Once again, the meeting began with the five candidates being asked one question. The question was "What experiences have you had that equip you to be Bishop of Washington?"
John Harmon was the first to answer. He made some key points:
- He is completely the product of Episcopalian education.
- He has good leadership skills.
- He has a great love of people and God.
- He has helped address the HIV problem as a leader of over 100 clergy with concerns.
- He has done significant fund raising.
Samuel Candler was the second respondent. Among his points were:
- He is a product of small towns.
- He has led two major churches in the past 17 years.
- He is attuned to both the conservative and liberal versions of Christianity.
- He has met challenges by taking risks.
- He praised his family. He learned much from listening to his mother.
- He commented that we can be a great church for the entire Anglican communion.
Jane Gould spoke next. She made the points that:
- She grew up in the DC area and attended college in California.
- People have described her as a smart jock.
- She is fed by diversity.
- She brings people together in communities and encourages their gifts.
Mariann Budde was the fourth speaker. Points she made included:
- There are many ways of being Christian. The Episcopal Church is particularly good at that.
- She came of age as a young volunteer helping the poor.
- She has led her current parish for 18 years, leading them to serve others.
- Words are not enough. There must be actions as well.
- She loves the Episcopal Church.
Ronald Abrams was the final speaker. He made some strong points:
- He is a product of the Episcopal Church.
- He grew up in a multicultural environment in New York.
- When he was 15 his 20 year old brother died of Hodgkin's. The community helped in so many ways that it led him to commit his life to the church.
- He has served in a variety of communities ranging from the Hamptons to Fayetteville to a military community.
We then moved to breakout rooms to question the candidates individually. One difference this evening from St. Mary's was that the groups were larger and more equally divided.
The first candidate in my room was Samuel Candler. He made a number of points in answer to various questions. Among them were:
- We must have the support of the community in reaching out to the larger church.
- One the topic of same sex unions he favors them greatly. He added, though, that you did not have to agree with him to be a part of the community.
- Listening to people is important.
- A bishop should learn one distinctive thing about each parish.
- The number of parishes is dropping. We need to reverse that trend.
- In response to a question about resolving conflict, he mentioned that in 2003 he gave a speech at our general convention favoring same sex unions. When he got home, he engaged his parish with an open, engaging conversation. His parish has 6000 members.
- Regarding college ministries he said that the diocese should not duplicate college ministries of parishes but support said ministries.
- I asked him to tell a good joke. I found his response funny. I suspect, though, that the people running the session did not completely appreciate what I did because, when I held my hand up to do the same for other candidates, I was politely ignored.
The next candidate we interviewed was Mariann Budde. Among her points were:
- She endorses the report made about Washington National Cathedral.
- Her parish was failing when she arrived. Her predecessor and lay leaders began its revival. She continued that work. It is important to not define yourself by what you don't have, but by what you do. Her current parish has become a "big sister" to parishes currently struggling.
- It is important for the bishop to learn the strengths of various parishes.
- When asked about personal strengths, she mentioned her high energy, a great love of the complexity of humans and a lack of fear of other faiths.
- She sees a sea change happening in the episcopate. The church is at a critical juncture. Parishes need attention. this is a collective era of renewal.
- Raising the profile of the church is important. Most people had no idea about what the Episcopal Church stood for or did. Her diocese began to address this problem by putting up billboards.
Ronald Abrams was the next speaker. He mentioned several important things, including:
- New technologies are important and can help, but one on one approach is best.
- He has seen breakdowns in communications.
- You can't get communion through TV.
- He supports same sex unions.
- It is important to be collegial in working with staff. Trust must be built. It can't be done through micromanagement. His door is always open.
- When someone in his current congregation has a loss, the church community steps forward together to help.
John Harmon was the next candidate to appear. He spoke to similar concerns. He noted that, while he supported same sex unions, it was necessary to work with all, whether they agreed or not.
Jane Gould was the last to speak. She did mention briefly that some deacons had unhealthy work life balances.
You will note that I did not do much note taking for the last two candidates. It was not because of a lack of interest or unwillingness to report. It was, in good part, because the questions the candidates were asked were very similar to the questions asked at St. Mary's with similar responses. In short,I got tired of note taking.
I did do some photographs of this event. You can find them on Flickr as Bishop Walkabout, Washington Episcopal School.
I hope people find this report and the photographs helpful.
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