Narrative Biography        Answers to Questions       Resumé

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All candidates were asked to submit a professional resumé, a 200-250 word narrative biography and answer the same 4 questions.

Questions Answered

Question 1:  Describe a time you led others through a variety of choices to develop a vision, and what were the results.

Two years ago, three members of St. Christopher’s joined me at a two day seminar entitled The Externally Focused Church.  The seminar was sponsored by the Indianapolis Center for Congregations, a subsidiary of the Alban Institute.  The keynote speaker was Eric Swanson, co-author of a book by the same name.  Swanson’s thesis is quite simple.  Mission and evangelism are inseparably tied together.   He is convinced that any congregation, large or small, that makes a radical commitment to “alleviating need in its community” will grow.  When you love unconditionally, over time, people will want to know who you are and why you are doing “these radical acts of kindness.”  People will be drawn to you.  This is a moment of evangelistic opportunity.  Now you can tell your personal story as a disciple of the risen Lord because you have been invited to do so by an individual.    

This seminar quite literally changed the life of this congregation.  We are a rather affluent lot at St. Christopher’s and in the past outreach/mission meant writing a check.  I had been pondering for the first three years of my ministry here how to change that climate.  This congregation has tremendous human resources and we could have an impact in our community if we put our mind to it. 

I met with the others who attended the seminar with me.  We put together a presentation for the Vestry.  We asked the Vestry a hard question.  Who in Carmel (beyond our members) would notice, or care, if we disappeared tomorrow?  We agreed that we were not comfortable with the answer to that question.  I let the three lay folks do most of the talking.   They were as excited as I was, literally on fire.  I felt that their witness to the Vestry would be more powerful than mine at this point.  Before the presentation we purchased copies of Swanson’s book for all the Vestry members.  We asked them to read the book and then pass their copy along to another parish leader with the instructions, pass it forward when you are done.  The Vestry was interested and intrigued.  In all, approximately 50 members of our parish read the book.

At this point I invited people to join a Task Force the Rector and Vestry were assembling to explore St. Christopher’s vision for transforming ourselves into an externally focused church.  Twenty-seven people accepted the invitation.  This was billed as a limited engagement, a “think tank” for brainstorming.  I asked all to commit to three meetings.  I hand picked certain members of the congregation who would be beneficial to the process and I approached them personally, but anyone from the congregation was invited to volunteer.

How to get our feet wet?  This group was super at thinking outside the box.  We agreed that we would hold a Time To Serve event.  The Task Force met in April and May.  The event was planned for November.  This gave us plenty of time to plan.  We chose the first two weekends in November.  Advertising for the event began in earnest in July.  Recruitment began in September.  We wanted to send every member of St. Christopher’s out into God’s vineyard to labor for the kingdom.  Members of the Task Force began to contact civic leaders, agencies and ministries in our community with a simple question: What do you need doing that a team of volunteers from our church could do for you?  Over time we collected twenty possible projects for our November event.  The Task Force narrowed the list to ten.  We tried to find projects for young and old.  The first two weekends in November 2005, we sent over 120 volunteers into our community to serve.  We volunteered at the library.   We cleaned Cool Creek in town for the Parks and Recreation Department.  We helped unload trucks with food at Third Phase, which is the largest feeding program in Hamilton County.  Over 50 kids from the parish (with their parents) had a teddy bear building party at the mall (Build-A-Bear).  Thirty bears were donated to Chaucie’s Place, a center for abused kids.  You name it we did it.

We held a second Time To Serve event in 2006, but we wanted more.  We wanted to do this outreach stuff all the time, not just once a year!   The result is that now St. Christopher’s has an Angel Army.  In Lent, I challenged the members of the congregation to sign a commitment card to work in the Lord’s vineyard for the next six months.  As newcomers show up, we do not talk about joining the parish; we talk to them about making a commitment to serve.  I find that people want to live out the Gospel in their lives.  I find that people want to be needed.   We have 137 volunteers who filled out a card.  We assemble SWAT teams (Strategic, Willing, and Temporary) all the time from this volunteer core and send out these teams to alleviate a need we discover in the community.   People may not be able to commit for the long term, but 3 hours on a Saturday morning is fine!  We have built solid relationships with many agencies and they now call us when there is a need.

We are truly on the way to being externally focused, but there is still much to do.   Mission does work to evangelize.  Over the last two years our average Sunday attendance has risen 15% each year.

Question 2:

Describe how you led a congregation or a diocese to grow both spiritually and numerically, the associated conflicts and “bumps in the road” and as a result, what new understanding of God emerged with the final outcome”

St. Christopher’s is in the midst of an $7,000,000 building project.  Phase One (Administration and Education Building) is complete.  Phase Two (Fellowship Hall and Youth Center) is complete and we are now worshiping in our Fellowship Hall temporarily.  Phase Three, our new sanctuary and nave, will be completed by 2009.  This congregation is growing quickly, as is our community.  At times the growth has occurred faster than the visioning process has been able to keep up.  We just celebrated the 50th anniversary of the parish and in thanksgiving for God’s many blessings we are growing a large (third of an acre) vegetable garden on our property.  All of the produce raised will be given to the feeding programs in our metro area.  Over 75 folks have become farmers for the summer!  This has been another project for the Angel Army. 

We continue to grow numerically aided by our commitment to mission beyond our walls, creative liturgy, interactive sermons, and informality in our temporary worship space that seems to appeal (no kneelers, communion stations, no pews, no pulpit, etc.).  We have added dynamic staff to address the issues of youth ministry and an “alternative Sunday night service.”  That has helped.  The climate here is exciting, fun, and hectic.  I thought when we abandoned our old building with its “churchy charm” it would hinder our ability to attract and retain new members.  Just the opposite is true.  I have come to realize that the old building was a liability.  It was musty, dank, dark, in disrepair, unsafe and uncomfortable.  The congregation had outgrown its space. 

Leaving the old church behind was a “bump in the road.”  Many members had a strong sentimental attachment to the “old church building.”  They were sad to leave the building where they had been married, or where their children had been baptized.  It was an opportunity for spiritual growth.  We openly acknowledged that it was sad to leave that cherished space, despite its many liabilities.  We began by holding a goodbye Eucharist for our “old friend.”  At the end of the service a grand procession was formed.  Every member of the congregation was asked to carry an item in procession from the old building to the new space.  Prayer books, hymnals, vestments, hangings, etc. all got moved in this way.  Everyone had a role to play.  For several weeks before this liturgy I endeavored to educate the congregation.  God is calling us to accomplish great things and these new buildings will be the jumping off point for a new enhanced ministry.  Finally, we allowed parishioners to “take a piece of the rock.”  People took bricks, paneling, light fixtures, etc.  Have a small piece of St. Christopher’s with you for posterity.  That seemed to help some individuals.  We had members of the congregation transplant many of the shrubs and trees around the new buildings.  The reality is that the new space is so functional and attractive, many have now let go of the old space rather easily after only 9 months.

I have seen spiritual growth in the congregation around this building project.  It is a “new outcome”, or a new theology for this group.  Members of this congregation now truly believe that God’s church is not a building.  They know that we the people are God’s church, wherever we pitch a tent and no matter what kind of tent it is.   They also believe that with God there are never problems, simply challenges and blessings.

Question 3

Describe when you were a community leader, for what purpose or mission, and the final outcome.

In 1992 I was the Vice Chair of the Human Services Commission in the town of Cheshire, Connecticut.  At that time I was Rector of St. Peter’s.  In the early 1990’s unemployment was a serious problem in the state of Connecticut.  I knew that many families in town were hurting.  There were a dozen members of my parish who had been “downsized.”  All were experiencing financial distress and many were experiencing emotional trauma.  It was my intent to provide a ministry to these families beyond simple financial assistance.

I convened a meeting with several of these families and we simply talked for an hour about what would be helpful.  The subject matter ran the gambit from assistance with resume preparation to dealing with depression.  Next I secured the services of a trained pastoral counselor.  Fred Clark was a friend and also an ordained Methodist minister.  Fred agreed to act as a facilitator and meet with this group once a week on Monday mornings at St. Peter’s.  This was the beginning of something quite extraordinary.  The group began with a dozen members from St. Peter’s.  We advertised this support group through the churches in town and within a month over 40 people were attending Monday sessions.  We had to divide the group and Fred began offering Thursday sessions.

One man, Jim Austin, who had been attending group, came to see me.  Jim had a vision that we could help folks in the group with the “nuts and bolts” of job search.  Jim wanted to provide a place (a Drop In Center) where unemployed folks could have free access to human resource professionals.  He envisioned providing help with resume writing, free phones and fax, free copying, internet access, and office space.  As Vice Chair of the Human Services Commission, I began to visit businesses in town and share this dream.  One business donated a furnished office, paid for a bank of phones to be installed, provided two copiers, a fax machine and two computers.  We were on the way.  Through the Cheshire Clergy Association, I was able to secure $10,000 in grant money from five parishes (including St. Peter’s) to initially pay utility bills for this new center.  Jim volunteered to staff this office while it was open during the day.  People began to drop in to use the services, to chat and network.  Several local human resources personnel volunteered to spend time at the Drop In Center.  They were recruited from the churches in town.

The Unemployed Support Group met for three years.  The “drop in office” was in existence for two years.  Over 200 individuals from town participated in the group.  All but two found employment and these two individuals were realistically unemployable.  The economy in Connecticut improved and this effort died a natural death.  It was no longer needed.  During a time of economic distress we were able to provide financial, physical, psychological, emotional and spiritual support to many in need.  I was honored (but a bit embarrassed) when the Cheshire Jaycees voted me “Man of the Year” in 1993 for my work with the unemployed citizens of Cheshire.

Question 4

Having read our profile, name three major challenges/opportunities upon which you would base your episcopate.

The Diocese of Rochester is similar to Indianapolis.  We have 50% of our congregations in the metro Indy area.  The others are spread out over the southern portion of Indiana.  Many of these congregations are aided.  The Southwest Deanery is 3 hours from Indy and in another time zone, which makes scheduling meetings a challenge.  Communication is not as good as it should be.  The folks outside the metro area feel a bit disconnected and forgotten at times.  Several of these congregations are functioning with only a supply priest.  Survival is first and foremost on the minds of many.  Two parishes closed last year and two more are in jeopardy this year.

As President of the Standing Committee I have been privileged to visit most of our congregations.  Many are challenged by a lack of financial resource, but strong in spirit and blessed with very committed people.  In 2006 as a member of the Task Force to Restructure the Diocese, I was responsible for facilitating regional meetings to brainstorm and build consensus throughout the diocese concerning the way we budget and “do business.”  We want to create a vision in this diocese and ensure that the way we do ministry is consistent with our mission statement; Deepening our Faith, Widening our Embrace. 

I am an extroverted, “hands on person.”  As a Bishop, I would want to be out in the field with the folks in the diocese.   It is important to be visible, available, present, and pastoral.  I love to drive and I would be on the road a lot, from Cuba to Sodus and everywhere in between.

My first challenge would be to work to increase the physical and spiritual health of all congregations and especially those in distress. 

Many models of ministry should be explored; regional ministries, regional canons, pairings of larger churches with smaller churches to share employees, and the use of worker priests in part time slots.  Once size does not fit all!  Circumstances are different in each congregation.  What works for one will not always work for another.  We need to think outside the box!  In the Diocese of Indianapolis we are beginning to explore the idea of regional canons.  A Regional Canon would be the Rector of a parish in an outlying area part-time and the Bishop’s representative in an area part time.  Salary would be paid by parish and diocese in a partnership agreement.  Such a model would allow a congregation without a priest to afford a priest and it would also increase communication between the diocese and that area.  At St. Christopher’s we have entered into a covenant with St. Matthew’s in Indy.  We are sharing one of our assistants.  She is providing a valuable ministry for both parishes and allowing St. Matthew’s to employ a person they could not otherwise afford.  This is a new model in our diocese and if it works well, other pairings will follow.

My second challenge would be to introduce the concept of The Externally Focused Church to the Diocese of Rochester.

You have indicated that growth, both physical and spiritual, is a priority.  If congregations reach out in mission, the diocese will grow!  People will take notice of what you are doing and they will want what you seem to have in a spiritual sense.   Every parish, small or large, can make an impact in its community.  Congregations need to ask hard questions and introduce themselves to local leaders to discover need.  We must educate all to define ministry in a new way.  Ministry is simply identifying need and responding with God’s love to alleviate the need.  We need to partner with others who have ministry already in place.  For instance, if a group of Buddhist monks is running a successful safe home for people dying from HIV disease, we don’t have to compete.  Ask the monks how our parish can help.  What jobs need doing?  Partner with anyone as long the project is morally superior and spiritually neutral.  If the monks aren’t trying to convert people it is spiritually neutral.  You can join them, but understand that you are not there to convert people either, just to love them in the name of God.   Conversion comes ultimately through unconditional love.  I am excited about this stuff and would dearly appreciate the opportunity to share my enthusiasm with a diocese.

My third challenge would be to begin comprehensive discussions centering on congregational development

Every priest should attend a “Start Up, Start Over” conference sponsored by the Church Pension Fund.  The diocese needs to find the financial resources to make that a possibility.  I would bring in noted speakers in our church for clergy days.  These speakers would address topics such as “alternative liturgies and music”, advertising your church, resolving conflict during growth, etc.

The diocese should consider areas where new missions may be needed and develop a long term plan to enter into those areas.  Congregational development should include getting all parishes “on line” in this world of technology.  The diocese should explore a program to assist all congregations with tech support (including training) and the purchase of computers for those parishes without.  Another priority would be to assemble teams of volunteers from across the diocese, individuals who have skills in carpentry, plumbing, etc.  These teams would be available to work side by side with members of smaller parishes to “fix and repair” church buildings.  It is one way to deal with deferred maintenance in many congregations.  It is like a “Habitat for Humanity for Congregations.”  It builds relationships within the diocese.  The diocese should free up funds to help purchase materials for repair projects.

There are at least three or four other opportunities/challenges I have in mind.  Let me stop before I become too verbose!  I hope that I have the opportunity to share more with you later.