all great liturgies the “work of the people.”

Come Holy Spirit, and as we lift up each other’s hands this day to address the work of our local diocesan mission, help us also to lift up with these hands the new mission partnership with the Anglican Church in the Province of Southern Africa and its Archbishop Njongonkulu, Ndungane, Bishop David Beetge, The Rev. Dr. Collin Jones, our support for the work of Nema Aluku and her work with the Council of Anglican Provinces In Africa, and our companion relationship with Bishop Lloyd Allen and the Episcopal Church in Honduras. Help us to understand that by simply caring for our own needs as a diocese as parishes and as a national church, while neglecting the needs of others is in fact to deny the very theology of the Cross.

Come Holy Spirit and be with us now as we attempt to do what the secular world deems to be impossible in the 21st Century….to be agents of change in a sacred context that can and will make a difference domestically and globally in the lives of all God’s children. And as we work toward that vision of the New Jerusalem for which Christ so lovingly gave his life so may we be known by the world through the words of an often-sung Christian hymn…. “And they’ll know we are Christian’s by our love by our love….and they’ll know we are Christians by our love.

In Jesus Name We Pray…AMEN

My sister and brother bishops, Clerical and Lay delegates, officers of this Diocese and Convention, Church House Staff, Archbishop Ndungane, Bishop Beetge, Canon Jones, Nema Akulu and visitors, welcome to the One Hundred and Ninth convention of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington.

On January 24, 2002, I stood before this Convention as your Bishop-Elect and began my address with the following quote from Paul’s First Letter to The Corinthians, Chapter 12:12 “For just as the Body is one and has many members and all the members of the Body though many are one Body, so it is with Christ.”

It has been just over two years since I stood before you and shared this passage from Ist Corinthians. And it continues to be the compass point that I follow and to which I will continue to call each of you to follow if we are really to become a great diocese and live into our destiny of being the many members of the one Body that is Jesus Christ. We must come to understand that by being one body, made up of many parts that when one of the body’s members experiences success, hardship or pain, we all experience success, hardship and pain. And as congregations and people in the Diocese of Washington we must always understand that what affects one congregation affects us all. We are either interdependent and engaged with one another as the one, holy living Body of Jesus Christ, or we are independent and disengaged, unaffected by each other’s lives and ministry, resembling the deconsecrated human body in its final stages of atrophy before death.

In my Convention Address of 2003, I also shared the following; “In Christ we are all called to be one! If we are not one in Christ while respecting and honoring our differences and at the same time claiming our unity within our diversity, then we exist as the nailed body of an unresurrected Jesus on an unliberating cross. To that end, I call us as a diocese to continue the intentional mission of healing that has begun where our divisions have not only broken our unity, but have also broken our spirits and our hearts.” This statement uttered two years ago still rings true today, not only for our parishes, this diocese, and the Episcopal Church, but also for all the Provinces, dioceses and churches that are members of the Anglican Communion. As we continue to struggle and work through the decisions of General Convention I ask you for your patience and your prayers as we sustain constructive dialogue with one another.

The genius of Anglicanism has always been that it is theologically roomy, respectful and tolerant. The European struggles of the 16th Century between Catholicism and the Protestant Reformers literally gave birth to the Church of England and Anglicanism. Precision in doctrine was not our Anglican founders’ desire, but instead it was the writing of magnificent liturgy, the creation of a beautiful Prayer Book language and poetry, the adherence to the discipline of the daily reading of Holy Scripture and sound preaching. As many have said far more eloquently than I, Anglicans enter theological reflection from practices rather than doctrine. For those of us who continue to define what is the theology that makes Anglicanism tick we must remember that we are not a confessional church but rather we are a church whose theology has as its’ primary responsibility helping people to know and love God. Our theology is a pastoral theology! For any of us to focus on fostering disunity within our branch of the Anglican Communion by using a theological hammer as the tool of choice at the expense of our own pastoral, Episcopal domestic and global mission imperatives is in itself a tragedy that surely must make God weep. This disunity and mean-spirited dissonance defines for our church the very nature of original sin as being a divided and broken humanity above Jesus call for us to be connected one to another as the unified Body of Christ.

Our mission as a diocese must be about healing, building, growing, reaching out, and believing that our ministry can make a difference and that in all things we place Christ and the teaching of the Gospels ahead of our own personal agendas. Our mission strategy must be based on the direction set for us by the Gospel of Jesus Christ! It is time now to seriously get on with the mission and work of this diocese and the larger church. Remember the words of Jesus to his disciples; “As you have done it to the least of these my friends so have you done it to me.”

During all of 2002 and in the first year of my Episcopacy, we as a diocese were able to identify three very clear areas of priority for our ministry together. These areas were defined by information gathered from many Regional and congregational meetings involving clergy and laity, vestries, clergy support groups and several independent meetings with wardens and treasurers. The three emerging areas of diocesan mission priorities as identified by these many conversations are; 1) youth and academic ministry 1) congregational strengthening, growth and leadership development skills, and 3) Global Outreach. It was this extensive work in listening to the voices of the diocese that this information came to define the underlying principles for prioritizing our diocesan budget and building our present diocesan staff.

We began therefore in 2002 to initiate an intensive search to find the necessary talent that would help build a diocesan staff that would be a true resource base and an extension of my Episcopal Office for our congregations and their ministries. We have worked on this diligently and I believe that we are setting a new course for this diocese and the larger Episcopal Church. Our model of Episcopal extension by way of our staff is collegial, collaborative and engaging rather than the old top heavy, administrative model that simply hands congregations programs to follow rather than working with them to help them set their own agendas, goals and mission work. And I believe we are beginning to do that!

Mr. Paul Canady was hired in 2002 to be our Diocesan Deputy for Youth Ministry. Paul’s ministry among us continues to transform and dramatically grow youth work in this diocese. His efforts supported by adult advisors and the newly commissioned Youth Committee has defined the Diocese of Washington as a new leader in National Episcopal Youth Work and Ministry. As an example last Friday evening and a part of Saturday, 222 high school and middle school young people gathered in this cathedral for an overnight educational, fellowship-based “lock-in.” They were joined by 57 adult chaperones who gave of their time unselfishly to our young people. 28 parishes were involved in this watershed event, which was the largest youth event in the Diocese of Washington since 1964. None of us who care for youth work and ministry in this diocese will rest until all of our parishes are represented at events such as these.

Also, in the Fall of 2002, the Rev. Mary Sulerud joined the diocesan staff to become Canon for Resource and Ministry Development and her outstanding and energetic leadership has begun to transform our understanding of Stewardship and the real partnership that must exist between Stewardship and Mission. Yesterday prior to the opening of Convention over 80 persons from around the diocese attended a workshop on stewardship and focused fund raising. Mary had expected about 40 to attend. This is a clear statement that stewardship does drive mission and my hat is off to Mary for her dedication and faithfulness in helping us all to grow closer to that consistent reality. Mary is helping congregations become healthier. But congregations also must really want to become stronger and healthier.

Late in the Fall of 2002, Jim Naughton came to Church House as our new Director of Diocesan Communications. Jim has completely rebuilt the communications networking within the diocese. Later additions of Lucy Chumbley as our Print Editor for the Washington Window and Amy Elliott as the creator and keeper of our completely reworked diocesan web site have brought to the diocese a whole new way of sharing the Good News with our partner congregations, other dioceses in the Episcopal Church and the global communion.

In late 2002, Bishop Barbara C. Harris, retired Suffragan Bishop of Massachusetts agreed to be among us as an Assisting Bishop, committed to working in the diocese two weeks a month focusing particularly on Urban Ministry Mission Strategy and Youth Leadership Development. Barbara brings to the diocese a powerful prophetic voice, great preaching, and her experience as a leading bishop in the Episcopal Church. Barbara officially begins her work in the diocese as of today. Amen Barbara!

In the Spring of 2003, Eva Myking joined the staff as Church House Administrator and liaison to the Finance Committee. Eva’s balanced and highly skilled presence coupled with the hard work of volunteer Finance Committee Chair Mike Febree continue to transform our ability as a diocese to discern how we will be able to financially live into the mission imperatives defined by you, the many voices of the diocese.

In February of 2003, The Rev. Nan Peete joined our staff as Canon for Deployment and Ordinations. This position was created at the recommendations of many of our clergy whose experience told us that the old way of having one person acting as both Deployment Officer and Congregational Development Officer was just not workable in a diocese of our size and complexity. Nan brings many years of experience to this office and is working with me and with the strong leadership of the Rev. Billie Shand, Chair of the Commission On Ministry, to transform the work and scope of the ordination and discernment process in the diocese to more accurately meet the emerging needs of the diocese.

Shortly after Easter of 2003, The Rev. Carol Cole Flanagan joined the staff as Canon for Congregational Development. Her office has a significant role to play in the development of mission strategy development for the diocese and for new church starts and future church re-starts. Carol, already busy in her new position, will become increasingly active as Church House Staff and Diocesan Council work hand in hand to define the process and guidelines of our new mission strategy.

In late Summer of 2003, The Rev. Preston Hannibal joined our staff as Canon for Academic Ministries. His appointment followed a search to find the person who could best engage the diocese in the mandate to grow college work and academic ministries as set forth by the Nominating committee for the 8th Bishop of Washington. Canon Hannibal comes to the diocese after a distinguished career as Chaplain of Saint Mark’s School, Southborough Massachusetts, Associate Chaplain at Harvard University’s Memorial Chapel and Chaplain at Saint Paul’s School, Concord, New Hampshire. Already his work has greatly strengthened the Episcopal Chaplaincy at Howard University with the hiring of The Reverend Robin Franklin Vaughn. The Chaplaincy at the University of Maryland also has a new chaplain with the hiring of The Reverend Peter Antoci at the University of Maryland. Work has already begun under Preston’s leadership to initiate an Episcopal Chaplaincy and presence at Georgetown University. Canon Hannibal has also begun the new initiative of bringing together the chaplains of all the Episcopal Secondary Schools and primary schools in the diocese for mutual support and program capacity building. While most diocese seem to have placed college work on the “back-burner” as a secondary priority, the Diocese of Washington under Canon Hannibal’s leadership is becoming a leader in the Episcopal Church.

Our new staff additions joined an already dedicated and committed group of Church House servants who had faithfully kept the “fires burning” until new reinforcements were on their way. Most all of our staff is here today and this diocese could not move forward without their hard work and dedication. I salute each and every one of you for all that you do to make ministry happen in the Diocese of Washington.

In all of these appointments, I continue to give thanks to God for the ongoing vision, support, wise counsel, and hard work of Paul Cooney, Canon to The Ordinary. Over these last two years, Paul has been instrumental in helping to “level the hills” and “fill in the valleys” so that I would have the space to live into the call of the Episcopacy that you have placed before me.

I also would like to recognize and thank Bishop Allen Bartlett, Assisting Bishop for his tireless and faithful work as a colleague and friend in sharing the special gifts of Episcopal Ministry with this diocese and me. Allen will be retiring after this Convention and this diocese owes a great debt of gratitude for all that he has done to assist us in our journey with Christ.

In my address to last year’s Convention, I promised that in 2003 a comprehensive mission strategy would be developed and proposed to the Convention of 2004. Starting immediately after last year’s 108th Convention, our staff began this demanding work by continuing to engage the many voices of the diocese, both clergy and laity. These voices were clear about what they thought our mission imperatives ought to be as a diocese. From these conversations emerged a number of Task Forces that have worked extremely hard and produced some very good work. They bring to this Convention specific proposals to create Committees that will oversee the emerging mission work of the diocese.

These Committees are:

A) The South Africa Partnership Committee
B) The Honduras Companionship Committee
C) The Latino Ministry Committee
D) The Committee on Youth
E) The Prison Ministries Committee

It is my hope that the diocese at its Convention in 2005 will finally claim the Peace Commission as a true Committee of Convention and the diocese.

Other Working Groups are already engaged in work at a more preliminary stage. They are;

A) The Task Force On Urban Ministry, now being formed under the capable leadership of The Rev. Virginia Brown Nolan and the Rev. Randolph Charles. Bishop Barbara Harris will have continuing involvement with this group as it identifies specific goals and objectives for a new Urban Ministry for the Diocese of Washington.
B) The Task Force on Accessibility has been formed and will be making recommendations in the very near future to the diocese as how best to organize efforts to promote parish, cathedral and diocesan programs that will increase their accessibility to those with special needs in the spirit of inclusiveness.
C) The Task Force On Congregational Development and Redevelopment has been aggressively pursuing the development of a new strategy for the Diocese of Washington that will serve us all well and will further develop the mission and ministry of this diocese. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is very clear that we must be involved in growth through outreach and mission. Too often a congregation, which is struggling and basically living from month to month, finds itself dedicating all its financial resources to the maintenance of buildings and bill paying. It does not have the energy, time or resources to engage in the process of doing creative outreach and ministry beyond its own congregational walls. We must continue to identify these congregations and then assist them in seeking new ways in which to grow in numbers and dollars where possible. Too often congregations in the maintenance mode see growth as the only way to solve their financial problems. Yet where possible and where growth does occur, growth will always bring about change to a congregation and not necessarily the desired financial windfalls that were expected. Change is always hard for a congregation to address and our role as a diocese must be to assist congregations as they seek to grow, helping them with the attending complexities that come with growth.

In the Spring the diocese hosted 4 conversations throughout the diocese with me and key members of our diocesan staff, discussing the possible directions for new strategies in congregational development and redevelopment. These discussions were invaluable and provided us with the information to move forward in seeking the assistance of a consultant, Mr. Robert Franken. Robert was asked to share his skills with the diocese to help us understand our demographics and to help us see more clearly who we really are as a diocese and where we might expand and plant new congregations. We are expanding our vision to see what these new churches might look like, how they will function beyond the very traditional parochial model and where we should be prepared to purchase land now for “land banking purposes” for future growth. It is imperative that as a diocese we make very effective and transparent decisions, using consistent guidelines to support our existing congregations and establishing new congregations. Currently we have no such framework in place to accomplish this much-needed work.

After my address this morning, Canon Flanagan and Robert will make a brief presentation involving the development of guidelines regarding establishment of new congregations and you will be asked at this Convention to begin the process of making some judgments on a number of crucial issues of policy direction in this area. Following this Convention the information collected from the small group discussions will be collated and presented to Diocesan Council for their consideration and action. Final guidelines will be adopted in 2004 following a very carefully crafted process that is deliberate and accessible. These new Guidelines and the process for developing them will be extremely transparent so that they are owned by “all” the diocese.

As this Convention moves forcefully into the mission field especially on the domestic front, budget matters become serious matters. As I shared with the Convention in 2002, prior to my consecration I made it very clear that the diocese would need to step up to the plate and engage mission with money. The effort to grow this diocese will require financial resources that are currently beyond our operating budget. I therefore will ask Diocesan Council to take direct action to dedicate a significant portion of available funds from the Ruth Gregory Soper fund over the next five years to assist us in moving forward. I take this action on the recommendation of many of you who expressed the additional use of the Soper Fund to stimulate the missional growth of the diocese. Earlier in the year, Diocesan Council took action to formally conclude the various grants for which the bulk of available Soper funds had been used since 1995. Convention will be asked during the course of our work to express its appreciation for the dedicated work of many individuals who over the last eight years have guided the important work of the Soper Advisory Group in making grant decisions.

As a point of information about the Soper Fund, the principle of the Soper Fund was approximately 24 million dollars at the end of 2004 and is held by a corporate trustee. The diocese receives distributions of interest from the Fund each year that have no restrictions placed on it. The amount of the Annual distribution is approximately 1.2 million dollars.

Of the 6 million dollars of expected Soper revenue over the next 5 years. I hope that Council will dedicate in the aggregate a minimum of 2.5 million dollars to fund congregational development and redevelopment efforts. I will be asking Council to consider the following:

1) Funding three or four diocesan missioners who are specially trained and gifted in helping us grow congregations in defined strategic areas within the diocese. These missioners would be funded for a period of 3 to 5 years, depending on the arrangements with collaborating congregations.
2) Funding for consulting expertise and associated resources to make sure that this diocese has the best possible information at all times to make the decisions it needs to start new congregations and to support already existing ones with new ministry forms, as well as beginning to look at how we re-start congregations.
3) Funding for a well thought out and comprehensive print and visual media adverting campaign that will stimulate interest within the lapsed and un-churched population within our diocese, inviting them into our Episcopal Churches so that they too can come to know the living God and experience the gifts of Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit.

I want to thank each and every one of you for placing your trust in me and for doing all that you are doing to make Christ known in the Diocese of Washington. You have honored me by calling me to be your bishop. May the power of Jesus Christ help me to live into your trust as I attempt to serve you as the Eighth Bishop of Washington. We are now embarking on a new journey that will test our will, our resources, our faith and our willingness to live out in new ways the seriousness of our Baptismal Covenant. But we cannot do it alone. We must all be willing to engage one-another in this great challenge that now lies before us.

I believe that we as a Diocese are now ready to engage the new challenges of becoming a broad-based mission-centered diocese that will impact the local and global ministries of us all. I am ready for the journey and I pray that you are ready to join with me in saying: “Here I am Lord, Send Me!”

The Right Reverend John Bryson Chane, DD
Bishop of Washington and Dean of the Cathedral