wfn.org | Episcopalians study themselves

[Daphne Mack <dmack@dfms.org>]

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99-068
Zaccheus Report's release will begin a year of study and reflection
by Lindsay Hardin Freeman
(ENS) Two thousand years ago Zacchaeus climbed to the top of a sycamore
tree to get a better look at Jesus. Episcopalians will soon get a better
look at their church with the publication of one of the biggest
grassroots studies in mainline Protestant denominational history.
Results of the year-long project have been complied and details of its
distribution released.

The findings of the project, commissioned as a gift to the whole church
by the Episcopal Church Foundation to mark its 50th anniversary this
year, will be published and distributed to every Episcopal parish in
mid-June. That publication will begin a national three-phase
congregational process to examine Episcopal identity and vocation at the
millennium, through the joint forces of the Foundation, Trinity
Institute and the Office of The Presiding Bishop.

Phase one will see every congregation in the country receive a copy of
the study's findings, conclusions and implications, along with
discussion questions. Each parish will be invited to form a team to
examine the report over the summer.

Phase two commences with the 30th annual Trinity Institute National
Conference, "Roots and Wings: Episcopal Identity and Vocation at the New
Millennium," broadcast from Trinity Church Wall Street in New York City
September 27-29. 

Phase three follows that broadcast, from December 1999 to May of 2000,
with four additional national teleconferences sponsored by the Episcopal
Cathedral Teleconferencing Network (ECTN) examining the Church at the
millennium.

"Never before," said Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold in a recent letter
to all parishes, "has our church had the technological wherewithal to
engage in interactive dialogue of this magnitude about our present
strengths and future potential. There is much we have to learn from one
another. I heartily invite you to join in this new model of
transformation through conversation...."
Issues and opportunities
Zacchaeus Project research began in September 1998 under the direction
of Cornerstone, a ministry of the Episcopal Church Foundation. Some 200
interviews, individual and group, were conducted primarily in nine
selected dioceses: Massachusetts, North Carolina, Central Florida,
Minnesota, West Missouri, Kansas, Texas, Nevada and Los Angeles. 

Research was led by the Rev. Dr. William L. Sachs, rector of St.
Matthew's Episcopal Church in Wilton, Connecticut, and author of The
Transformation of Anglicanism,  and Dr. Thomas P. Holland, professor and
director of the Center for Social Service Research and Development at
the University of Georgia. Sachs and Holland worked under the direction
of William S. Craddock, Jr., Cornerstone's director.

Sachs estimates that approximately 2,000 individuals were interviewed,
85 percent of them lay. The report examines emerging trends and patterns
of leadership as well as the crucial issues, opportunities and
challenges facing Episcopal ministries. 

Among other issues, the report also explores these questions: What draws
people to the Episcopal 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?
To what extent are our ministries fostering effective leadership for the
future?

When the Zacchaeus report-including findings, conclusions and
implications-is distributed in June, Foundation Director William G.
Andersen, Jr. hopes that Episcopalians will learn much about who they
are and what their faith means. "The report will begin to fill in the
picture about who and what the Episcopal Church is and how it gives
meaning and direction to the lives and ministries of its members."
Trinity Institute
Phase two will be highlighted by "Roots and Wings," Trinity Institute's
30th National Conference in September. The Institute will gather parish
teams for the teleconference, to be broadcast live via satellite to
designated downlinks in every diocese.

"We envision this self-study project as a two-part process," says the
Rev. Dr. Frederic B. Burnham, director of Trinity Institute. "The first
part is the 'roots' question, which will be answered by the Zacchaeus
report: Who are we, as Episcopalians, at this millennial moment? The
second part is the 'wings' question, which will be the true focus of the
national conference: What is our vocation, as Episcopalians, at this
millennial moment? What is our corporate identity, our distinct
tradition? What and who is God calling us to become? How can we be
faithful to our tradition and yet open to new spiritual practices?"

Speakers at the conference are authorities on religion and popular
culture. All lay Episcopalians, they are: Donald Miller, professor of
religion at the University of Southern California, and author of
Reinventing American Protestantism; Phyllis Tickle, author of
Discovering the Sacred and God Talk in America; Robert Wuthnow,
professor of sociology at Princeton University and author of After
Heaven: Spirituality in America Since the '50s; Stephen Carter,
professor of law at Yale University and author of The Culture of
Disbelief;  and George Gallup, head of the Gallup Organization, Inc.

Following the broadcast, each parish team will be asked to lead its
congregation in an extended self-study process, enabling every parish in
the Episcopal Church to engage in this analysis of vocation and
identity.

Kenneth Arnold, deacon at St. Clement's Church in New York City, and
Zacchaeus diocesan coordinator for the Diocese of New York, looks
forward to the interactive process. "What is unique about this project
is that the results of the survey are being sent to parishes around the
country so that the people in the pews can examine, comment on,
question, and even attack the findings. Episcopalians will have a chance
to do this in their own communities, in the diocese and in the church at
large through satellite downlinks as part of Trinity Institute in the
fall....This is a great opportunity for the laity to have a profound
effect on the future of the church. This will be one of the most
all-inclusive town meetings in our Church's history. Everyone should
want to be there."
More teleconferences
Phase three follows with four teleconferences examining the church at
the millennium:

"Exploring the Shifting Spiritual Landscape of America"
December 4, 1999
A 90-minute teleconference that will bring together experts in
sociology, theology and spiritual practice to take an in-depth look at
our nation's spiritual landscape and its impact on congregational life
today.

"God at 2000"
February 11-12, 2000
A two-day teleconference produced in partnership with Trinity Institute
and Oregon State University and featuring prominent religious thinkers
of diverse faiths discussing their experience of God.

"I Have A Vision"
March 15, 2000
Episcopal bishops from around the country will share their experiences
in this mid-week Lenten broadcast and articulate their visions of the
mission and future of the Episcopal Church.

"Where Do We Go From Here?"
May 13, 2000
A town hall gathering and Eucharist celebration, this broadcast will
explore the issues and visions emerging from the nearly year-long study
of the report and offer ideas on what lies ahead for the Episcopal
Church.
--Lindsay Hardin Freeman, priest associate at St. Martin's-by-the-Lake
Episcopal Church in Minnetonka Beach, Minnesota, is the communications
consultant for the Episcopal Church Foundation. For this article she was
assisted by Debra Wagner, editor of The Episcopal New Yorker; Kathryn
Soman, a writer for the Trinity Institute, and Deacon Kenneth Arnold,
who edits Crosscurrents magazine.