wfn.org | Episcopal leaders in NJ reject plan for reconciliation

[Daphne Mack <dmack@dfms.org>]

Diocesan leaders in New Jersey reject plan for reconciliation and 
healing

by James Solheim
 (ENS) A proposal for healing and reconciliation in the long-
festering rift between Bishop Joe Morris Doss and diocesan 
leadership in New Jersey was rejected by the Standing Committee 
and Diocesan Council at a January 26 meeting in Secaucus.		

The proposal, drafted by Doss and Presiding Bishop 
Frank T. Griswold, would have called for the Standing Committee 
and Council to "give their full support to the ministry of the 
diocese under the leadership of the bishop," including "full 
support-spiritual and financial-for this ministry."

The agreement called for the bishop to "consider new 
opportunities for ministry outside the diocese" and resign 
"effective no later than the close of the annual diocesan 
convention in March 2002."

In an attempt to bring peace to the diocese, the agreement 
called for the bishop and diocesan leaders to "exert every 
reasonable effort to maintain a professional and collegial 
relationship with each other and to devote their energies to a 
spirited and cooperative ministry in the diocese so long as the 
bishop remains in office." A "monitoring team" of 10 members, 
appointed by the bishop, the presiding bishop and the Standing 
Committee and Council, would have met regularly to review 
implementation of the agreement.

Challenges to the bishop's leadership go back several years 
and, despite the use of outside consultants and a wellness 
committee of diocesan leaders, the confrontation escalated into 
demands for his resignation. Critics contend that Doss is largely 
responsible for the "pain, conflict and mistrust that besets our 
diocese."

Another point in the agreement called for the Standing 
Committee and Council to "withdraw their resolutions calling for 
the bishop's resignation and cease all `investigation' of the 
personal and professional life of the bishop."

Doss has remained defiant, contending that most of the 
problems in the diocese preceded his 1994 election, but he did 
agree to modify some elements of his working style that provoked 
criticism.

After spending seven months in the diocese as a "mentor 
bishop," Bishop George Hunt, the retired bishop of Rhode Island, 
said in a report in May 1998, "While recognizing that Bishop Doss 
has made some mistakes," he said, "There are also indications 
that a number of diocesan leaders have abandoned a tenet which 
lies at the heart of the Gospel-that reconciliation is always 
possible if the parties will submit their wills to the will of 
Christ."

Hunt said that he had never seen a "more convoluted or 
complicated" situation. Despite the "enormously complex" 
situation, he said that he "couldn't find anything of substance 
on which Doss could be held accountable, nothing to justify 
attempts to force the bishop's resignation." In his report he 
warned diocesan leaders who continue to oppose the bishop, "The 
path you are on leads to death. If you continue to pursue it, it 
leads to the death of the diocese."

According to Doss, the agreement would have addressed and 
helped to resolve issues and disagreements. "Only through a 
mutual healing process can we assist the diocese in achieving a 
healthy reform," he said. "It has become clear to me that my call 
as bishop of New Jersey is a call to facilitate a period of reform 
leading to the election of another bishop," he said, adding that 
he was willing to take early retirement when all facets of the 
reform plan had been achieved.

Griswold said that he regretted the rejection of the 
proposal "that would have called upon all parties to use the next 
three years to rebuild the corporate life of the diocese, to work 
together in areas of mission and ministry, and to recover a 
healthy financial state through parish support of the diocesan 
budget."

The presiding bishop said that he had "tried with every 
means at my disposal to find healing and reconciliation," telling 
the Standing Committee and Diocesan Council that, in light of 
their decision, "I have now exhausted the possibilities for 
further intervention by the Office of the Presiding Bishop in the 
matter. I remain their chief pastor and friend, and pray for ways 
to emerge that will move toward healing. I have assured them," 
Griswold said, "of my concern not only for the bishop and his 
family but for all of the people of the Diocese of New Jersey."

Diocesan sources said that the Standing Committee and 
Diocesan Council are preparing a response to the proposed 
agreement, leaving open the possibility of a plan of 
reconciliation.

--James Solheim is director of the Office of News and Information 
of the Episcopal Church.

Episcopal News Service
Kathryn McCormick
(212) 922-5383
kmccormick@dfms.org
www.ecusa.anglican.org/ens