wfn.org | Council told staff changes will enhance 20/20 movement

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2002-051

Council told staff changes will enhance 20/20 movement

by Ed Stannard 
(Episcopal Life) The Congregational Ministries staff at
the Episcopal Church Center will be reconfigured as a
response to the 20/20 initiatives and to help guide the
Episcopal Church to a mission-oriented outlook. 

The changes raise the profile of women's and ethnic
ministries; their directors, who have yet to be hired, as
well as the director of congregational development, the
Rev. Charles N. Fulton III, will report to the assistant to
the presiding bishop for program, Sonia Francis. 

Presiding Bishop Frank T. Griswold reported 
(http://www.episcopalchurch.org/ens/2002-045.html)
the staff changes to Executive Council at its San Antonio 
meeting on February 22. He said the ethnic ministries staff 
will focus more strongly on congregational development,
rather than advocacy. That function will be shared more
with the peace and justice staff, including the Washington
office. Griswold also underscored the role of local
congregations in advocacy work. 

"We have come to a new place with regard to ethnic
ministries," Griswold told the council. "In a church free of
the sin of racism and the other 'isms,' there would be no
need for a focus upon particular ethnic groups and
identities because the church, in all its variations, would
reflect the fullness of Christ and the face of Christ, and be
transformed by the multiplicity of languages, races and the
cultural particularities incarnate in the members of Christ's
risen body. But we have not yet become who we are
called to be. 

"Given that, it has become clear that our best energies in
seeking to serve the ethnic communities need to be
focused on congregational development and clergy
recruitment. This is in line with the vision of 20/20, the
mission energies around the church, and the
demographics of our nation." 

The new cluster will focus on African-American,
Asian-American, Hispanic and Native American
congregations and on recruiting clergy among those
groups. 

On the hiring of the new ethnic-ministry staff, Francis
said, "It is a completely open process. It's open to
everyone and the current people can reapply for the new
positions." 

Enthusiastic reports from Camp Allen

Executive Council also heard from three young adults
who took part in the 20/20 meeting 
(http://www.episcopalchurch.org/ens/2002-039.html)
at Camp Allen in January. 

The Rev. Winnie Varghese of Los Angeles said, "What
was hopeful about our time together was that we were all
churches that are growing, that are alive." 

Varghese noted that the church needs to seek out new
kinds of leaders. "What we want is not necessarily people
who know how to be inside church but those who can be
leaders in our communities. ... We're not so much
challenged by what it is but by what it can be in our
lifetime." 

S. Dylan Breuer, director of youth ministries for the
Gathering in Frederick, Maryland, said she arrived at
Camp Allen with "some substantial concerns about 20/20
but when I left I was a booster." 

Breuer said the group of 65 who met included many faces
who were new to others. "There was a lot of surprise
expressed, sort of 'Where have you been hiding?' and
we hadn't been hiding; we had been out there working." 

She emphasized the importance of bringing the
enthusiasm of the group to the rest of the church. "People
who have no sense of ownership have a very high chance
of becoming resisters," she noted, adding, "If we're going
to be a truly multicultural and inclusive community we
need to get that into the drinking water." 

The final speaker was the Rev. Timothy Jones of
Murfreesboro, Tennessee, a deacon who will be
ordained priest on April 21. He suggested several ways in
which to attract new members, including emphasizing
music as a mission strategy in the congregation,
developing more Spanish-language liturgies and
resources. In addition, "We suggest looking at all kinds of
ways to lower the defenses, to make worship less
intimidating, less confusing to newcomers." 

He urged the council to adopt the 20/20 group's
"missionary zeal" and asked the church repent of "our
failure to commend to others that faith that is in us." 

Two members of the council who are part of the 20/20
teams also reported on the Camp Allen meeting. 

The Rev. Kwasi Thornell of Southern Ohio said he hoped
the council recognized "the change in tone from vision to
movement that has taken place. ... This is not the Decade
of Evangelism, folks. This is about changing the church
and making it a reflection of God's community." 

The Rev. Anthony Guillin of Los Angeles praised the
Camp Allen meeting. "It was so colorful, it was energetic
and it was unlike almost any conference you attend
because we heard from almost no one": almost the entire
time was spent in team meetings. Guillin also noted the
"energized presentation by our presiding bishop. He was
almost dancing off the stage. ... He really brought
tremendous energy and passion to that conversation." 

In a press conference during the council meeting,
Griswold spoke of the potential impact on the church of
the "many young people in the Episcopal Church who are
just waiting to be recognized, who are just waiting for
their energies to be released." 

He said 20/20 offers the church "the invitation to become
a much more multicultural church. We are still essentially
white Anglo-Saxon and increasingly there are other
cultures that are in our cities and at our doors." Using the
image of "leaven in the dough," he said the question for
Episcopalians is "how is our church going to be reflecting
the face of Christ in the years ahead." 

--Ed Stannard is news editor of Episcopal Life, the
official newspaper of the Episcopal Church.