As I began my third week in the Diocese of New Jersey, I
continued to meet with diocesan staff one-on-one. This is allowing me to get to know them and
understand the joys and challenges of their ministries. On Tuesday, 8/20, I met
with Canon Debi Clarke who shared with me the fabulous work she is doing with
the youth of the diocese. Debi loves to
say, “I have the best job in the Diocese!” and she means it. There are some
challenges though. There is never enough
adult volunteer support throughout the diocese to support the activities she
plans with the youth. We’ll have to work
on this. Youth need adult mentors who
are not their parents. It is a vital and
wonderful ministry. She would also like the
Diocese to be more intentional in forming a young adult ministry specifically
addressing the concerns and needs of those in their 20s and 30s who are not a
part of our campus ministries. This, too,
is critically important and something we all will need to work on.
Last Tuesday night (8/20), Susan and I joined Fr. Jack
Zamboni, the Vestry and other leaders of St. Francis Church in Dunellen (http://www.stfrancisdunellen.org/) at the
home of Senior Warden Pam Maiolo. What a
committed group of people! A lot
impressed us about this gathering. What
was most impressive was the care and warmth that each of the people in this
group have for one another. The meeting
after dinner began with a “caring conversation” during which everyone had an
opportunity to share some blessing they had experienced during the summer.
I learned over my years as Rector at St. Paul’s in Delray
Beach, to begin all my meetings with prayer and with time for these kinds of “caring
conversations.” It built genuine
relationships and community, and made a real difference in how we approached
the “business” of the church. I commend
these practices to all church leadership.
Especially when meetings are held on weeknights and people are coming in
from their workaday worlds, they need time to pray and check in with one
another and remember that we are the Church, the people of God called to pray
for and with one another and to serve Christ and his mission. Fr. Zamboni and the people of St. Francis,
Dunellen, modeled that beautifully.
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| The leadership of St. Francis. Barbara Dalto is holding"Flat Jesus" |
Susan and I were also tremendously impressed by the history
of St. Francis Church which represents the successful merging of St. Andrew’s,
Plainfield and Holy Innocents, Dunellen.
This merging took place in 1980.
Present at that barbecue were some who had been part of both of the
churches before the merger. They shared
what a positive experience this consolidation was and understand well that it brought
new life and vitality in ministry where there had been little hope and only
dying. It is a great resurrection story
that needs to be widely shared across the diocese, especially in some corners
where there is great fear about merging and consolidation; places where it
might bring about similar new life. During
the meeting, Barbara Dalto introduced the St. Francis leadership to “Flat Jesus”
a project of the Church School that will encourage people to take Jesus with
them everywhere they go. Great
work Fr. Jack and the leadership of St, Francis, and thanks Chef Vin Maiolo for
a delicious dinner
On Thursday evening, I had dinner with Clara Gregory, the
extraordinary Senior Warden of Trinity Cathedral and the equally extraordinary
Phyllis Jones, Chief Financial Officer of the Diocese of New Jersey. Both Phyllis and Clara are heavily involved
with Urban Promise of Trenton. (http://urbanpromisetrenton.org/). Phyllis is also very active with Urban Promise of Camden, including
serving on their Board. Both Clara and
Phyllis shared with Susan and me the story and good work of Urban Promise which
does phenomenal work with the youth of inner-city children and youth. We look forward to knowing more and to
working with the leadership of this important organization. Bishop Councell has designated Urban Promise as the recipient of gifts
given in honor of his retirement. I
encourage everyone on the diocese to give generously.
On Thursday, Bishop Councell and I drove together to
Tuckerton for a meeting with the clergy of the Atlantic Convocation. This allowed us an hour each way in the car
to get to know each better, to share stories of our experiences and for me to
feed on his wisdom as a bishop who has done amazing work in a diocese that
needed considerable healing when he started.
I recently acknowledged to him how blessed I feel to be able to work
with him in a healthy transition. I recognize
that he did not have that same opportunity when he was elected 10 years ago when
there was tremendous hurt in a diocese that had experienced significant conflict. What a gift to us all his healing ministry has
been.
Our host at The Church of the Holy Spirit (http://www.holyspirittuckerton.org/) was The Reverend
Martha McKee who also served on the Episcopal Election Committee. It was great to see her in action. Holy Spirit was hosting VBS that week and the
undercroft was “dressed for action!” We
began with sandwiches after which the 20+ people broke up into two groups. Half the group started with Bishop Councell
who reflected with the clergy on his 10 years as Diocesan Bishop. The other group stayed with me and allowed
me to share some of my personal story and then to engage in a conversation in
which I intended to ask three questions:
1. What do
you hope I do as Bishop of New Jersey?
2.
What are you concerned I might do as Bishop of
New Jersey?
3.
What are you concerned I might not do as Bishop of New Jersey?
After about and hour and a half of conversations, the groups
switched. Those who had been with Bishop
Councell came to me, and those who had been with me went to him.
Bishop Councell later shared with me that the clergy had been very “tender”
with him and that it had been a grace-filled time. I
thought it was grace-filled time as well.
I was grateful for the care and candor of the clergy who urged me to
love them and the people of the diocese; to lead, grounding myself in Jesus and
in prayer; to pace myself and stay true to myself and not get “sucked into the
system.” They had concerns about the
number of churches we have in the diocese that have too few people and money
resources to function in a healthy and missional way.
There was significant concern about how
senior supply priests are being used in churches to “shore up” desperate
situations where there does not appear a realistic hope of supporting clergy on
a regular basis either full or part-time, situations where there are 5 – 10 worshipers
a week. These priests feel it is unfair
to clergy in healthier situations that need the availability of supply priests
to provide them with some relief for illness or vacation. Deacons want there to be more intentional
consideration and use of them and their gifts and talents. At present, I am taking it all in. I want to continue to get around the diocese
to the meetings of clericus and convocations and to listen, but I am aware that
these are challenges I, and we, face. Decisions,
many of them difficult, will need to be made as we move forward.
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| Susan fell in love with Derby the Bat Dog! |
On Friday evening, Susan and I were the guests of Dot
Cellini, the official paparazzi of the Diocese of New Jersey, at Arm and
Hammer Stadium for our first Trenton Thunders game. It was a beautiful night and the Thunder
defeated the Portland Sea Dogs 3-1 in a very well-played game. It was great fun thanks Dot!
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| Dot Cellini! |
On Sunday, 8/25, I was the celebrant at St. Mark’s Keansburg where Transitional Deacon Kathy Murray, who has been appointed by Bishop Councell to serve, preached a strong sermon about the woman Jesus healed in the Sabbath. It was a great pleasure to meet the strong leaders of St. Mark’s – Deacon Rose Broderick, Senior Warden, Cindy Medina, St. Mark Center’s indomitable Director Tammy Young and Vestry member Mark Schumacher.
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| Susan got right into the kitchen and helped Diane Broderick! |
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We stayed afterward and shared in the meal and fellowship at the St. Mark’s Community Center which has become an incredibly strong community outreach center and feeding program in the period following Hurricane Sandy. I sat and ate with some of the folks who come to the center regularly and heard from them about life in that community and the struggles the community has been facing since Hurricane Sandy. They were particularly concerned that I be aware, despite the television commercials promoting the Jersey Shore as if everything is back to normal, that many homeowners are still without homes and struggling. We met one woman who has been staying with a friend for nearly a year and hopes to get back into her home next month.
After lunch, Susan and I drove to Staten Island to visit Susan’s
sister, our nephew and his wife and their new baby in Staten Island. It was great to catch up with our New York
family who we haven’t seen in a while.
Sunday evening, on our way home from Staten Island, we
detoured to Ocean Grove where we caught up with Debi Clarke who was helping to
lead a joint youth mission trip of New Jersey and Long Island. I shared with the group that I was ordained
in the Diocese of Long Island and how pleased I was to see these two dioceses
work together.
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| At Ocean Grove Retreat Center with Canon Debi Clarke and the Youth of New Jersey and Long Island |
We arrived in time to
participate in “ice breaking activities” and watched a TED Talk video on “shame
and vulnerability.” We engaged with the
youth and adults leaders of the Diocese in a wonderfully insightful discussion
about how important it is to understand the notions of shame and vulnerability and
how these factor into the dynamics of ministering in post-Hurricane Sandy
contexts. Our young people are an
amazing group. I look forward to getting
to know them better.
Wow! What a
week! There were lots of new experiences
and wisdom from lots of corners: staff
of the Diocese, Bishop Councell, the leadership of St. Francis, Denellin, the
clergy of the Diocese, the people of St. Mark’s Church and Center, Dot Cellini,
and the youth and youth leaders of New Jersey and Long Island. One thing is clear: There is a lot of great
energy and commitment to the ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ in the Diocese
of New Jersey! Thanks be to God!!
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