THE BISHOP'S ADDRESS
TO THE 110th CONVENTION OF THE DIOCESE OF WASHINGTON
JANUARY 28th AND 29th 2005

Bishops Harris, Allen, Eastman, Montgomery, Schneider, sister and brother clergy, lay delegates and alternates, members of the cathedral staff and guests, "Greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. “

This morning, the 110th Convention of the Diocese of Washington marks my third Convention with you. I will never forget my first convention, in January of 2002 when Karen and I walked through the west doors of this magnificent cathedral, frightened to death and radically disoriented, having come from West Coast and the challenges of a great cathedral in San Diego to become your choice to serve as the 8th Bishop of Washington in an election that we never expected. I would offer to all of you, especially those who share the gift of Holy Orders that there is no way under heaven to prepare anyone for such an overnight transition, let alone the responsibilities, challenges and the great honor that comes from such an experience. There are days when I wake up and cannot believe that God has blessed me with such a ministry. And there is not one day that passes when I do not take the time to thank God for all that is now, and for the strength, courage, passion, energy and faithfulness that will be required to face the challenges of all that has yet to be revealed in the fullness of God's time that will define our future together.

Often when I travel throughout the diocese visiting our congregations on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Sundays, I am asked; "Bishop, are you having fun?" The answer to that question for all of you to hear this morning is a resounding YES! The YES comes quickly even when there are long days and nights, the demands of travel and the engagement with the larger Church. The answer is YES even during the 17 months when I have had to serve this great diocesan cathedral in an expanded capacity while it searched for the one who would come among us as its new dean. The answer is YES during the significant conversations and controversies that have followed the Episcopal Church since the General Convention in Minneapolis and the issuance of the Windsor Report and our most recently concluded House of Bishops meeting in Salt Lake City . Sustained by the gift of Jesus teaching, by the gift of the Holy Spirit and by the extreme power of prayer, the answer will always be YES!

In any diocese the size, complexity and diversity that is Washington , there will always be great challenges, disappointments and some failure and business that will remain unfinished, even with the best intentions. But the great energy behind my YES is what all of us together have been able to accomplish in less than three short years. And because of those accomplishments, this diocese is seen by others throughout the larger church as one of the most exciting, high energy and attractive dioceses in the Episcopal Church today. That truth continues to be amplified by the number of clergy from other dioceses who contact us wanting to transfer to Washington, the numbers who enter the formal search processes, and the number of retiring bishops who have spoken to me about the possibility of coming to Washington to assist us in our expanding ministry. Much of this interest is driven by the knowledge that this diocese has some of the finest clergy engaged in ministry in the Episcopal Church today, and some of the most prominent, creative and engaging congregations in the country.

In the last three years our staff, supported by many unselfish volunteers, has begun to realize the dreams, desires and admonitions that were published by this diocese in its search for the 8th Bishop of Washington. As a diocese we have begun a journey that has as its roadmap the following priorities. 1) Supporting and aiding congregations to become healthier, more robust and more realistic in the ways they are able to exercise their ministries in a 21st century climate of rapid demographic, cultural and social change that defines the Diocese of Washington and the broader Episcopal Church. 2) Establishing and rapidly expanding an exciting, vibrant and very visible youth ministry and college work program that empowers our young people and college students to better equip them for moral engagement in the world and to be a program of direction that can be an icon for the rest of the Church. 3) Expanding our vision of the very nature of Christian Mission globally and domestically, and developing a new global awareness of interdependence, providing opportunities for all to become corporately and personally involved in reclaiming the domestic and global mission of the Church.

Through the Offices of Congregational Development and Deployment, supported by the Finance Committee, the Financial Oversight Committee and the Urban Ministry Task Force and linked to a Diocesan Council that wants to be more directly engaged in the work of the diocese regarding parish initiatives, we have begun to take steps to evaluate the health and vibrancy of all our congregations and to assist those where help and support is needed. We are especially concerned about our Metro/DC congregations and have been working with them with great intensity. This task has absorbed a great deal of time and financial resources, and limited our opportunities to move beyond the current nature of our diocesan parish ministries to envision and develop new and exciting ministries and possible new congregational starts in Prince George 's and Montgomery Counties . But this is the first time that the diocese has a fairly accurate snapshot of who we are as parishes, what our strengths and weaknesses are, and how we can assist our congregations with the challenge of making the exciting and yet at times very hard decisions about their future life, direction and ministry.

For those who were delegates to last year at Convention you may remember that Robert Franken of Stratoventure, along with the Rev. Carol Cole Flanagan , our canon for Congregational Development, walked us through a process that had begun at our Fall Regional Convocations of 2003. That hard work and data gathering is now paying off, but the need for our staff, Council and the diocese as a whole to respond to this information is somewhat overwhelming and will require much from all of us in the next year and those that will follow.

Since coming to the diocese in late 2002, Paul Canady , Deputy for Youth Ministry and his "Committee on Youth" have grown youth ministry in the Diocese of Washington to extraordinary levels. This accomplishment has been sustained by the unselfish support of many adult volunteers who have been generously supported by their congregations, clergy and young people. This ministry has exceeded my wildest expectations. Not only has this program become extremely successful in terms of content and the numbers of congregations and young people involved throughout the diocese, but it has gained Provincial and National attention and is seen as a partnering model for other dioceses to emulate. Our Diocesan Youth Ministry Program however is not about numbers or a model of excellence for others to follow, as important as these may be, but rather it is caring for, educating and equipping our young people to live into their Baptismal Covenant as they continue to grow and mature into adulthood. It is a great ministry, enabling our young people to experience the nature of Christian Community with their peers and to learn about and personally experience the power of what it means to grow and to be a contributing member of Christ's Body, the Church.

Likewise the logical next step in sustaining young people as they continue their journey in secondary schools and then enter local college and university environments has been to create a new program for the Diocese of Washington that can assist older students and young adults in their years of further academic and spiritual formation. Canon Preston Hannibal has, in less than two years, been able to work with our Episcopal Chaplains in the 18 Episcopal affiliated schools in the diocese to bring chaplains, whose ministry has too often been over looked by the church, into a collegial environment of support, and has raised the visibility of their ministry to a level where its true significance is affirmed and valued, not only by the schools they serve, but by the diocese and larger church. Preston has been instrumental in re-shaping the campus work at Howard University with our Chaplain, Robyn Franklin-Vaughn and was the primary architect in merging the Lutheran component that had existed on that campus for some time with our own Episcopal Chaplaincy, combining the two into one program.

Likewise he has strengthened our presence on the campuses of George Washington University and Georgetown , the University of Maryland , and has worked with others at the congregational level who have an active presence in most all of the colleges and universities within our diocese. The Diocese of Washington has come a long way in a very short time in responding to the wishes and needs of this diocese as they were articulated by the diocesan profile prepared to center the search for the election of the 8th Bishop of Washington. Clearly our emphasis on serving youth and young people in college will significantly impact this diocese in future years as many of these students will take on leadership roles in the church.

Globally the diocese has always been involved in various forms of mission and outreach through its individual congregations and the active engagement of diocesan staff. I thank all of our congregations who have seen that there is a much larger church out there beyond our diocesan and national church boundaries. We salute Lloyd Allen, Bishop of Honduras who is with us for this years convention as we honor his ministry and the growth of the Episcopal Church in Honduras . We also celebrate and give thanks to God for the generosity of so many individuals and congregations in this diocese who have contributed much and worked tirelessly to continue to grow our companion relationship with Bishop Allen and his diocese. Under the bishop's guidance and direction, we have been able to complete our work in building the community of Colonia Episcopal just outside of the city of San Pedro Sula . Our diocese and its congregations continue their work in Honduras under Bishop Allen's direction and that work is making life better for many, especially children.

As a diocese, we have continued to work in Sub-Saharan Africa through our South African Partnership Committee to engage for the next five years in efforts to share the various resources that must be brought to bear on the painful reality that exists for the most part in that region. In any one month, 165,000 people, many of them children, die from malaria, 240,000 die from HIV/AIDS and another 140,000 die from intestinal disorders that could have been prevented by potable water and better sanitation. In relationship with Archbishop Ndungane and Bishop Beetge, our relationship with the Anglican Church in South Africa continues to grow, with new opportunities for involvement emerging on a regular basis. Opportunities to learn more about our companion relationship with Honduras and our Partnership with the Anglican Church of South Africa and how you might become more directly involved in these very important ministries can be explored by visiting there respective information tables located in the cathedral. As the world continues to shrink through wireless communications and satellite technology, Honduras and South Africa are as close to each of as our real life next door neighbors.

As our work in ministry expands and develops both locally, nationally and globally, I would like to salute Jim Naughton , our Director of Communications, Lucy Chumbly and Amy Elliott . They have raised our diocesan communication abilities to a new level of excellence by getting the news out in a timely fashion through the Washington Window , through Church House News, a weekly e-mail and through the growth of our diocesan Web sight. Also, the communications department has initiated through local congregations an advertising campaign at local movie theaters that has peaked interest in every region of our diocese.

Linked closely with the work of communications department is the work of our state of the art Information Technology Department under Peter Turner 's direction. That department has continued to increase our abilities to engage and communicate quickly and intelligently. It has also been of assistance to many of our congregations in the last several years as they embrace the new technologies of communication and information sharing.

As we move forward later with a presentation of our diocesan budget for 2005, I am acutely aware of the difficulties that the economy presents to each of our congregations. Having served as curate, rector, canon and cathedral dean I know how hard it is to make ends meet and do all the things you want to do in congregational life and ministry. From Harvest Festivals, dances, dinners, silent auctions, bake sales, and many other forms of in-house fund raising, parishes work hard to makes ends meet and to fund projects and programs that sometimes cannot be funded by the general operating budget. We, too, at Church House face the very same challenges as our parishes do since the diocesan program, mission and ministry budget is based on the pledges received from our congregations. Like congregations in the diocese, Church House in its desire to support the broad program, mission and ministry of the diocese has made efforts to augment our operating budget. Thanks to the hard work of Canon Mary Sulerud , the Bishop's Annual Appeal which she initiated with the help of Jamie Samilio , was able to raise in its first year over $140,000, with a portion of that being directed to support the hiring of the first full time Latino Missioner in the diocese, The Rev. Simone Bautista.

In September of 2004, I was informed that through the hard work of the diocese of Washington , Fresh Ministries of Florida , in partnership with USAID and the President's Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (PEPFAR) that we had been awarded a five-year, $10 million grant for our shared worked in the Anglican Province of Southern Africa . Although this grant will be managed through the Province of Southern Africa and Fresh Ministries, our diocesan staff, office and travel expenses for the duration of the grant, which will total over $200,000, will be covered under the terms of this grant.

In support of Youth Ministry through CD sales of A Bishop, His Band and The Blues (shamelessly available for purchase during convention at the Youth Ministry table) and other show receipts, we expect to raise an additional $8,000 to offset the costs for this summer's Youth Ministry Mission Trip to the Diocese of Alaska.

Canon Preston Hannibal has not been idle either by acquiring for the diocese a $90,000 Grant to develop a new chaplaincy at Bowie State University . He was also responsible for acquiring and additional $18,000 to support our chaplaincy at Howard University.

Our congregations have not been inactive either in their quest for additional funds to do Christ's ministry. In May of 2004, The Rev. John Harmon and Trinity Church , Washington , received a national church, United Thank Offering grant of $50,000 to purchase a vehicle to continue their outreach to the elderly, shut in and disabled residents of their community. Since 2001, United Thank Offerings has contributed $179,000 to six programs or congregations to advance the work of our diocese. Episcopal Church Women grants for three years have totaled $7,000 for scholarships to our seminarians. We are all working to find additional income sources to do Christ's ministry that extends beyond the bounds of the general operating budget. Next year we must continue to step up this quest within the diocese and our parishes. As I shared with you during my acceptance speech after election as your bishop at the Convention of 2002; "if this diocese is to grow and become what you have said you want to be, then it will have to find additional forms of funding beyond the standard giving base of pledges." This statement is as true today as it was 3 years ago when I first uttered it.

Another question I am often asked is; "What is the greatest challenge currently facing the diocese and how does that challenge intersect with your vision?" First I think it critical to share with you what I see to be my vision for this diocese. It is a vision that must at some point have the input and support of Diocesan Council and must come before this convention for further discussion and input as early as next year. It is a vision of paradox; of simplicity and complexity. My vision is not about building structures for the sake of building more churches as monuments to our success, although God knows we have great opportunities to build or buy existing facilities to increase and expand our mission and ministry in Montgomery and Prince George 's Counties as well as in northern Charles County —if we had the money.

Nor is it a vision that is easily attainable. Some might say it isn't very exciting and others might say it is not possible to achieve because we have existed as a diocese in one unchangeable form for too long and we are not about to change now. But I say that until we change the culture of our diocese that seems too often competitive within itself, and until we are able to break away from what I see as parish congregationalism that tends to silo our parishes in ways that isolate them from one another in sharing the joint work, ministry and mission of Jesus Christ and His Gospel, then we are not going to be able to ask the right questions. And one pressing question is why are more than a few of our congregations struggling to survive, and therefore not able to engage in new and creative outreach and programs of evangelism and ministry that if given the chance could excite and engage the unchurched, reaffirm the faithful and re-establish a congregation's special niche in the community that surrounds it?

Another question is "Why are we aware of the needs of our mission partners in other parts of the Anglican Communion but so unaware of the mission opportunities within our own diocese?" "Why is it somehow easier for congregations and individuals to send money, manpower and other critical resources to other needy parts of the world –which is necessary—yet, at the same time, unable to recognize or even care about the general health and condition of our own congregations?" "Why are we not able to support the work of some of our congregations currently doing significant mission and community work in their own neighborhoods with the same intensity that we exercise with our partners in mission globally?"

Diocesan staff in concert with Diocesan Council has the responsibility of sharing the information with congregations about missionary priorities and the needs of congregations that are either struggling to survive, or are in need of additional support to carry out the mission of Jesus Christ in priority areas of our diocese. And with hard work and your support we must begin to do that with transparency and truthfulness, living into the hard realities of what is working and what is not working. Our very future as a vibrant diocese, engaged in the mission and ministry of Jesus Christ in a rapidly changing environment of population shifts, changing cultures and languages require us as congregations to work collectively as the diverse and yet unified Body of Christ. With the support of the Church House staff, the Diocesan Council, and with me as your bishop, we must make our diocese a missionary diocese—one in which the time, talent and even treasure of our congregations can be mobilized to change the culture and direction of who we are and what we hope to become as ministers of the Gospel. My vision, shared with you today, is that we become a missionary diocese by design. And as a missionary diocese we accept the responsibility and liabilities that come with believing with all our hearts that what happens in one parish impacts all of our parishes. If one congregation in our diocese is hurting then we all hurt. If one congregation has the human or financial resources to make a difference in another congregation's life then Council and staff must take the initiative to make it happen.

When we gathered last fall at our Regional Meetings, we were exposed to presentations about the importance of Christian Hospitality and outreach, and about their impact on how congregations do or don't do outreach, evangelism and ministry. As a diocese we must be about growing and maintaining healthy congregations as our main priority, for it is the healthy congregation that is best able to carry out and live into the mandate of doing the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to engage the world and transform it. I define a healthy congregation as one that has the ability to meet its operating expenses, adequately compensate its clergy leadership and lay staff with appropriate salary and benefits and to have the additional financial resources to generate educational and empowerment opportunities for its parishioners to engage in mission and ministry beyond its front doors.

A healthy congregation provides clergy and lay leadership with the resources and opportunities to do, think and dream about new ways of making Christ known. It empowers the baptized to be active, engaged and involved ministers of the Gospel. A healthy congregation is a congregation that has the ability to see itself a part of something larger than itself. It honestly believes that it lives in order to give its life away for the ministry of Jesus Christ. A healthy congregation is a congregation in which communications are open and honest, and where conflict is managed openly and creatively so that it lends itself to growth and not to stagnation and dissention. A healthy congregation sees the diocese as a partner in mission and a resource rather than an adversary.

For the last 16 months your diocesan staff has been carefully studying the work of PERCEPT and the initial demographic data that was presented to this convention last year. We have also been studying parish parochial reports, national church reports about our diocese and its congregations, parish budgets, parish annual reports and financials to help the staff and our congregations make the informed and sometimes difficult decisions about the future mission and ministry of the 93 congregations that make up the Diocese of Washington . Our staff has been assisted in this process by a loyal corps of well trained parish consultants and financial experts who have brought their collective energies together to assist and provide appropriate resources to congregations in transition. But in truth, the task before the diocese in this area is so large that by themselves our staff and the relatively small core of highly dedicated volunteers cannot address the significant work that lies ahead.

At some point after the Diocesan Council Retreat in February, I will be proposing a process whereby we will solicit a broad spectrum of volunteers from our parishes who possess the specific skills that can and must be shared with congregations to assist in helping them define and re-claim their future as centers of mission, ministry and outreach. Also, as part of this important work, I will be asking for outside consultants to develop a procedure to evaluate our staff, the office of the bishop and Diocesan Council and our collective performance over the last 2 years in order to better determine how we can best use our available resources to engage in the important work that lies ahead of us. The information that we receive from this evaluation will be made available to the diocese by the time we gather for our Regional meetings next fall and as we prepare our operating budget for 2006. At the same time, I call upon each of our congregations to likewise take the time to evaluate their own performance and that of their staff and ministries in a similar fashion. We as diocesan staff, Diocesan Council and congregational leaders must be able to adapt to the rapid changes that confront our diocese and find the very best possible I resources and leadership necessary to make the shifts in priorities that must be made to meet these challenges and support our congregations as they adapt to meet the demands of a changing ministry. Congregations likewise must be faithful and diligent in seeking new ways to adapt their focus and resources for ministry to rapidly changing communities and environments.

As I conclude my remarks this morning, I would like to share with you some thoughts about the Windsor Report, its current impact on our diocese, the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion. By now the clergy have received my letter outlining the results of the most recent meeting of the House of Bishops in Salt Lake City , Utah , and the statement about Windsor that reflects "The Mind of The House." I would say that the conversation in Salt Lake City was frank and direct, clearly identifying the major points of disagreement that exist between the bishops and their understanding about how best to respond to Windsor.

Much of where we will be as an Episcopal Church in relationship with the Anglican Communion's other 37 Provinces will be determined by how we respond to the end products of the next meetings of Primates next month, and the Anglican Consultative Council this spring. Following the Primates meeting, the House of Bishops will re-convene for its regularly scheduled March meeting in Navasota , Texas to firm up our responses. It must be understood that the House of Bishops does not have the authority to change the direction or decisions of the Episcopal Church that were legislated at our last General Convention in Minneapolis . Our General Convention relies on a governance structure in which decision making and legislative action is equally shared by the House of Bishops and the House of Deputies. In many other Provinces of the Anglican Communion, this is a foreign form of governance. In such Provinces, bishops are appointed and not elected and decision making for legislation and governance of the Province is left solely in the hands of the Primate. Such governance is as alien and problematic to us in America as is our governance to others in the world wide Anglican Communion.

What I need to share with you also is that I have a deep concern about the current marginalization of gay and lesbian persons in the life of our church as expressed by the tone of the Windsor Report and its isolation of Bishop Gene Robinson of New Hampshire . There are efforts afoot to marginalize his involvement within the life of the Anglican Communion and his participation in the Lambeth Conference of 2008. As a bishop of the Church, if my election is valid and accepted within the Anglican Communion and the Episcopal Church, then so must it be for Bishop Robinson. Failure to accept him into the larger life of the Church is to demean and disrespect the canons and governance process that guides our lives as Episcopalians, to dismiss the authority of the General Convention of the Episcopal Church and to question the very presence and role of the Holy Spirit in the ordination/consecration process of all ordained and consecrated persons in the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion. To marginalize Bishop Robinson is to marginalize me and every other bishop who has ever been consecrated in the Episcopal Church. And yet, my sister in Christ Bishop Barbara knows all to well what it means to be marginalized by the larger Church as do our women bishops in the House of Bishops, whose consecrations are still not respected and accepted in some provinces of the Anglican Communion. I have always said that the Church is quick to condemn that which it does not understand, and my hope is that in the months that follow we will have a better understanding of what it means to be in communion rather than what it means to be part of a system that seems more concerned about unity at any price, regardless of who is cast out, disrespected and disinherited for the sake of that unity.

To my brothers and sisters who are in disagreement with me on this and other issues and who have felt disenfranchised and hurt by the actions of General Convention, I am happy to announce that the Presiding Bishops has called for the formation of a Theology Committee expressly directed to explore the human sexuality issues that have been posed by the Windsor Report and by some in the Episcopal Church and in the larger Communion who feel that there has not been enough theological and scriptural study devoted to the decisions of General Convention 2003. Likewise the National Concerns Committee of the Episcopal Church is beginning to study the secular and sacramental natures of marriage as we experience it in this Church. My expectation is that these studies will have a time line that will make them reportable by the next General Convention which will be held in Ohio in 2006. There is real disagreement about issues of human sexuality and the interpretation of the Holy Scriptures in the life of the Church, but at the same time I call on the continued tolerance among those who disagree on these highly charges issues and that our ability to disagree is strengthened by mutual respect, Christian charity and our love for one another.

For those brothers and sisters who are gay and lesbian and to those who are living in committed, covenanted same sex relationships, I am saddened that you have come under renewed scrutiny and outright attack from within your own Church and the larger Communion. I am also distressed by the attacks that have surfaced during and after the most recently concluded Presidential election that have lead to increased discrimination against gays and lesbians. Your pain at being marginalized by the actions of the Church at this time carries equal weight with those who have also been hurt by the actions of the Minneapolis Convention. As we engaged in conversation after last years Convention with those who were feeling hurt and marginalized by the actions of General Convention, so I pledge myself to you this day to engage in similar conversations with those from the gay and lesbian community who are experiencing much of the same rejection and pain at this present time as you try to remain within the life of the Episcopal Church.

In closing there is much that lies ahead for all of us as we move to claim the great opportunities and challenges before us which are clear signs that the living God moves among us through the gift of the Holy Spirit. Let us seek not the unity and sacredness of earthly institutions, but rather seek the unity and sacredness that define us as the many and diverse members of the one Body, the organic living, breathing Body of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ. And may we find new ways in which to love one another, forgive one another and live with one another in times of great challenge so that even in our disagreements we may claim the unity bought for us through the Holy Mystery of the cross.

May the Holy Spirit give to this diocese and its congregations the wisdom, the will, the courage and vision, the strength and the financial resources to become truly missionary congregations in a missionary diocese at a time when we need our congregations to grow in becoming exciting, empowering and transforming mission centers where lives are changed, hope is rekindled, new dreams are dreamed, new ministries are begun and many souls are saved in the name of Jesus. AMEN

The Right Reverend John Bryson Chane , D.D. Eighth Bishop of Washington
The 110 Convention of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington January 28TH and 29th, 2005