All Weekly Messages

As we move toward the end of 2023, there is much to share. We are beginning a new season as a diocese, and we have new staff arriving, search processes under way, and a departure to note. It seems appropriate that as we prepare for 2024, we are getting ready to welcome some new people and to expand our support for congregations, clergy, and lay leaders.

Almighty and gracious God, we give you thanks for the fruits of the earth in their season and for the labors of those who harvest them. Make us, we pray,

As we have congregations and ministries to celebrate, we also have some challenges. As a diocese, we’re spending a lot more than we should. This year, our draw from our endowments, reserve funds, and trust accounts is more than $1,300,000. Last year, it was more than $900,000. This is not sustainable. While we are still discerning together some of the details about where God is calling us to focus, it is clear that part of our common call in the near future is toward fiscal stability.

As we work toward the Special Budget Convention on December 9, 2023, the diocesan Finance and Budget Committee is preparing the 2024 budget. While there is still much to be done, it is my hope that we will be able to take some substantial steps toward closing the gap between our income and our expenses. We are already taking steps to decrease expenditures in some key areas.

As we prepare for our next Diocesan Convention, we have some financial challenges to address. Our congregations and our diocese have limited resources and there are many needs in our churches and communities. I do not yet know what the budget will look like, but I am committed to good stewardship of our resources, our people, and our communities. More information will be available soon, and I look forward to what will be, and to what, by the grace of God, we are becoming. Things take the time they take, and we are on God’s journey, together.

The Diocese of New Jersey has sometimes struggled with communications. I recognize this, and I also recognize that the work of diocesan communications is challenging. There are many demands and many opportunities. We have limited resources, of people, skills, and funds. We want to do God’s work, to know our stories and share them boldly, to proclaim the Good News and make disciples. We also want clear and accessible platforms, technology, and graphics, together with timely and appealing updates, in formats everyone can understand. We have not used the available resources to their fullest potential, and our communications practices and strategy have at times fallen short.

I have consulted with the leaders of the Diocese of New Jersey Commission on Ministry, the Committee on the Priesthood, the Committee on the Diaconate, and the School for Ministry. Earlier today, I let those in formal discernment for Holy Orders in our diocese know that I have made the decision to place the Diocese of New Jersey’s ordination process on hold for a period of at least six months, effective immediately. During this time, no new applications will be received, and no applicants, postulants, or candidates will move forward to the next stage of their discernment.

I am seeing new beginnings in all kinds of place, not just limited to Sundays. Visits with vestries, appointments with clergy and lay leaders, and other opportunities to connect with churches and communities all hold the possibility of new beginnings. The staff and I are having a lot of conversations with vestries about new ways of engaging with clergy and mission, about serving those in need in local neighborhoods, evangelism, multicultural ministry, congregational affiliations, mission and purpose, and faithful stewardship. All this is to say that I am holding both gratitude and hope.

For me, one of the most moving moments in the service was the moment when Bishop Chip Stokes presented me with the crozier of the Diocese of New Jersey. This symbol of the bishop’s office is in the shape of a shepherd’s crook and represents the bishop’s role as chief pastor and shepherd of the diocese. The crozier of the Diocese of New Jersey is beautiful, with a silver hook depicting various Christian symbols. On receiving it, I was struck by the significance of the occasion, and the gift and weight of this calling. It was easy to receive it from Bishop Stokes because he has carried it so well. As I learn to carry this crozier and the other symbols of my role as your bishop, I begin with both joy and gratitude.

It was a great joy to be with you, as you gave thanks for the ministry of Bishop Chip Stokes. At that time, I fully expected to be with you for the ordination and consecration of the Rev. Dr. Sally French to serve as the 13th Bishop of New Jersey. Little did I know then that for reasons of health I would be unable to be present with you on this joyful occasion. But I am deeply thankful that Bishop Mary Gray-Reeves, the Vice President of the House of Bishops and the Managing Director of the College for Bishops, will be with you as Chief Consecrator.

Juneteenth invites all Americans to acknowledge and tell the truth about our history, a history which is too often “white-washed,” sanitized and mythologized. Juneteenth should stir us to work diligently for an America that fulfills its highest ideals for all its citizens and people, not just some. This faith-filled work is at the heart of the Golden Rule.