The Diocesan Dialogue
Current Issue
June 2007

Bishop's Reflections

At the spring's clergy conference I gave a loose leaf binder to clergy from each of our congregations, and the front piece read: "Policies of the Episcopal Diocese of Utah." That sounds a little boring, besides which the binders were empty, so it wasn't much of a gift!

I now take this opportunity to explain to all of you what policies of the Diocese are about. When I became your Bishop there were very few written policies for our congregations, clergy, or vestries to follow, and this created an uneven playing field in the Diocese when it came to practices.

So, one of the purposes of policies is to level the field a bit. Even though our churches are all unique in their own history and place, policies clarify reasonable expectations and practices in our common life.

The other purpose of policies is simply guidance. We regularly encounter new situations, and whether our leaders are new or established, they may be left wondering what to do in a certain situation (for example, when a clergy leader leaves or retires), or what they must do in living out the resolutions of General or Diocesan Conventions (for example, in protecting young people from foreseeable harm).

Policies are not canons; they are not requirements that issue from the polity or traditions of the church; rather they are grounded in the wisdom and experience of faith communities in this Diocese and their leaders. In establishing them, we generally try to discover what is normative in other dioceses.

The subject matter of Diocesan Policies includes matters of financial practice, record keeping, background checks, trainings of various kinds, ecumenical relations, the serving of alcohol, property arrangements, the clergy search process and others. We do not anticipate granting exceptions to the policies but some adaptation may be approved in certain cases. The whole point is to establish common practices and a level playing field.

Our policies, which will be sent out over time to all our congregations, are being written by a sub-committee of the Diocesan Council, chaired by Jay Stretch and including Steve Hutchinson, Toni Marie Sutliff, and Reed Stock. They present their work for approval by the Bishop, the Council as a whole, and where appropriate, the Standing Committee.

As you receive them, you are welcome to question any of them for clarification, or even to challenge them through a resolution at our Diocesan Convention.

To me personally this whole endeavor marks a certain "coming of age" in the governance of our Diocese, and especially of the Diocesan Council.

We did not set out with a tight definition of what our work would be within the rubrics of ‘program and budget.' Yet in the three years of our gatherings we have produced a five-year plan for the Diocese, and are now undertaking the large project of articulating policies that we hope will be of great help to all of us.

Faithfully,
The Rt. Rev. Carolyn Tanner Irish

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