wfn.org | "Zaccheus Project" to study Episcopalians and their church

[Daphne Mack <dmack@dfms.org>]

99-031
"Zaccheus Project" to study Episcopalians and their church

by Lindsay Hardin Freeman 
(ENS) A major research study, now under way in nine dioceses 
involving 200 individual and group interviews, will soon shed 
light on what it means to be an Episcopalian in today's society. 
The study, which is funded by the Episcopal Church Foundation 
and administered by Cornerstone, has been named "The Zacchaeus 
Project," after the man who, according to the Gospel of Luke, 
climbed a tree to get a better view of Jesus as he was passing 
below.

The project is a contribution to the Church as part of the 
foundation's 50th anniversary year. William G. Andersen, Jr., the 
foundation's executive director, believes that such work is 
crucial as the Episcopal Church, along with other mainline 
denominations, faces critical scrutiny from both secular and 
religious components.

"Systematic information on what our church faces remains an 
important unanswered challenge for those who would strengthen its 
vital ministries," he says. "There is wide and to some degree, 
bleak speculation, about the future of mainline Protestantism. It 
is time for us to test those assumptions for the Episcopal 
Church." 

The study is addressing such questions as: How do 
Episcopalians renew their sense of identity in communities of 
faith? How do Americans, and particularly Episcopalians, integrate 
religion into their daily lives? In what sense does belonging to a 
church inspire a particular way of life? Where are the growth 
areas of the Church?

In addition to qualitative data, quantitative material that 
already has been regularly gathered by the church is also being 
examined. This includes figures showing national patterns and 
trends in membership, attendance, finances, patterns of giving and 
budgetary changes. 

"We anticipate that this study will be a springboard for 
letting us look at the church in ways it has never been looked at 
before," said Andersen. "We expect this to bring many other 
questions to the surface."

The findings will be sent to every congregation in the 
Episcopal Church in June and will be the focus of Trinity 
Institute's 30th national conference, "Roots and Wings: 
Episcopal Identity and Vocation in the New Millennium." "Roots" 
speaks to the primary question of identity covered in the 
Zacchaeus study, and "Wings" represents the question of 
vocation-who God is calling the church to become-which will be 
addressed at the September conference.  

Under the supervision of William S. Craddock, Jr., director 
of Cornerstone, a ministry of the foundation, the study has been 
under way since June of 1998. The selected dioceses are 
Massachusetts, North Carolina, Central Florida, Minnesota, West 
Missouri, Kansas, Texas, Nevada and Los Angeles. 

"We used many indicators to establish the final list of 
dioceses," said Andersen, "including geographical, ethnic and 
theological diversity, as well as age, financial factors and the 
relation of urban to rural congregations."

Undertaking the research is Dr. William Sachs, rector of  
St. Matthew's Parish in Wilton, Connecticut, and Dr. Thomas P. 
Holland, professor and director of the Center for Social Services 
Research and Development at the University of Georgia.

Discovering the extent to which religion, and particularly 
the Episcopal faith, makes a difference in the lives of 
participants will be a key aspect of the project. The following 
questions are some of what will be explored:
* What draws people to our church and sustains their 
involvement in its various ministries?
* What does it mean to be an Episcopalian? What distinctive 
religious perspective does the Episcopal Church 
cultivate?
* As we confront profound cultural change, how can we 
embrace new spiritual forms while preserving the best of 
our Episcopal traditions?
* What are the growth areas of the church? What are the 
forms of ministry that are thriving and what are the 
blocks to growth?

The foundation hopes that the report will inform the ongoing 
conversations and planning efforts of the church and suggest 
future directions for work to enable the church to thrive in the 
next millennium.

"After we identify ourselves," Andersen said, "this will 
help us think about our vocation and understand what God is 
calling us to do."

The Episcopal Church Foundation began in 1949 under the 
direction of Presiding Bishop Henry Knox Sherrill. Serving the 
church in leadership development, education and religious 
philanthropy, the foundation manages an endowment of some $28 
million and oversees investments of almost $20 million in planned 
gifts. It is led by lay men and women from throughout the church 
and as an independent entity works to channel its resources 
wherever they are most needed.

--Lindsay Hardin Freeman, a priest associate at St. Martin's-by-
the-Lake Episcopal Church in Minnetonka Beach, Minnesota, is the 
communications consultant for the Episcopal Church Foundation.