Chane Can't Be Serious

From the Living Church Online:

Bishop Chane ‘Sick of Reports of Decline’

Posted on: January 29, 2008

The Episcopal Church can be viewed as one large community that is well positioned to compete with non-denominational megachurches, said Bishop John Bryson Chane of Washington during his address to the convention of the Diocese of Washington Jan. 26 at Washington National Cathedral.

“I am so sick and tired of reading reports about the statistical decline of The Episcopal Church that I no longer read them,” Bishop Chane said. [Editor's Note: This is classic denial.] “You can do anything you want with statistics.” He said that when he visits parishes around the diocese someone will sometimes say, “Bishop, we just can’t compete with the non-denominational megachurches that seem to be surrounding us on every side.” [Editor's Note: They're right. Old liberal theology doesn't have a chance against robust biblical faith - see the post below, "Liberal theology without the gospel has the smell of death rather than of life" -- J.I. Packer.] While he said at first glance this may seem to be true – since megachurches have jammed parking lots “like huge hockey rinks … often with local police directing traffic,” Bishop Chane urged convention goers to look beyond the crowded parking lots and concentrate on the bigger picture.

“Some of these churches have seating capacities of 3,000,” said Bishop Chane of megachurches. But, he noted, on any given Sunday 24,000 people on average attend Episcopal churches in the Diocese of Washington, which includes parishes in suburban Maryland. “When I think of the diocese as the church and our parish as the congregations that make up the diocese as church, then we become much larger than any megachurch on any given Sunday or on any given day,” he noted. And, he added, the diocese is even larger, since it is connected with other dioceses nationally as well as Episcopal Church neighbors in Mexico, the Caribbean Basin, Central and South America. [Editor's Note: What a load of nonsense. On average, two Anglican congregations in Northern Virginia, Truro and Fall's Church, have a larger Sunday attendance than dozens of Episcopal churches in Chane's diocese put together. Thinking of the diocese as a church is another case of denial.]

Countering the message of decline, Bishop Chane said that 26 of the 92 congregations in the diocese expanded or are currently expanding or renovating. In addition, he cited a new affiliated parish in the diocese, All Saints’ Nigerian Igbo Language Anglican/Episcopal Church in Lanham, Md., which has an attendance of up to 400; six operational Spanish-speaking congregations with a combined average attendance of more than 400; an emerging Korean language congregation; a new merged congregation on Capitol Hill called the Church of St. Monica and St. James’; and the 2006 groundbreaking for St. Nicholas’, Darnestown, Md., the first diocesan construction start in 40 years. “These are significant accomplishments and are signs of a healthy, mission-driven diocese,” he said, but they “usually fly under the radar screen of the parishioners of this diocese.”

Bishop Chane said that money is an issue – as it is for many dioceses in The Episcopal Church. If church growth is measured by money alone [Editor's Note: This isn't how church growth is generally measured. This looks like a shabby attempt to shame people about their giving to the diocese], “then truth be told we are a diocese that struggles like many of our parishes to balance our annual ‘no growth’ budget,” he said. Convention approved a $4.6 million budget for 2008; the approved amount is $43,800 less than the amount approved last year and assumes a 3 percent increase in congregational giving to the diocese. Only one resolution was presented. The resolution titled “Implementing the Millennium Development Goals” was approved.

Prior to convention, Bishop Chane encouraged members to consider not submitting resolutions because he wanted to focus attention during the annual meeting away from legislation. During his address he announced plans for a major diocesan evangelism conference June 7 to explore outreach, personal evangelism and communications strategy. [Editor's Note: Without the biblical gospel, what Chane's "evangelism" and outreach will amount to is ecclesiastical marketing. It may produce some results, as marketing often does, but it certainly won't produce Christian disciples.]

Peggy Eastman and Steve Waring