Dear Chaplains,

At times I wonder how I would react if Jesus came into our midst (Luke 9.28-36). Would I react any differently than Peter, John and James did when they were startled and blinded by the light of God? Would I embarrass myself by scampering about to find a hammer, nails, and some wood to build those booths, or dwellings, a proposed action we have been deriding for 2000+ years? I don't know about you, but I find the Transfiguration story to bring more than just a little prophetic judgment into my life. For me the ultimate question is, "Would I do anything differently or be anything different than I did or was before I went up the mountain with Jesus?"

Ultimately such speculative questions must become both contextual and personal. I know that we are called to allow the light of Christ to shine into the day-to-day experiences of our lives; as individuals and as well as the collective body of Christ. Through this process of reflection I know that in order to act as members of the body of Christ, solidly connected to Christ, first of all we must be the Church of Christ.

On days that I am in Washington and not traveling I ride a morning train into the city and then walk to our Maryland Avenue office. Since I am an incurable early riser, I take the first train of the day. I find that people on the early morning train are not exactly what I would describe as social creatures. In other words, they don't engage in a great deal of conversation. On the train some read books or magazines, others catch a last few winks of sleep while others appear to be musing about the things that are of concern to them. I am in the latter group and do my musing as I read the Daily Office of Morning Prayer, a daily discipline to which I have been committed since I was ordained to the diaconate. Though this practice of prayer is not a change for me, the context and content of my prayer life has changed. Several years ago when I was Canon to the Ordinary in the Diocese of Kentucky my long time friend and mentor Bishop Ted Gulick impressed upon me that one of the primary roles of a bishop is to care for the priests, deacons and people for whom he or she is responsible. At my consecration I affirmed that I would "…encourage and support all baptized people… (BCP, p. 518)" On repeated occasions Bishop Ted reminded me that in order to do this, and using his words, I must learn to "…carry the people on my heart." In the Daily Office each day I endeavor to carry you on my heart.

To become focused upon your very varied ministries is a significant change for me. However, it is a change which I welcome and which brings me great joy. During the short time of my responsibility for this episcopate I have worked to tell everyone and anyone who will listen that you are the most capable and dedicated clergy of the church; that you are doing the church's difficult work and heavy lifting. Not only do the people of The Episcopal Church need to support you, but even more and quite simply put, they need you. Last week I spent time at a major Army Medical Center, at the Armed Forces Chaplains School and then later visited with the family of a Navy chaplain who serves the Coast Guard. Through this concentrated slice of the military component of Federal Ministries I was impressed that the chaplains of this episcopacy place the highest value upon their responsibility to carry God's people on their hearts by making them the objects of their prayer life and the raison d'etre of their priesthood. Though this type of a focus is a component of parish ministry, the intensity of focus in the Federal Ministry context far exceeds anything any of us ever experienced in the parish. Of course, though I have described my recent experience with military ministry, the very same thing may be said for ministry within the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

During the octave of our commemoration of the Transfiguration I encourage you to set aside some time to muse and reflect upon how your life and your ministry is changing as you relate to the living power of God's Holy Spirit in your lives. How is your ministry and your vocation changed and challenged by the newness of Christ in your life?

In my next letter to you I will be rolling out some of the plans we have for this episcopacy as we devise improved and new ways to serve and support all of you. Until then I pray that the richness of God's blessing will be upon and remain with you always.

+Jay

The Nativity of St. John the Baptist, 2010

Dear Chaplains,

The events and memories of the ordination and consecration last Saturday are much cherished. One of the most memorable parts of the day had to do with the fact that so many of you were present to join the celebration. Though obviously I was the person ordained and consecrated, the celebration was made by all the members of our Federal Ministries family. I know that for a variety of very good reasons not all of you could be present for the service. However, I know that many of you have told me that you were in prayer with us. As we begin this new chapter of Federal Ministries, you may be assured that each day we will uphold all of you in our prayers. We are very clear about the fact that the mission and ministry of your bishop and a staff is to serve you.

Though I have never found it very becoming for a person to use self-reference quotes, herein I will make an exception to my rule. In my initial letter to you I wrote the following:

During the pre-election walk-about with members of the House of Bishops, I made the statement that if elected I would begin this ministry with 100 days of Listening. In keeping with that statement I promise to do just what I said. Though with several of you this listening period has already begun, the prescribed 100 days of listening will commence on the first Monday after the consecration, June 21st, and continue until September 22nd. During this period of time I want to hear from you – from ALL of you. I am interested in hearing what you think of this episcopacy. I encourage you to disengage your filters so as to move beyond limiting yourselves to polite conversation about the good things you may think I want to hear. We need your accurate and authentic input in order to begin to plan for the future. For starters, consider these questions:

Where do you want this episcopacy to go, and what do you want it to do for you? What do you need from our staff?

As well, what do you not want?

For those of you who deploy, what is the deployment impact upon you and your families?

How are you impacted by the expanding dimensions of religious pluralism?

What is it like to be a sacramentalist in a non-sacramental environment?

Now that the ordination and consecration last Saturday is a part of our corporate history, we are ready to begin the discovery phase of our ministry. Before we can move ahead I need to hear from you. Please communicate with me using whatever media with which you are comfortable. But above all, please communicate. I realize that I am an unknown to many of you. However, I believe that we will soon get beyond that as we begin to converse with one another. Through authentic communication we will begin to build our relationships – and in our vocation, we know that relationship-building is the only way we can effectively live out our priesthood.

We are almost ready to release to you our 2010-2011 Plan for Ministry. I will be the first to say that our plan is incredibly ambitious. A central part of the plan is the development of an outcome based strategic mission and vision for Federal Ministries. We cannot and will not develop our mission and vision until I have heard from you. This is not my episcopacy, but rather it is our episcopacy. As I carry out my role as your bishop it is my responsibility to be the symbol of our Christian unity. However, given the collaborative nature of who we are, everything that we do comes under the rubric of shared ministry.
Please use whatever means you choose to communicate with me. As we enter this new era of Federal Ministries, let us continue seek God's guidance as we embrace the incarnate Lord and make God's presence a significant component of our life and work.

+Jay

PS:

To see the entire consecration you may go to the following Washington National Cathedral link: http://www.nationalcathedral.org/events/BpFederalMinistries20100619.shtml