Gates, 56, will lead a diverse and active diocese with 183 congregations and 63,000 baptized members, but one that, like most mainline Christian churches, continues to struggle with attracting young people and with meeting the spiritual needs of a society that has drifted away from institutions and organized religion.
He is no stranger to the area. He attended seminary in Cambridge and started his career as a priest at churches in Hingham and Ware before moving to the Midwest in 1996. In Cleveland Heights, he oversees 2,000 members and a staff of 25 at St. Paul’s Church, and he helped found an interfaith social justice organization.
Before entering seminary, he served as a Russian language translator, researcher, and intelligence analyst for the Department of Defense.
[blockquote]Diocesan leaders realized the total number of lay votes cast in the first round was larger than the total registered[/blockquote]
How very Tanzanian.
The rosy picture reported of St. Paul’s Cleveland Heights isn’t quite the full story. Glancing at the statistics, the parish has dropped from 2,400 members in 2005 to 1,700 in 2012. Similarly, the congregation has dropped from an average Sunday attendance of about 550 in 2005 to a hair over 400 today. It is a medium-size parish that appears to have a growing budget, but not a growing flock.