We know what it means to be in a fragile and vulnerable vessel, caught in the storm. That is our Church out there, miles from shore, harassed by the wind and beaten by the waves. There is so much that is against us: a growing secularism that is indifferent, skeptical or hostile to all religious claims; the injustices and exclusions and daily disrespect directed at our brothers and sisters of color, at the disabled and at our gay brothers and lesbian sisters and other sexual minorities; those whose lives have been devastated by the ongoing economic turbulence, having lost jobs and homes; those caught up in violent conflicts and those cast down by earthquakes and other disasters; the poor and homeless and hungry and the least of those whom our Lord called members of his family (Matthew 25:31-46).<\/p>\n
The institutional life and financial future of our congregations are also facing high seas and strong winds. Smaller and poorer churches are awash with life-threatening challenges of declining attendance, deteriorating buildings and diminished resources. The combination of clergy compensation and the expense of maintaining physical plants leaves little funding for education and outreach. In too many cases, even in more comfortable communities, vestries have found it necessary to reduce clergy compensation to part-time. Retrenchment is all around us and it is dispiriting, to say the least.<\/p>\n
And here is another wave: we are two dioceses in decline, in the midst of a denomination in decline. A recent report noted that, of 110 dioceses in The Episcopal Church, only four are growing; none of them in our Province. Our losses in membership and in attendance are less precipitous than those in other parts of the Church, but that\u2019s not a great rallying cry to mission, is it? Our work is to feed the sheep, not count them; but let us not live in denial that such losses are haunting. As Charles Fulton has written, \u201cResurrection follows death \u201d\u201c it does not follow denial.\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n