Bishop's Writing / Enews September 2023

As I write, the House of Bishops is gathering online for its Fall meeting. We were to meet in the Dominican Republic but postponed meeting in that location because of the Presiding Bishop’s illness. Please keep the PB in your prayers as he undergoes surgery today, September 20.

Our theme for this meeting is The Vocation of a Bishop Now. Our discussions are about how to lead NOW in times of rapidly changing cultural and demographic forces. We began today with a deep dive into the statistics from the Parochial Report and the Church Pension Fund measuring the loss of members and clergy in The Episcopal Church. This will be followed by an examination of Title IV and, in particular, the discipline of bishops. Our meeting looks challenging.

Also today, our Diocesan Council finished its work of preparing for the Diocesan Convention. This work includes a balanced budget and several resolutions about congregational status. At our October Convention, we will address the closure of two parishes: St. Stephen’s, Rochester, and Trinity, Canaseraga. We will also address the change in status of St John’s, Sodus, from a parish to a mission. It is unusual to address three parishes in a single Convention, and this work demands our full attention.

The budget the Council is sending to Diocesan Convention anticipates the election of our next Bishop and a number of staff changes. Currently, the Diocese of Rochester employs about 8.5 or 9 full-time equivalents (FTEs). Several current staff are approaching retirement and have expressed their intention to step down in the next year or so. Our CFO, Todd Rubiano, will move to half-time next July and will step down at the end of 2024. Kristy Estey and I have talked about an early 2025 retirement. Other retirements will follow. It’s also the case that 8.5 or 9 FTEs is too many for a diocese our size. 6 or 7 FTEs are more in line with our size.

I’ve spoken with our part-time employees about their positions as well, and some of them will conclude at the end of this year. Their responsibilities will be transferred to other groups or employees for the time being.

The good news in all of this is that these changes create some financial space for our new bishop to structure the staff and call the people he or she wants to work with without having to terminate current employees. It gives the Council flexibility for financing the budget and continuing its support of congregations. It also allows for the calling of a Regional Priest in Charge to address that important work.

The bad news is that we will lose a lot of institutional knowledge in a short time. Thankfully, most of the staff will stay on through the transition and some staff will be able to stay longer.

All this is to say that change is coming – a LOT of change. It’s a little daunting to think of losing all the experience that our employees have. We will miss them terribly. Yet it’s also the case that the church is rapidly entering a new world that we will need to learn to negotiate together. The IX Bishop of Rochester will need to create a staff appropriate to our context.

So, consider this a heads-up that significant change is on the horizon. It will be challenging, scary, and exciting, and it is very much in keeping with our God, who makes all things new. I hope you will want to be part of this change.

Peace,

+Steve