Episcopal Press and News
National Cathedral dean called back to Trinity Church, Copley Square
Episcopal News Service. July 8, 2011 [070811-01]
ENS staff
The Very Rev. Samuel T. Lloyd III is resigning after six-and-a-half years as dean of Washington National Cathedral to return to Trinity Church, Copley Square in Boston as priest-in-charge.
According to a July 8 press release from the cathedral, Diocese of Washington Bishop John Bryson Chane will serve as interim dean after Lloyd's departure on Sept. 18.
"I have always been clear that my fundamental vocation is to be a preacher, teacher, and pastor -- building up the life of the church," Lloyd, 61, said in the release. "In recent months, I have been sensing a call to be part of the re-imagining and renewing of the church at the parish level. Returning to Trinity is my way of being faithful to that call."
Trinity said in a press release that Lloyd will hold the responsibilities and duties of a rector as well as the special charge to lead a parish-wide consideration of the mission, identity and goals of the parish going forward. "At the conclusion of that process, he and the parish will determine, through mutual discernment, whether he should become rector of Trinity and lead the parish in implementation of those goals," the Trinity release said. "This determination typically happens in the third year of service."
Lloyd had served as rector at Trinity for 12 years before being installed as cathedral dean in April 2005.
Chane and Lloyd will work closely together to assure a smooth period of transition as the cathedral begins its search for a new dean, Chane said.
The bishop is due to retire after his successor, Bishop-elect Mariann Edgar Budde, is ordained and consecrated on Nov. 12.
"Dean Lloyd has served the cathedral with distinction," said Chane, who also served as interim dean in the period before Lloyd's arrival in 2005. "He has built a strong congregation, recruited a gifted and committed staff, and helped establish Washington National Cathedral as a place where the most pressing issues confronting our nation can be examined in the light of faith."
During Lloyd's tenure, the cathedral convened numerous summits and forums on issues ranging from global poverty and the empowerment of women in the developing world to Christian-Muslim dialogues and the role of religious faith in diplomacy, the release said.
Lloyd also strengthened the Episcopal identity of the cathedral by establishing a congregation of regular Sunday morning worshipers. Instituted in 2007, the group now includes approximately 1,000 members, and is one of the largest congregations in the diocese, according to the release.
He led the cathedral through what the release called "a significant period of growth, retrenchment, and redefinition." The cathedral was hit hard by the recent recession and internal financial problems identified during Lloyd's tenure. These led to restructuring its financial operations, reductions in staff in 2008 and 2010, and strategic analysis of all aspects of its operation. The cathedral has balanced its budget and exceeded its fundraising goals in the last two years, according to the release.
The cathedral recently adopted a strategic plan for the continued development of its core mission priorities with the goal of placing its ministries and the care of its building on strong and sustainable financial footing.
Plans for a capital campaign and a new visitor-engagement model to support the plan are "well underway," said Kathleen Cox, the cathedral's executive director and chief operating officer, said in the release.
Trinity Church in Boston is a community of 3,000 households founded in the 1730s. Lloyd's successor, the Rev. Anne Bonnyman, announced in January that she would retire on Sept. 1, 2011.
"The Trinity community is grateful and excited that the Lloyd family will soon join our parish," said Robert E. Cowden, III, senior warden at Trinity Church, in the cathedral's release. "We feel blessed, as we begin to imagine the next chapter in Trinity's life, to be able to discern our future with a priest of Sam's considerable abilities, experience, and deep knowledge of Trinity."
Dioceses of Massachusetts Bishop M. Thomas Shaw, SSJE, acknowledged in Trinity's release that the return of a rector in the role of priest-in-charge is unusual. "I know that Sam's particular gifts and his commitment to spiritual growth, social justice ministry and congregational development will be of great value as Trinity begins to imagine the next chapter in its future," he said.
Lloyd said that his years at the National Cathedral "have been some of the most rewarding of my ministry."
"I return to parish life with a deep sense of gratitude for the cathedral community and its leaders, and for the important work we have done in serving as a spiritual home for our nation and as a voice for a generous-spirited Christian faith," he said.