wfn.org | Werner hopes to be 'bridge-builder' for deputies

[ENS@ecunet.org]

http://www.ecusa.anglican.org/ens

2000-157

Werner hopes to be 'bridge-builder' for deputies

     (Episcopal Life) "With all that he's done around Pittsburgh, 
it's a wonder the Very Rev. George Werner was able to keep his 
day job."

     That was the first sentence of a glowing editorial in the 
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette at the time of George Werner's retirement 
last December. Werner, 62, elected president of the House of 
Deputies at this summer's General Convention, was stepping down 
as dean of Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, a post he'd held for 20 
years. He was, by that time, perhaps one of the best-known people 
in Pittsburgh, credited with a major role in reviving the 
downtown of the industrial city at the confluence of the Ohio, 
Monongahella, and Allegheny rivers.

     The dismantling of the steel industry had taken a toll on 
the community and it benefited from the energy brought by the man 
some called "the high priest against pessimism." Werner helped 
found and led the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership, the Bethlehem 
Haven Shelter for Women, the Dollar Energy Fund, and the 
Interfaith Caregivers. He served on the boards of several local 
hospitals, chairing key oversight committees.

     Now, many in the Episcopal Church hope the politically 
savvy, 30-year veteran of the House of Deputies and its two-term 
vice president will turn that same energy to his new post. 
Werner, elected on the first ballot, succeeds Pamela Chinnis, who 
served since 1991.

     "He will excel in presiding," declares attorney Charles 
Crump, the doyen of General Convention, a 15-time deputy from the 
Diocese of West Tennessee. "He's crisp and precise, yet not 
overbearing. I think he will stack right up there with the top 
presiders."

     "George is ... organized, knows his way around … and he's 
demonstrated he can preside competently over the house," says 
nine-time deputy Marge Christie from the Diocese of Newark. "He 
honors and respects the church and will do everything he can to 
preserve its tradition, its honor and its integrity." 

New coalitions

     Appointments to committees and commissions, a task he will 
share with the presiding bishop, is a major part of Werner's new 
responsibility and he expects his Pittsburgh experience at 
"bridge-building" to serve him in it.

     "I've been involved in bringing strange groups to the table, 
very diverse, often enemies ... but we find an area of self-
interest ... and we develop new coalitions," Werner says of his 
work. "I want a mix. I want some people who are veterans ... who 
know where the minefields are ... know the history," but, he 
continues, "I want ... people who can make something happen. ... 
I want not a politically correct diversity, I want every voice 
that will protect us from omitting something important."

     Some veterans of the House of Deputies look to Werner for 
more. "George will excel in maintaining the independence of the 
house," says Byron Rushing, eight-time deputy from the Diocese 
of Massachusetts, who served with Werner on Chinnis' Council of 
Advice. 

     Werner says he wants to be a team member with the presiding 
bishop. "We have a lot of things where we are really one, in 
terms of spirituality, liturgy, a whole bunch of things. I love 
his Benedictine abbot approach for many reasons." But, says 
Werner, who's led five house committees, served 12 years on 
councils of advice, and been his chair of his diocesan deputation 
eight times, "the House of Bishops will never understand the 
House of Deputies. We need to keep those two things very, very 
clear. There are reasons for this.

     "When the House of Bishops issues a 'mind of the house' and 
they are talking theology, that is totally appropriate. When they 
start saying how they feel on some of the social issues, we are a 
bicameral legislature. I will remind them of that. They can't do 
it as if they are the final word."

Open and blunt style

     Werner's openness and frequent blunt talk can be both 
refreshing and problematic. He's quick to admit, "I have this 
problem that St. Peter did: I open my mouth and sometimes I put 
my foot in it." He also readily confesses, "Nobody has ever used 
the word 'humility' in a paragraph with me."

     Although some deputies have criticized his informality in 
presiding and the appearance of disrespect when he addresses male 
clergy as "Father" and female clergy by their first names, Werner 
says he's making a conscious effort to be more formal.

     Scott Evans, seven-time deputy from the Diocese of North 
Carolina, applauds "a great improvement" in the way Werner has 
presided. "I think he's quick to make decisions. ... He will need 
to listen to voices of experience as he makes decisions."

     "He has a lot of energy," says Bonnie Anderson, five-time 
deputy from the Diocese of Michigan, who was chair of the Joint 
Standing Committee on Planning, Budget and Finance. "It can be 
used to be reactive and it can be used to be enthusiastic."

     Two priests in Werner's diocese, from opposite poles on the 
political spectrum, both have high praise for the new president. 
The Rev. Harold Lewis, rector of Calvary Episcopal Church in 
Pittsburgh and former officer for black ministries at the 
Episcopal Church Center, calls Werner's election as head of the 
diocese's deputation "a remarkable feat, given that George is a 
moderate-liberal churchman in a diocese which has become 
increasingly conservative."

     The Rev. Jim Simons, rector of St. Michael's Episcopal Church 
in Ligonier, a four-time deputy from Pittsburgh, points 
out that Werner "has accomplished the almost impossible task of 
rising to his current office while not beholden to any 
ideological group. ... He truly wants to see all perspectives 
represented in the church."

     The Rev. John Guernsey, secretary of the conservative 
American Anglican Council and six-time deputy from the Diocese of 
Virginia, endorses that assessment. "I was a leader of the AAC in 
the House of Deputies and I would have to say I've experienced 
George to be a bridge-builder. He reached out to us and sought to 
understand our concerns and priorities."

Focus on community

     As Werner presided or sat second chair at General 
Convention, his wife, Audrey, was visible in the rear of the hall 
with her needlework. The Werners, who have four grown children, 
celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary in June. Together 
they've served urban parishes in Bridgeport, Connecticut, and 
Manchester, New Hampshire, before the move to Pennsylvania in 
1979. They now live in Sewickley, Pennsylvania.

     Now the man who "loves English mysteries," historical 
novels, and Henri Nouwen, who says his greatest passion is 
"people, I just absolutely love to connect" and who confesses his 
primary motivation to be "the fact that you can change things," 
will be leading the House of Deputies for at least the next three 
years.

     He says his focus will be on community. "We are committed to 
community. You cannot be without community. We are defined by 
community...Our job, by Scripture, is to hang in together, learn 
from each other, grow from each other...be feisty, be passionate, 
do that, but we've got to stay in community."