A summary of Bishop Shannon’s pastoral address, Jan 27, 2017, Annual Convention in his own words. Link to the full address
1 Faith in the public square – I must be more of a public activist about the values to which I feel called by my faith in Jesus as the Lord of life and by the whole record of the sacred Scriptures. I’ve been calling this awareness “faith in the public square,” and it compels me not only for my ministry and role as a bishop but also simply as an individual Christian person. Why ?
A First, the “mainstream” Protestant churches have become more marginalized than ever, our voice being all but drowned-out by the hard-Right fundamentalists and politically-charged evangelicals.As a result, our secularized culture is not truly aware of a more moderate and broader voice from the Christian tradition
B The second factor moving me into a more activist-style of our Christian faith is the alarming polarization in our public discourse as the American society. If ever our nation and world needed the Anglican tradition of a “big tent” community, our ability to forge consensus around “both—and” as contrasted to the highly toxic and (in the end) destructive “either—or” it is now.
C Finally, I’m raising the bar for my Christian voice because it is now apparent to me that here in the United States (although certainly not limited to our country) a fear-driven, isolationist nationalism seriously threatens the Gospel’s vision for human life and community by propping up self-interest as nothing short of an idol. Jesus never said or exemplified “self first.” Quite the contrary: We follow a Lord who said “Love one another as I have loved you.” In my book, that means “selflessly” and “unconditionally.”
I shall seek to articulate and bring a concrete witness to our Christian values as declared with unambiguous specificity in the Baptismal Covenant. In my view, this will most often involve our promise to “seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself” and to “strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being.” We are charged with a bias for Jesus’ Gospel vision of human life, striving for the realization of God’s Kingdom in this life. So, if-ever and whenever you feel called to enter the arena of a public issue from the point of view of your Christian faith, my strong counsel to you is that you must be very sure indeed to be able to articulate, clearly and unequivocally, precisely what in the matter at hand offends an imperative from Scripture.
2 Implementing Faith in the Public Square . Now, what shall I do with my newly-recovered conviction for “faith in the public square?” I shall be more open and communicative about my perspectives and convictions with regard to political, economic, and communal issues whenever such affairs intersect in some way with the Baptismal Covenant. This means that I shall offer more position statements, both written and in video, than has been my practice up to now. An essential component of these statements will be to explain “why” I believe a given issue is a matter that should be addressed by the Church.
It is my intention also to become more directly involved in the respective arenas of federal, state, and local government when I believe that the Church has something to contribute that is specifically appropriate to political discourse. In Federal and Commonwealth affairs, it is clear to me that our efforts will prove more effective if we work together with the other two Virginia dioceses (Southern Virginia and Southwestern Virginia). Therefore, I shall coordinate with Bishop Hollerith and Bishop Bourlakis . The same principle applies to our full-communion partner, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. (respectively) so as to bring a stronger voice and more weight to the Episcopal Church’s witness in Virginia and beyond.
Finally, we must remember that we do, in fact, share common interests and values with the other two great monotheistic, Abrahamic traditions of faith, Judaism and Islam.
Again, none of this is about being politically “partisan;” rather, it is about being present, being taken seriously, and being counted—it is about being present, being taken seriously, and being counted—not so much as Republicans or Democrats, but rather as people of faith who seek to make a difference in this world. In my view, we must remember and take to heart that Jesus was put to death not only for upsetting the religious status quo but also for threatening the larger political order.
One has only to take stock of the history of white churches that stayed silent or openly supported racial segregation during the Civil Rights movement to understand my point. A solid example of what I’m pointing to is the “Service of Light and Hope,” a liturgy sponsored by our diocesan office of Intercultural Ministries. This was held to offer support to our Latino/Hispanic parishioners who fear drastic measures might be taken against them by the new Presidential administration. This is grounded in one of the most-mentioned of all Godly imperatives—it’s spelled out for us literally hundreds of times in Holy Scripture—which is hospitality to the stranger, the immigrant among us. In my remarks, I promised to organize peaceful civil disobedience should they be subjected to mass deportations or any unjust treatment. I remain absolutely committed to this witness, and will gladly risk being arrested if and when that will lend meaningful support to those who are somehow on the margins of our society.
I also feel called to be more vigorous in my opposition to the death penalty, and in support of comprehensive measures to reduce gun violence.
I ask you to consider the real-life issues that call out to your own faith in Jesus as your Lord. Whatever the issues, I suggest that we Episcopalians run the risk of hiding our light under the proverbial basket. In my judgment, the time has long-since come to proclaim our faith within the public square, wherever you are, whoever you are.
- Revising Pastoral visits. I dare say that it wouldn’t be far off the mark to guess that perhaps the majority of our communicants (and even some clergy) don’t think of the diocese as a defining part of faith and church-life. Given that almost every Sunday requires both morning and afternoon visitations, I don’t get “enough” of any place I visit. That makes me wonder whether or not you’re getting enough of the bishop from a visitation… I have come to believe that our current system of scheduling bishops’ visitations is not working for the best in our diocese. It actually reinforces the feeling of a lack of real connection with the bishop’s ministry. In turn, that confirms a weak sense of relationship with the diocese as a whole.
We are shifting the entire paradigm. Starting with the first Sunday of September of this year, we are moving to one visit per Sunday for each bishop. That visit may be for just a single liturgy or it may include multiple services. This way, a bishop will be able to spend several hours on-the-ground with every congregation, so there will be ample time for whatever activities you design
Given that we have 180 churches to visit, this means that we shall be moving from the current two-visit, morning-and-afternoon norm, in which every congregation receives a bishop during every calendar year, to a schedule in which most congregations will receive a bishop every-other-year, with the provision that there will be Regional services so that every congregation has the opportunity to present candidates to a bishop for baptism, confirmation, reception, and reaffirmation every single year. Our larger congregations, which typically present classes of, say, twenty-five or more for baptism, confirmation, reception, and reaffirmation, will continue to receive an annual visit, and that visit can also last over the span of a morning and into the afternoon
To help compensate for the fact that about half of our congregations will have an “off-year” with respect to a Sunday visitation from a bishop, we shall be very intentional about visiting those congregations on a weeknight for a program or forum.
- Another major development aimed at improving the quality of relationship between diocesan-level ministry and individual congregations has been the flowering of our new Intercultural Ministries office This diocesan staff office has specific oversight of our twenty multi-racial and ethnic-specific congregations
There are two tracks of ministry in this work: (1) to provide front-lines support that will facilitate both relationships and resources for the congregations themselves, and (2) to work with all Anglo-majority congregations so that the entire diocese is as fully informed as possible about the mission and ministry of these specific communities of faith.
Our intercultural congregations have opened their doors to Christians from Vietnam, Korea, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Bolivia, El Salvador, Mexico, to name only some of the places of origin. We must own up to a problem of real dis-connection with respect to these communities.
- Racial Reconciliation
Some of you will recall that I named this as a singular and urgent priority in my Pastoral Address at the 220th Annual Convention in January 2015, and since that time a great many of our congregations have responded in various but personal and concrete ways. Most churches that have been emphasizing racial reconciliation have generally followed the recommendations of the several diocesan conversations about race relations held during 2015 by structuring programs that, first, took an internal look within the congregation, sharing attitudes and experiences with respect to racism. Several of our churches then sought and built personal relationships with a nearby congregation composed primarily of people who are of a different race, getting to know each other on deeper levels through sharing in worship and events of fellowship. Finally, the partnering congregations found ways to shape a mission and a message to take into the larger community with the goal of promoting greater understanding and mutual respect. In some cases, this has been done by taking on a common ministry project in your local communities.
If your congregation hasn’t yet taken up this emphasis in ministry, there’s no time like the present!
- We can now see the possibility of our ministering together in the form of a School for Peace and Reconciliation.
Over the past two years, we have been having discussions, prayers, and shared meals that are focused on building stronger relationships between members of three “blue-ribbon” leadership teams from our diocese and parishioners of the ACNA congregation that currently leases our Truro parish campus in Fairfax City. We can now see the possibility of our ministering together in the form of a School for Peace and Reconciliation. The initial focus of this school would be on relations among Christians, Jews and Muslims.
- Another ministry on the front lines I find particularly inspiring is happening in the crucial issue of refugee resettlement. For example, I’ll highlight but one such effort. In the fall, a group of churches in Richmond, including St. Thomas’s, St. Philip’s, Holy Comforter, and St. John’s, joined together to welcome a family of nine to the Richmond area. They were originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo but had spent the last twenty years in a refugee camp in Rwanda.
- Relationships within the Anglican Communion. A great many of our congregations support mission and ministry in fully twenty nations on four continents, places as diverse as, for example, Haiti, Tanzania, South Sudan, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Liberia, Israel and Palestine, Brazil, and South India. Congregational missions also travel to places nearer to home such as in Appalachia and other rural American regions, various inner cities, and Native American reservations
Of special note are two major developments in our international partnerships. 2017 will see a re-launching of our “Triangle of Hope” relationship with the Diocese of Liverpool and the Diocese of Kumasi in Ghana, links which are rooted in the key roles that Liverpool, Kumasi, and Richmond played in the tragic slave trade.
The second major development in our international partnerships concerns our longest-standing link, the Diocese of Christ the King of Johannesburg, South Africa. ). “Christ the King” has now elected a new bishop, the Rev. Canon William Mostert, who will be consecrated on February 25. Bishop Goff will be attending
- Diocesan Staff
Most recently, I have been both delighted and gratified to welcome a new Director for our Communications Office. Tanya Howard took up this position at the start of the new
The Christian Formation office, led by Paris Ball, will be busy this summer not only with our signature camping-programs but also in leading our diocese’s participation in the international “Episcopal Youth Event” (EYE). Held every three years, this year’s EYE will meet in Edmond, OK at Central Oklahoma University
Something remarkable is happening in the Julie Simonton’s Stewardship and Congregational Development Office: the diocesan stewardship committee worked with Julie’s leadership and for the first time ever we wrote our own annual giving program, “Walk in Love,” which I have personally seen used, often with terrific creativity, in countless churches across the diocese.
Our diocesan Treasurer, Ted Smith, has been on board for almost three years now and he is a complete master. This is a job with a million moving parts and Ted knows them all—how each one works and what it means to the whole diocese
The subject of “transition ministry” is just a short step away from the happy topic of our very fine seminarians. These good folk, and the several processes that guide them, are supervised by Canon to the Ordinary Pat Wingo and Transition Deputy Ed Keithly
In our Transition Ministries Office, the Rev. Mary Thorpe, found herself contending with some forty-plus occasions of change in congregational leadership in 2016. I understand that the load is back down to a more typical 25 or so “open files,” meaning congregations that are facing a transition in the near future, others that are in the various stages of going through one, and still others that have just made a new call and are in the process of orienting to new leadership
Through the tireless and prayerful work from so many, this diocese is recruiting and forming some of the brightest, youngest (or most young-at-heart) clergy in The Episcopal Church
- Shrine Mont Camps renovation . So, what happy news it is that 2016 was the year that we turned the momentum of having exceeded our $2 million-dollar goal for our “Shout it from the Mountain” capital campaign into a continuing effort that has now come to within only $48,000 of exceeding our stretch goal of $2.5 million dollars for rebuilding, expanding, improving, maintaining, and subsidizing our camping programs. Hear that again: we are within only $48,000 of topping our stretch goal! In the challenge I posed ten months ago, when we were some $313,000 short of the stretch goal, I asked this diocese to come up with 105 pledges of $1,000 per year for three years
- Growth of the Diocese. I’m pleased to say that for the second straight year, our Diocese of Virginia will report growth—it’s only very slight growth, mind you, but this is indeed a positive sign against the previous consecutive years of decline—that, too, only slight. On the one hand, you could say that over the past ten to twelve years our numbers have been essentially “flat,” but that would neglect important trends in the past few years. For example, in 2015 (the last year for which the complete data have been submitted) fully 124 of our 180 churches grew or maintained their numbers from the previous year. This is roughly equivalent to the number of congregations that grew or maintained in 2014. And get this: over 2014 & 2015, 35 of our churches reported double-digit percentage growth!