Search for the XI Bishop of Newark

Notes from Vestry who attended a Walkabout to meet the three candidates:

Rev. Canon Scott Slater:

—He has overcome addiction 13 years ago and has recently embraced honesty and truth in sharing his story.  He is very careful about what he consumes and is committed to a healthy lifestyle.  He has walked the Camino de Santiago in Spain a few years ago and is returning there this summer.

—Community is in all areas of the dioce

se, not just within our church walls, and he’s interested in getting to know the entire community.  He has led prayer walks in his Maryland diocese (which is much larger than ours).  Neighborhoods become real when we walk in the shoes of those who live there.

—He’s excited about the work we’ve done with Dwelling in the Word but he’d like to see it continued outside the church walls.  We gather together on Sundays to be nourished, then we must take that energy with us during the week as Jesus’ representatives.

—He found the Episcopal Church when he was invited to attend a friend’s church as a teen.  He became a youth minister in his twenties and is very committed to engaging our youth.  They are not just the “future of the church”, they are part of the current church.  He thinks our Crossroads camp is an underutilized resource and it should be a pivotal part of the diocese.  We should be using it more often as a conference/retreat center.  He wants to hold a “Bishop’s Bash”, an event where he can meet the youth of the diocese.

—The social justice causes he is interested in are alternative energy use, human rights, and immigration.

Rev. Carlye Hughes:

—She is a woman of color in one of the most conservative dioceses in the Episcopal church, in Fort Worth Texas.  One of her strengths is helping groups identify upcoming challenges and changes and helping them deal with those changes.

—Her social justice concerns are combating racism, and fostering education.  She wants to identify places in the diocese that could be strengthened by implementing a thriving ministry, but not necessarily addressed by building new churches.  There are alternatives to bricks and mortar.

—She wants youth to be an example to other youth, and provide opportunities for them to be together and nurture their faith.  The more often youth see other youth of faith the better.  What makes kids show up?  Be in a deeper relationship with them to find out what works.

—She’s excited that we’re involved in the “Joining God in the Neighborhood” or  “Going Local” initiative and wants to join a diocese that’s already engaged in this work.  She wants to help people who are called to go out beyond our doors.  God asks us to share our faith.

—She is excited to work within the Newark diocese and get out beyond the church doors, into the community.  She is worried about how we can keep up our energy.  How do we sustain the energy to know that God is with us?

Rev. Lisa Hunt:

—She can be perceived as being blunt and sometimes confrontational, but she sees it as telling the truth and being straightforward.  One of her strengths is working with people who have different perspectives and helping them come together, but she is sometimes not sensitive in some situations.

—Her social justice concerns are the breakdown of families, health care, mental illness, wealth disparity, and especially making affordable housing available.  She wants to advocate for the marginalized.

—As far as the “Joining God” journey she believes that everything begins with The Word.  This should be first and foremost and should “in our bones” so she’s excited to continue Dwelling in the Word.  We encounter God in the Word.

—She wants to focus on teaching listening to each other.  Too many people are talking.  She wants to model mutual respect and use listening guidelines in our encounters with each other.

—We need to talk/listen to people working with our youth and with the youth  A top down approach doesn’t work  We need to bring young people together so they know they are not alone.  They are deeply hungry for meaning and for making a difference in the world and we need to nurture that.

—She wants to increase resources to support Crossroads and its summer camp.

—The future of the church:  The church is changing and we need to change with it.  It will require intention and commitment and it will be painful at times.  But we will survive and the new incarnation with be better than before.

—She is committed to being with us and is for us.  She wants to be in relationship with us.