Episcopal Press and News
Church Center Midwest regional office up and running
Episcopal News Service. July 10, 2008 [071008-04]
The work of the Episcopal Church Center's Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations office and parts of its ministry in congregational life are now operating in the Diocese of Nebraska's offices adjacent to Trinity Cathedral in Omaha.
Bishop Christopher Epting, the Presiding Bishop's deputy for ecumenical and interreligious relations, and Tom Ferguson, associate deputy, recently spent time in the Omaha regional office, meeting with diocesan staff, ecumenical partners at the headquarters of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's Nebraska Synod, and a tri-faith group of Jews, Christians, and Muslims.
Preaching at Trinity Cathedral on the text "whoever welcomes you welcomes me" (Matthew 10:40), Epting acknowledged that ecumenical and interfaith ministry is "all about hospitality" and that the Diocese of Nebraska is "fulfilling that mandate to the fullest" by welcoming the Church Center's regional office into Province VI and the Midwest.
"The amazing interfaith project your diocese is engaged in, seeking a common campus to be shared with a Jewish synagogue, an Episcopal Church, and an Islamic center," Epting said, "is a model for the country. I hope to be involved in whatever way is helpful and, even more importantly, to share your fine work with the wider church."
Linda Watt, the Episcopal Church Center's chief operating officer, told ENS that she has been "very impressed by the city of Omaha and the Diocese of Nebraska in terms of hospitality, civic pride, dynamism, and opportunities for collaborative ministry." She thanked Diocese of Nebraska Bishop Joe Burnett "for his gracious welcome to us." She also thanked the Rev. Tim Anderson, diocesan canon for congregational development and a member of the Executive Council, for his "guidance and enthusiasm for this project," which she said were "instrumental in making the Omaha office a reality."
Church Center regional offices are intended to connect with various dioceses in each area as well as the host diocese. "The Presiding Bishop felt that a presence in the Midwest for the Episcopal Church Center would enable us, on a church-wide basis, to appreciate and learn from the values of community spirit, stewardship, and discipleship that so characterize that part of the country," Watt said.
During their visit, Epting and Ferguson were welcomed at a meeting of the Tri-Faith Initiative -- a partnership of the Omaha's Temple Israel, the American Institute of Islamic Studies, and the Diocese of Nebraska -- to discuss interreligious relations on the national level and to learn about local plans to buy property which will provide three separate spaces for worship, shared parking, and a central educational and outreach building for the three faith communities.
"This cross-fertilization between local and national efforts is exactly what the Presiding Bishop hopes can happen in and through our new regional offices," Epting observed. "We look forward to living into this new arrangement in the months and years ahead."
In early September, Epting and Ferguson will be joined by the Rev. Dr. Bob Honeychurch, who will leave St. James' Episcopal Church in Fremont, California to work on small-church ministry at the regional office.
A search is underway for the third staff position focusing on "discipleship and ministry of all the baptized."
A side benefit of the regional office arrangement has already become clear. Epting and his wife, Susanne, who is a deacon, were recently able to attend a meeting hosted by Diocese of Iowa Bishop Alan Scarfe, diocesan staff, and parishioners for updates and planning on the church's response to recent flood damage in central and eastern Iowa.
The Omaha office space, at 109 N. 18th Street, has been provided to the Episcopal Church Center rent-free under a five-year agreement.
The Omaha site joins the Church Center's new configuration of five regional offices, including Los Angeles and Washington D.C. Arrangements to finalize two additional offices in the southern United States and Seattle continue.
Opened on January 2, the Los Angeles office is located at the Cathedral Center of St. Paul, 840 Echo Park Avenue. The Washington office -- the site for some 25 years of the Episcopal Church's Office of Government Relations -- is located on Capitol Hill at 110 Maryland Avenue, N.E.
Introduced as part of the ongoing reorganization of the Episcopal Church Center staff, the regional offices complement work based in New York City at 815 Second Avenue.