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Reports
Lilly Endowment Proposal for Paul's Sabbatical
To the St. Mark’s Community: On June 10, 2005, we submitted the following proposal to the Lilly Endowment, Inc., a private philanthropic organization
based in Indianapolis, for a grant under their 2005 National Clergy Renewal Program. The program awards grants of up to $45,000 to churches in support
of a sabbatical or other “renewal opportunity” for their clergy. We should hear in October whether St. Mark’s was awarded a grant based on this proposal.
We wanted to make the “proposal narrative” available to the community because it represents a starting point in thinking about Paul’s sabbatical, which he
plans to take from August 1, 2006, to January 31, 2007. Many thanks to Kenn Allen, Dee Hahn-Rollins, Pete Carlson and Terry Adlhock, the convener of the
Rector’s Advisory Committee, who worked with Paul and me to put this proposal together. It is important for the community to understand two things at
this early stage: 1) this document by no means represents anything close to a final outline for Paul’s sabbatical; and 2) Paul will take his sabbatical
regardless of whether St. Mark’s is awarded a grant from the Lilly Endowment. I invite the community to read and reflect upon this document, and to
offer your thoughts and comments to me or to Paul. Needless to say, everyone will be hearing a lot more in the coming year about the ideas contained
in this document. – Michael Townsend, Senior Warden
Proposal Narrative
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Program Rationale and Design
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Overview
St. Mark’s is a progressive Christian community. We seek to be a safe space where individuals can discern what they believe and do not believe – both
skeptics and believers find a home here. We value differences of opinion, encouraging their expression and daring to engage the discomfort of
disagreement. We acknowledge ambiguity, not trusting that there is an answer for everything or “the” way to do anything. Rather, we follow a paradoxical
path – by looking squarely into the dimness of uncertainty, we can discover truth. To walk this path, it is essential that we extend a “warm and wide
welcome to everyone, no matter where you are on your spiritual journey, no matter what you believe or do not believe,” as our rector, Paul Abernathy,
reminds us each Sunday.
In this context, we submit this proposal to enable Paul to fulfill his sabbatical goal of exploring a congregational model of 21st century evangelism.
As we envision it, the sabbatical involves a three-phase process with each phase, consonant with St. Mark’s traditions, being a partnership of laity and
clergy.
The first phase, preparation, approximately September 2005 – June 2006, will involve the work of a sabbatical consultation team, which, with Paul, will
design the sabbatical program, prepare the congregation for that time, and plan the activities we will undertake while he is gone.
During the second phase, August 1, 2006 – January 2007, we want Paul to have the opportunity to be in residence at one or more churches in England
(the birthplace of the Anglican Church), Kenya (as a part of Africa, the locale of the largest growth in the Anglican Church), and the United States,
which are engaged in the kind of evangelism we wish to explore, to have time for reflection in an academic setting, and, with his wife, Pontheolla, to
rest and renew.
In the third phase, February 2007 – May 2007, Paul returns to us and, together, we explore what he has learned and how we can put it to work in our
community and in our world.
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Rationale
We live in challenging times. The Episcopal Church is in severe tension internally and within the larger Anglican Communion. The gap between the
Christian community’s “traditionalist” and “progressive” extremes grows larger. Religious extremism, both Christian and non-Christian, is a powerful
motivating force not only for legitimate political action, but also for acts of inhumanity. In a time of turmoil, people seem to seek the certainty
of an absolute belief, which often negates the possibility of meaningful and productive dialogue between and among people who profess differing values
and viewpoints.
Where does a progressive Christian community like St. Mark’s fit? How do those of us who aren’t “sure” enter into dialogue with those who are? How do
those of us who see ourselves as open and inclusive find human commonality with those we perceive to be neither?
For Paul, at least part of an answer lies in what he calls 21st century evangelism. He has deliberately chosen the “e-word” because he believes it is
an appropriate way to describe the process of sharing one’s life and faith story with others.
He captures the essence of what he wants to examine during his sabbatical in this way: “I, as a Christian, in building and maintaining the bonds of a
global community of justice and love – in a 21st century incontrovertibly pluralistic context in which people ascribe and adhere to a vast array of
belief and ethical systems – want to know others and others to know me. I do not desire that we all be alike. At the same time, in sharing my
life/faith story, I want to be sensitive to the cry of the other to know about Christianity and to my own cry to know about other traditions.
Moreover, I wonder, how might a Christian community, in its relationship with the global village, live this way?”
As a community, we commit to joining with Paul in seeking to answer these questions, both in concept and in practice. His sabbatical is a critical first
step to launch us on that journey.
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Congregational Support
St. Mark’s has a history of clergy sabbaticals and a well-developed understanding of their value both to the clergy and to the congregation. For example,
the sabbatical in the early 1970s by then-Rector James Adams was the stimulus for a significantly expanded lay ministry that redefined the clergy-laity
relationship.
When Paul was called to be our Rector in 1998, the Vestry contractually agreed to a six-month sabbatical after his seventh year with us. Paul has the
support of the current Vestry, the leaders of our five programmatic “pillars” (Worship, Outreach, Christian Education, Parish Life, and the Arts) and
the Rector’s Advisory Committee as he plans for this experience.
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Program Design
As mentioned above (A.1 Overview), in accord with St. Mark’s commitment to lay ministry, we are building Paul’s sabbatical around three distinct phases –
preparation, execution, and follow-up – in which we will work together to plan and carry out activities that will provide mutual long-term benefit to Paul
and to our community.
Preparation is critical for four reasons. First, it enables St. Mark’s and Paul to strengthen their ongoing seven-year partnership. Second, it
allows us to ready ourselves for his absence and to plan activities for that period consistent with the focus of the sabbatical. Third, it allows Paul
the opportunity, with our active consultation, to identify and to have initial explorations with the places he wishes to visit and study. Fourth, it
identifies the people who will share responsibility for ensuring that Paul’s sabbatical has direct impact on our life as a community. This phase will
begin in July 2005 with appointment of a formal Sabbatical Consultation Team composed of members of our Vestry, our five programmatic pillars, the
Rector’s Advisory Committee, and of 2-3 parishioners with experience in leadership development and renewal. The team, with Paul, will engage in the
following activities:
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Intensive reflection on Paul’s concept of 21st century evangelism to clarify its meaning;
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Identify churches in England, Kenya, and the United States that engage in activities consonant with that concept where Paul might be in residence during
the sabbatical;
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Research options for study and reflection in an academic setting;
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Design and implement activities that prepare the parish for Paul’s absence, e.g., ensuring his operational assignments are covered, offering opportunities
for people to reflect on his absence, and stimulating parish-wide reflection on and discussion of 21st century evangelism. These activities will include
a sermon-series by Paul on the concept, at least two parish-wide discussion meetings, and regular reporting by the consultation team to the congregation.
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By December 2005, completion of an overall design for the full period – January 1, 2006 through our annual parish retreat, June 8-10, 2007.
Execution involves parallel sets of activities during the sabbatical – those undertaken by both Paul and the congregation. His activities, the
specifics of which will be defined and organized during the preparation phase, will include:
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Time in residence at one or more churches in England, Kenya, and the United States. For example, St. James’s Piccadilly in London’s West End, a church,
like St. Mark’s, with a distinguished history that came back from a period of decline, that describes itself as “…welcoming of both human experience and
human diversity. We take the Bible seriously, and seek to understand it in the light of that same experience and diversity, and of what this age knows
and Biblical writers did not, and could not, know.” Its mission statement says, in part, “(We seek) to create a space where people of any faith or none
can question and discover the sacred in life through openness, struggle, laughter and prayer.”
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Time for reflection in an academic or similar peer-based setting where Paul can explore his concept in an environment of critical inquiry and in the
context of larger theological study.
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Time to rest and renew. We are encouraging Paul and Pontheolla to take advantage of the time overseas to travel (hopefully, for Pontheolla, to Italy),
to relax and recharge.
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Time to prepare for his return. We expect Paul to return with new insights, ideas, and approaches. We want him to plan how he will share his sabbatical
experience.
The congregation’s activities will include ongoing exploration on the sabbatical concept through contact with other churches; guest preachers on half of
the Sundays Paul is away, including non-Episcopal and non-Christian speakers; and a class, as part of our Christian Education program, on contemporary
evangelism.
Follow-Up: We are committed to an organized follow-up phase in the 3-6 months following Paul’s return. The consultation team will design initial
plans during the preparation phase, refining them during the sabbatical based on our own experience during that time. The team will review and finalize
them in consultation with Paul following his return. These activities will include:
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A series of sermons specifically focused on the sabbatical experience.
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Further development of a collegial relationship with the churches and the people Paul met and engaged during the sabbatical.
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One or two parish-wide meetings to discuss the sabbatical experience and its mutual value.
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Using the sabbatical experience as focus for our annual parish retreat in June 2007.
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Paul’s Statement
St. Mark’s is a diverse and inclusive community, particularly regarding philosophical and theological matters. We are an Episcopal congregation, but
we do not prescribe a set standard of belief as a litmus test for membership. We seek to engage disparate points of view. Skeptics and believers are
welcome here.
Now, looking at a segment of our Christian lore, the Jesus of the Johannine gospel account speaks of himself as “the way, the truth, and the life”
and as the one through whom access to “the Father” is given (John 14.6). Perhaps no other New Testament text is so patently Christocentric or
has been so greatly abused in the service of Christian extremism. Given St. Mark’s inclusivity, what sense can we make of this seeming biblical and
theological exclusivity?
I am a Christian by family heritage and by continuing choice. It is a choice wrought out of an ongoing engagement with a questioning faith. It
is a faith that finds meaning in the biblical story of a God who acts in human history to proclaim the nearness of a realm of love and justice
through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. It is a questioning engagement that accepts and rejects the exclusive claim of the Johannine
Jesus. One can come to the Father (i.e., a parental, loving God as opposed to a violent, capricious ancient nature deity) by Jesus, but God cannot be
contained by the words attributed to the Johannine Jesus. “Abba, Father” is a reflection of God, but cannot be the reality of God in fullness.
I am a Christian who simultaneously believes and doubts. This theological ground on which I stand, although uncertain, is more “comfortable” than any
absolutism to which I may have ascribed in the past. This also is St. Mark’s theological ground. This makes us – congregation and cleric – uniquely
positioned to engage, as a community, in a dialogue with the world – a dialogue of 21st century evangelism in which the object is not conversion, but
conversation; a dialogue through which we tell our communal Christian story and listen intently to the stories of others – those of other or no faith
traditions; a dialogue that might make for greater peace in our world and in our church.
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The Congregational Statement – Michael Townsend, Senior Warden
St. Mark’s is a special Christian community, with a firm belief in the necessity of providing a place where people can figure out what it is that they
believe and do not believe, without fear of judgment. We maintain a partnership between clergy and laity in which creative tensions are respected in the
interests of finding our way forward together. This model thrives because we have a special Rector in Paul Abernathy. Over the past seven years, we –
St. Mark’s and Paul – have grown in our understanding of and appreciation for each another, for what we share in common and what we do not, for the gifts
we bring, and the needs we have. Paul was the stimulus for our parish wide strategic thinking process that led to our new mission statement, for the
emergence of our programmatic pillars and for helping us find ways to sustain our traditions while embracing new ideas so that skeptics and believers
can worship, study, and be together in community.
Paul also has challenged us to find ways to articulate our shared values to the larger church and into the world. His concept of 21st century evangelism
involving dialogue among people separated by differences of religion, politics, culture, history, ethnicity, and geography resonates with us.
Our expectations for Paul’s sabbatical are high. We want Paul to have time to learn, reflect, and renew. We also want him to return to us with greater
insights about his concept and with specific ideas about how we can move forward to make it part of our congregational life. We expect a reenergized
rector with new ideas and a renewed commitment to leadership.
Our expectations for the community also are high. St. Mark’s is committed to remaining an energetic, vital and welcoming place. As we seek to grow,
to develop a new generation of parish leaders, and to better define our place within the Episcopal Church, this diverse city, and the world, it is
essential that we be able to articulate more clearly the unique aspects of our community and to find new ways to welcome those who are interested in
exploring their beliefs in a community where uncertainty is embraced, rather than maligned. We believe that Paul’s concept of 21st century evangelism
will provide a model for engaging in those conversations.
The preparation period will offer us the opportunity to share in further exploration of the 21st century evangelism concept and to have a very real role
in helping Paul shape what the sabbatical will look like. While he is away, we anticipate building a deeper relationship with our Associate Rector,
Shearon Williams. We also want to use that time to do our own exploration of how evangelism fits into our sense of ourselves as a community. When Paul
returns, we want to put his experience to work for us – not only through our programmatic pillars but also in our personal lives. The process of Paul’s
sabbatical, as outlined in this proposal, will be a significant step forward for us.
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Provisions for Paul’s Absence
During the preparation phase, the Senior and Junior Wardens will work with Paul and our Associate Rector, Shearon Williams, to outline the operational
responsibilities Paul carries and to determine how best to distribute them among the members of the parish officers and staff.
Recognizing that Shearon will be carrying much more than a “full load,” given her primary responsibilities for ministry to youth and families, we will
take four steps to support her. First, during the assessment and reassignment of Paul’s duties we will conduct a similar review of her responsibilities
to determine whether any reassignment is desirable. Second, we will identify new adjunct clergy who can play a role both in our worship and in pastoral
areas. Third, we will commit to recruitment of guest preachers for half of the Sundays Paul will be away (approximately 12). Finally, we will ask
Shearon’s advisory committee to focus its work with her on preparation for and support during the sabbatical.
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Sharing Insights from the Sabbatical
As described above, we will plan and execute an organized follow-up phase at the conclusion of Paul’s sabbatical that will help bring back to us the results
of Paul’s experience. Part of that will be an organized way for the parish to reflect on and share with Paul our experiences and insights. We will draw
on the organizational development skills of members of our congregation to conduct a facilitated “debrief” of the congregation immediately prior to Paul’s
return and then a parish-wide meeting for members of the congregation to share their insights directly with Paul.
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Congregational Information
St. Mark’s was founded in 1867 as a mission of Christ Church Capitol Hill; became an independent parish in 1869; and began construction of the building
which we still occupy in 1888. From 1896 through 1902 it served as the pro-cathedral of the new diocese of Washington. But by World War II the parish
was in decline and in the early 1950s, the Diocese wanted to close the church. The Vestry’s decision to call William Baxter as Rector in 1954 began a
renaissance that has lasted for over 50 years – marked by adoption of a new method of Christian education; the deliberate opening of the church to
self-identified skeptics; redesign of the nave to make it the center of our life as a community, not just a place for Sunday morning worship; emergence
of dynamic lay ministry led by members such as the noted lay biblical scholar Verna Dozier; and our shared decision to become a fully inclusive parish.
A major stimulus to our growth in the 1980s was creation of the Sermon Seminar in which parishioners have the opportunity to interact with the preacher
immediately following the sermon which is given after rather than during the 9 AM service. We currently have 700 members and average attendance of 189
at our 9:00 AM. Sunday service and 146 at 11:00 AM.
Our last four Rectors have been Paul R. Abernathy, 1998 to the present; S. James Steen, Priest-in-Charge, 1996-1998 (now Rector of St. Paul and the
Redeemer Episcopal Church in Chicago); James Adams, 1966-1996 (now President of the Center for Progressive Christianity in Cambridge); and William Baxter,
1954-1966 (now retired).
Among our many ministries are Christian Education, using both functional education and traditional Bible study; the Arts, which includes sponsorship of
the St. Mark’s Players and the St. Mark’s Dance Studio; and Outreach, which includes active leadership for the Capitol Hill Group Ministry, participation
in the Congregational Shelter Project in which we house homeless families one month each year, and support for a broad range of individual and small group
community projects.
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Pastoral Information
Paul R. Abernathy received his Master of Divinity degree from The General Theological Seminary, New York, NY, in 1977, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in
1974 from Westminster College, Fulton, MO. He was ordained to the Deaconate on July 30, 1977 and to the Priesthood on April 15, 1978, both in the
Episcopal Diocese of Missouri. Prior to coming to St. Mark’s in 1998, Paul served as Rector of Trinity Church in Washington DC (1988-1998), a
500-member cross-cultural (African, African-American, West Indian, White) congregation; Rector of Calvary Church in Charleston, South Carolina
(1982-1988), a 300-member African-American congregation; and as Rector, Messiah-St. Bartholomew Church, Chicago, IL, a 150-member African-American
merged congregation. From 1998 to 2000 he served on the national Standing Commission on the Structure of the Church. In 2006, he will serve as an
elected Clerical Deputy from the Diocese of Washington to the 75th General Convention of the Episcopal Church in Columbus, OH.
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