Episcopal Press and News
Zaccheus Report's Release Will Begin a Year of Study and Reflection
Episcopal News Service. May 7, 1999 [99-068]
Lindsay Hardin Freeman, Communications Consultant for the Episcopal Church Foundation
(ENS) Two thousand years ago Zacchaeus climbed to the top of a sycamore tree to get a better look at Jesus. Episcopalians will soon get a better look at their church with the publication of one of the biggest grassroots studies in mainline Protestant denominational history. Results of the year-long project have been complied and details of its distribution released.
The findings of the project, commissioned as a gift to the whole church by the Episcopal Church Foundation to mark its 50th anniversary this year, will be published and distributed to every Episcopal parish in mid-June. That publication will begin a national three-phase congregational process to examine Episcopal identity and vocation at the millennium, through the joint forces of the Foundation, Trinity Institute and the Office of The Presiding Bishop.
Phase one will see every congregation in the country receive a copy of the study's findings, conclusions and implications, along with discussion questions. Each parish will be invited to form a team to examine the report over the summer.
Phase two commences with the 30th annual Trinity Institute National Conference, "Roots and Wings: Episcopal Identity and Vocation at the New Millennium," broadcast from Trinity Church Wall Street in New York City September 27-29.
Phase three follows that broadcast, from December 1999 to May of 2000, with four additional national teleconferences sponsored by the Episcopal Cathedral Teleconferencing Network (ECTN) examining the Church at the millennium.
"Never before," said Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold in a recent letter to all parishes, "has our church had the technological wherewithal to engage in interactive dialogue of this magnitude about our present strengths and future potential. There is much we have to learn from one another. I heartily invite you to join in this new model of transformation through conversation...."
Zacchaeus Project research began in September 1998 under the direction of Cornerstone, a ministry of the Episcopal Church Foundation. Some 200 interviews, individual and group, were conducted primarily in nine selected dioceses: Massachusetts, North Carolina, Central Florida, Minnesota, West Missouri, Kansas, Texas, Nevada and Los Angeles.
Research was led by the Rev. Dr. William L. Sachs, rector of St. Matthew's Episcopal Church in Wilton, Connecticut, and author of The Transformation of Anglicanism, and Dr. Thomas P. Holland, professor and director of the Center for Social Service Research and Development at the University of Georgia. Sachs and Holland worked under the direction of William S. Craddock, Jr., Cornerstone's director.
Sachs estimates that approximately 2,000 individuals were interviewed, 85 percent of them lay. The report examines emerging trends and patterns of leadership as well as the crucial issues, opportunities and challenges facing Episcopal ministries.
Among other issues, the report also explores these questions: What draws people to the Episcopal Church and sustains their involvement in its various ministries? What does it mean to be an Episcopalian? What distinctive religious perspective does the Episcopal Church cultivate? As we confront profound cultural change, how can we embrace new spiritual forms while preserving the best of our Episcopal traditions? To what extent are our ministries fostering effective leadership for the future?
When the Zacchaeus report -- including findings, conclusions and implications -- is distributed in June, Foundation Director William G. Andersen, Jr. hopes that Episcopalians will learn much about who they are and what their faith means. "The report will begin to fill in the picture about who and what the Episcopal Church is and how it gives meaning and direction to the lives and ministries of its members."
Phase two will be highlighted by "Roots and Wings," Trinity Institute's 30th National Conference in September. The Institute will gather parish teams for the teleconference, to be broadcast live via satellite to designated downlinks in every diocese.
"We envision this self-study project as a two-part process," says the Rev. Dr. Frederic B. Burnham, director of Trinity Institute. "The first part is the 'roots' question, which will be answered by the Zacchaeus report: Who are we, as Episcopalians, at this millennial moment? The second part is the 'wings' question, which will be the true focus of the national conference: What is our vocation, as Episcopalians, at this millennial moment? What is our corporate identity, our distinct tradition? What and who is God calling us to become? How can we be faithful to our tradition and yet open to new spiritual practices?"
Speakers at the conference are authorities on religion and popular culture. All lay Episcopalians, they are: Donald Miller, professor of religion at the University of Southern California, and author of Reinventing American Protestantism; Phyllis Tickle, author of Discovering the Sacred and God Talk in America; Robert Wuthnow, professor of sociology at Princeton University and author of After Heaven: Spirituality in America Since the '50s; Stephen Carter, professor of law at Yale University and author of The Culture of Disbelief; and George Gallup, head of the Gallup Organization, Inc.
Following the broadcast, each parish team will be asked to lead its congregation in an extended self-study process, enabling every parish in the Episcopal Church to engage in this analysis of vocation and identity.
Kenneth Arnold, deacon at St. Clement's Church in New York City, and Zacchaeus diocesan coordinator for the Diocese of New York, looks forward to the interactive process. "What is unique about this project is that the results of the survey are being sent to parishes around the country so that the people in the pews can examine, comment on, question, and even attack the findings. Episcopalians will have a chance to do this in their own communities, in the diocese and in the church at large through satellite downlinks as part of Trinity Institute in the fall....This is a great opportunity for the laity to have a profound effect on the future of the church. This will be one of the most all-inclusive town meetings in our Church's history. Everyone should want to be there."
Phase three follows with four teleconferences examining the church at the millennium:
"Exploring the Shifting Spiritual Landscape of America"
December 4, 1999
A 90-minute teleconference that will bring together experts in sociology, theology and spiritual practice to take an in-depth look at our nation's spiritual landscape and its impact on congregational life today.
"God at 2000"
February 11-12, 2000
A two-day teleconference produced in partnership with Trinity Institute and Oregon State University and featuring prominent religious thinkers of diverse faiths discussing their experience of God.
"I Have A Vision"
March 15, 2000
Episcopal bishops from around the country will share their experiences in this mid-week Lenten broadcast and articulate their visions of the mission and future of the Episcopal Church.
"Where Do We Go From Here?"
May 13, 2000
A town hall gathering and Eucharist celebration, this broadcast will explore the issues and visions emerging from the nearly year-long study of the report and offer ideas on what lies ahead for the Episcopal Church.