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.
The news this past week from Israel and Gaza has been devastating. The war between Israel and Hamas has killed thousands and displaced almost half a million people. It is a humanitarian disaster and there is untold suffering and need in Gaza and in Israel. Yesterday, at least 400 lives were lost in a missile strike at the Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza, including children, refugees, and medical personnel.
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.
“We’re into that season where the world pauses, for just a moment, to breathe, to wonder, and to worship.”
Episcopal Community Services of the Diocese of New Jersey is a significant means by which we all can show our love for Jesus by tending to the sheep he has entrusted to us, and especially those who hurt most, who are most fragile and vulnerable. This third Sunday in Easter, as we proclaim the risen Lord, I pray you will join me in giving thanks for the work we are doing together through Episcopal Community Services of the Diocese of New Jersey. More important, I pray you will support the work of the Lord, our feeding the sheep and tending the flock entrusted to our care by generous with your donations and your prayers.
“For ancient Israel, Passover was God’s saving event, in which Moses led the people Israel out of the bondage of slavery in Egypt into the Promised Land. For Christians, Christ is God’s “saving event” calling us, leading us, out of bondage to the slavery of sin and death into the light of God’s love and life, love and life, here, now, today, in our world and in our lives. And we today, and our world, are desperately in need of this saving event.”
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“Be still and know that I am God!" (Psalm 46:10) Our world is complex and it can be overwhelming and our thoughts can sometimes be scattered. Where is God in
The Town Hall meetings will not be held in April but will return in May A chance for the Diocese to come together to discuss current issues, share fellowship, worship,
The Town Hall meetings will not be held in April but will return in May A chance for clergy of the Diocese to come together to discuss current issues, share
Standing Committee on Clerical Compensation Meeting Join Zoom Meeting
Bishop's Forum for Clergy is a chance for casual conversation, less structured and information-packed than the monthly Town Halls. Held the third Thursday of the month via Zoom, the Forum
Topic: Deans’ Meeting Time: Every month on the Third Thursday 11:00 AM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Dear Clergy Spouse Care Group or CSCG, The first meeting of the ‘Every Other Wednesday CSCG’ (Clergy Spouse Care Group) is tonight at 7 p.m. Join us tonight for the
New Jersey's Opportunity to Learn from New York and California. Online webinar moderated by the Rev. Charles Wynder, Jr. Speakers include NY Senator James Sanders, Jr., the Rev. Charles Boyer
A chance for clergy of the Diocese to come together to discuss current issues, share fellowship, worship, and work together on challenges facing us today. Register in advance for this
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