Earlier this year, before his election as the state’s 11th Episcopal bishop, Barker said he did some traveling through the western part of the state. What he heard forms a major part of his goals for his term in office and is the reason he was already spending time there last week.
The congregations he met with feel disconnected from the eastern third of the state, he said. “It became clear that I would come to that part of the state right away.”
He and his wife, Annie, made the trip last week with two objectives in mind: to learn as much as possible about the area and its churches and to signal that Barker had heard the parishioners’ concerns about feeling adrift.
Bishop-elect Barker missed some tough years in NE during 2002 through 2009 with Members down 18.3 perccent, ASA down 24.0 percent, and Plate & Pledge adjusted for inflation down 13.5 percent. In 2009, only 10 of its 56 churches had Plate & Pledge over $150K and 23 of the 56 had ASA of 20 or less. Closures make sense but that will not win the new bishop any friends. He will need more than a third tattoo to turn this dio around. Statmann