Farewell to Bishop Sisk - Episcopal Diocese of New York

Farewell to Bishop Sisk
“…in tumultuous times in the life of the
Episcopal Church, he held 200 parishes
together in conversation”
not been torn apart by it. We have a reputation for being
a place that is genuinely open to diversity of points of
view—and I am convinced that that reputation is well
founded.
It has also helped that I have known some of the Communion’s
leaders for many years. This has built a level of trust
that has allowed me, from time to time, to offer them an unfamiliar
perspective. Three specific instances of this spring to
mind: one when I was invited to address ministers of the Organization
of Islamic States on what it was like to live in a
pluralistic society; another was when I was asked to address
the House of Bishops of a province of the Anglican Communion
on what it was like to live in a diocese that accepted
the ministry of gay and lesbian persons; and a third is the relationship
with the Church in China (the China Christian
Council) that has helped its leaders see that the Episcopal
Church is not the heretical body that has been described to
them by some other Provinces of the Communion.
At Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen.
“ Everything is not relative,
and good and evil, right and
wrong are realities.”
ENY Nov/Dec 2003
Though I cannot be sure of it, I also believe that it
the perception of the Diocese of New York as an open
yet challenging place that led to the invitation from the
Anglican Communion Office for us to participate in the
very successful Continuing Indaba Process which will,
according to Bishop Dietsche, form the basis for a process
within the diocese that he will pursue in the future 1 .
ENY: How have the challenges facing the Bishop of
New York changed over the course of your episcopacy?
What has become increasingly clear is that the wider
world, as represented by the media, is vastly less interested
in what we have to say than they were in years and
decades past.
When I was elected coadjutor, and then when I was
consecrated Bishop of New York, the New York Times
covered both events in some depth. Barely14 years later,
however, the media’s interest is greatly diminished. The
highly competitive 24-hour news cycle has effectively
eliminated “background” stories, and replaced them with
a frenzied focus on the most sensational events and the
most extreme views.
Unfortunately, nuanced positions—ones that reflect
the reality of the complexities that confront us—rarely
resolve themselves nicely into sound
bites. It is in the nature of the Episcopal
Church, and of the measured positions
that we take, that we are not attractive
to the contemporary
media—the only exception being when
there is some kind of scandal, or a conflict
that could throw discrediting light
on the Church. I’m not so much complaining
about this as simply observing—there
were any number of times
1 See Bishop Dietsche’s address to the 236th Diocesan
Convention for more on this – online at
www.dioceseny.org > The Diocese > The Diocesan
Convention > The 236th Diocesan Convention.
With the Archbishop of Canterbury. A few moments after the election of the then Canon Dietsche.
“A Christian might believe that the State ought to
sanction same-sex marriages but withhold judgment
on the advisability of the Church doing so.
That is what I believe.” ENY March 2004
“It is in the nature of the Episcopal
Church, and of the measured positions that
we take, that we are not attractive to the
contemporary media…”
that if I had been prepared to say something outrageous,
I could have gotten lots of coverage. But I don’t believe
it is a good thing that the public stage has been entirely
given over those who are prepared to make stark and, I
am convinced, inevitably divisive statements.
ENY: Some people, both inside and outside the Episcopal
Church, point to its “progressive” stance on matters
of sexuality and social justice as being responsible
for declining church membership. What is your view?
In the first place, I must say that I am glad that the Episcopal
Church does take a progressive stance—after all,
the alternative is a regressive stance, and that has little
to commend it, at least to me. In any case, while I do
not dispute the fact that our membership numbers in this
diocese have been flat at best and not nearly as robust
as I wish, I strongly believe that it is an error to attempt
to pin this on the Episcopal Church’s stance on a number
of “progressive” issues.
As evidence for my position, I’d point to the fact that
a number of other communities of faith—ones that do
not share our so-called “progressive” stances—have suffered
a similar if not greater attrition rate. Meanwhile,
a number of the communities that for some years grew
steadily are also now experiencing a loss of membership—
while immigration has masked what would otherwise be
a net loss of members in some communities, and has been
“he’s a man of moderation, he’s a careful
thinker, he’s fair, and people with various
opinions about controversial subjects all felt
that they could be heard…”
“Every nation has a duty to protect its borders.
However, a Christian must ask and press the
question, “Protect them from what?”
ENY Nov/Dec 2005
6 THE EPISCOPAL NEW YORKER Winter 2013 www.episcopalnewyorker.com