Dear people of the Diocese of Newark,
I want to report on two recent developments in our life together that will no doubt have an impact on how we live out our commitment to be the people of God in this place and at this time.
The first is a mutual ministry review, which involved taking a close look at how we have shared ministry together as bishop and diocese during these past 28 months. I invited the Rev. Gay Jennings, Associate Director of CREDO and a former diocesan staff member (in Ohio), to facilitate the day-long session on June 3rd. She has had years of experience leading such reviews with priests and now with bishops. Participating in the mutual ministry review were seven of the eight members of the Standing Committee (which acts as the bishop’s council of advice and serves, among other things, as the evaluative body of the bishop), two representatives from Diocesan Council, a member of the Trustees of the Diocese, our Chancellor, four members of the senior staff – and me. We responded to four questions: what is going well? what are the surprises? what are the disappointments? and how have the past two-plus years been aligned with the hopes and goals put forth in the profile for the search for a new bishop?
There was a lot of congruence in the responses at this session. There was similar congruence from an on-line feedback instrument (designed by CREDO and tailored for the mutual ministry review) which compared my responses to 93 ministry-based questions with those of ten different people from across the diocese.
I think we all agreed that there was much value in both the process and the outcome. I certainly felt good about the time we spent together – and what we all learned about how best to share ministry with one another. A summary of the review will be submitted to the Diocesan Council.
The second development I want to share is the recent creation of a diocesan mission statement. Our planning consultant David Manning challenged me to articulate a mission statement that matches my passion with that of the diocese. After pondering and praying about this for several weeks – and drawing on the deep wisdom and commitment of the senior staff – Michael Francaviglia, Rich Graham, Greg Jacobs and Kay Lark, we have emerged with a statement that I think honors our commitment to building capacity in congregations – as well as being a witness for justice in the world:
Equipping congregations…
Empowering people…
Engaging in the world…
… with the hope and justice of Jesus.
To my mind, this statement simply and eloquently captures who we are and who God is calling us to be. This statement will serve as a guide for how we live our life together. Everything we do as diocese and congregations will be measured against it.
The next step will be to develop a vision of what the diocese will look like as we begin to live out our mission with a greater degree of intention. A slightly larger group of people will be engaged in the process of creating a dynamic picture of our life – and will report on its work sometime in the fall. The emerging vision, mission statement and Covenant and their relationship to one another will be the main focus of the Diocesan Council retreat to be held in early September and facilitated by David Manting.
There is a lot going on – and a lot that is emerging. I am humbled by the commitment and energy of so many talented people – as we align our spirit with the Holy Spirit, who leads us into more abundant life.
Peace,
Mark
