Bishop’s Pre-Convention Pastoral Letter
Pursuant to Canon III.12.3.b
My beloved diocesan siblings,
You will hear in my Bishop’s Address a few touchpoints on the positive state of the Diocese. This letter gives a more robust and deeper dive into those touchpoints and more – to give a broader understanding of where we stand today.
About Our 157th Convention
The diocesan staff and Diocesan Convention Planning Committee along with the clergy and members of the Middle Convocation and host parish, Christ Church, Stevensville, are actively preparing to convene the 157th Diocesan Convention. This convention will mark my final Diocesan Convention as your bishop as I get ready to demit or retire office on October 31, 2025, to proceed on annual vacation and pre-retirement sabbatical until February 2, 2026.
This year’s convention is convened under the theme – “By their fruit you shall know them.” Camp Wright – Preserving our Heritage. Our Legacy. (Matthew 7:20) Convention will officially welcome five bishops of the Episcopal Church. They include The Right Reverend Carrie Schofield-Broadbent, Bishop of Maryland, who is the preacher at the Opening Diocesan Convention Eucharist on Friday evening at 6:00 p.m. The Right Reverend Kevin Brown, Bishop of Delaware, The Right Reverend Robert W. Ihloff, Bishop of Maryland Resigned, The Right Reverend Martin G. Townsend, IX Bishop of Easton, Resigned and The Right Reverend James J. Shand, X Bishop of Easton, Resigned.
The three-day hybrid format begins on Thursday, March 6 with the First Business Session hosted under the zoom format. At this session, convention will be organized, consents obtained on appointments to various committees, councils, and departments, elections held for new members to Diocesan Council, Standing Committee and Board of Managers members, reports given from various ministries on their respective work for 2024, and other pertinent and relevant information will be considered. The Convention will recess until Friday evening at 6:00 p.m. for the Opening Diocesan Convention Eucharist at the host parish, Christ Church, Stevensville. The sermon will be delivered by The Rt. Rev. Schofield-Broadbent, Bishop of Maryland. Bishop Shand and Bishop Townsend and their spouses will be in attendance. Also during the service we will install the new Dean of the Northern Convocation, The Very Reverend Claire Nevin-Field and the new Lay Pastor for Latino Ministry from Holy Spirit Parish, Ocean City, Andy Diaz. Please note that this Eucharist Service is an open invitation to every member of the diocese and beyond. The host parish is offering a reception in Shand Hall after the service. While attendance is optional for clergy, lay delegates and alternates, it is my hope that all clergy attend and are asked to robe in Cassock, Surplice and White Stole (or Alb and White Stole if you choose) in keeping with the liturgical color for Church Convention, although we will be in the Season of Lent.
We will reconvene on Saturday, March 8, at Christ Church, Stevensville for the Second and Third Business Sessions, which will include among other essential agenda items, the Bishop’s Address (which will be my final address as Bishop of Easton and President of Diocesan Convention), the Diocesan Budget Presentation, Diocesan Treasurer’s Report, Board of Managers Report, and a Presentation by the Camp Wright Committee on its Strategic Development followed by a tour of the camp. Session III will engage delegates and alternates on Diocesan Discernment facilitated by Rebecca Wilson, Chief of Strategy-the Episcopal Church.
A Reflection on the State of the Diocese of Easton
I write to you in a period where God’s church, as an institution of God’s presence and infinite mercy and grace, is under significant weight from prophets of doom and gloom who speak of irreparable decline and extinction. In traditional print media and social media its efficacy and relevancy are experiencing unwarranted scrutiny. As your bishop and friend, I write my Pre-convention Pastoral Letter to share good news of hope, resurrection, and resilience aimed at counteracting this narrative, at least in the Diocese of Easton. Good news that will serve to debunk the fallacy promoted by those for whom hope and faith seem out of reach.
As a supplement to this letter and to my Bishop’s Address at Convention, I encourage anyone interested, and particularly delegates, alternates, clergy and those involved in discernment to read through this linked overview of the last ten years in the Diocese of Easton. This overview and the documents to which it points bear witness to a Diocese that values perseverance and is dedicated to the creative pursuit of God’s mission and ministry here on the Eastern Shore.
In the latest 2023 Parochial and Statistical Report from the Episcopal Church, the Diocese of Easton was one of the twenty-one dioceses, out of 102 dioceses, that reported an increase in baptized members. Our baptized members increased from 6,840 in 2022 to 6,858 in 2023 or 0.3%. Another notable fact is that of the 102 dioceses reporting, we have more baptized members in this narrow strip of real estate on the Eastern Shore than in many US States (Hawaii, Vermont, West Virginia, Iowa, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Kansas, Alaska, Idaho and 18 other in-state dioceses). Additionally, the Episcopal Church is experiencing a marked and steady increase in average Sunday attendance since the decline experienced during the Pandemic. The Diocese of Easton in 2022-2023 increased by 11% (from 1,622 up to 1,799). The average pledge has also increased in the Diocese, by 21% or $522, for the period 2019-2023.
Our investment and attention to Latino ministry continues to bear fruit. Dr. Mark Hansen, our Diocesan Latino Missioner, along with his Parish of St. Clement’s Massey, have long supported Latino ministry and initiatives. Trinity Cathedral, Easton, has instituted an Easton English School at Trinity (EEST) – an initiative supported by a grant from United Thank Offering (UTO). In 2019 La Iglesia de la Sagrada Familia de Jesus (The Church of the Holy Family of Jesus) in Shrewsbury, was voted in as our first Latino Mission during our 151st Diocesan Convention and they continue to thrive. And we can now add Holy Spirit Parish in Ocean City, where our new Lay Pastor for Latino Ministry, Andy Diaz is hard at work. Parishes in the Southern Convocation interested in reaching out to their Latino sisters and brothers are encouraged to utilize Andy Diaz, who will bring much energy and experience to this new role.
On Sunday February 23rd, I did my pastoral visit to Holy Spirit Church, Ocean City, where 10 were confirmed, eight received first/solemn communion, and one child was presented (Luke 2). These are traditionally held and valued Rites in Latino culture and it was my honor to be present amongst the other 128 persons at Church. It was a glorious Sunday with the Holy Spirit pouring down in abundance and was a classic witness to the post-resurrection command of Jesus to “cast the net on the right side of the boat…” (John 21:6).
Resolution of Title IV Complaints
In the spirit of accountability and transparency on the part of your chief pastor and bishop, I share the following information and Pastoral Direction:
Statement from the Office of the Bishop
To Diocesan Convention Delegates & Alternates
Title IV Complaints and Resolution
“The two sets of Title IV Complaints asserting allegations against Bishop Marray have been resolved by the Episcopal Church with a decision by the Reference Panel that there were no Title IV Offenses committed by Bishop Santosh Marray. The Diocese considers these matters to be concluded and will continue to work with all its members and clergy towards bringing together everyone with a singular mission to faithfully serve God’s mission in the communities we serve on the Eastern Shore, and in the global Anglican Communion. Bishop Marray has invited Bishops Shand and Brown to continue to provide episcopal support to congregations involved in these matters at the congregation’s request”.
The above statement was issued by the Diocesan Chancellor on the resolution of the Title IV complainants.
The ultimate objective of any Title IV process is to promote and achieve the highest possible biblical mandate from our Lord, that is, reconciliation (II Corinthians 5:16-21; Romans 12:9-21).
A Title III complaint was filed with the Presiding Bishop’s Office by members of the Title IV complainants in April 2023. This matter was dismissed by the Presiding Bishop’s Office on April 21, 2023. The complainants subsequently filed a Title IV complaint.
The Presiding Bishop, the Most Reverend Sean Rowe, issued a Pastoral Direction to the bishop with copies to the Complainants directing that the bishop refrains from any discussion of Title IV matters and the disillusion of all other Pastoral Directions As such, he is prohibited from discussing any disciplinary matter as it will amount to a violation of the Pastoral Direction by the Presiding Bishop. Based upon his inability to comment, he requests all others to refrain from discussing it as well.
This Pastoral Direction includes any discussion on the Title III matter that was dismissed on April 21, 2023.
With the disillusion of previous Pastoral Directions, all Delegated Episcopal Pastoral Oversight (DEPO) was suspended and the Bishop of Easton as Ecclesiastical Authority was authorized to resume pastoral visits and episcopal ministry to the parishes in the Diocese of Easton including those parishes that had requested Delegated Episcopal Pastoral Oversight during the duration of the Title IV matters.
However, as an act of grace going forward, the bishop will be happy to consider any request for Pastoral Oversight by Bishop Brown and Bishop Shand to any clergy or lay members who were complainants within the affected parishes that had requested Delegated Episcopal Pastoral Oversight.
A protocol will be established to consider any application from the four churches and clergy that may request the use of this instrument. The Office of the Bishop will review requests in consultation with the Diocesan Chancellor. By acting in this way, the bishop is careful not to create an unhealthy and dangerous precedent in the Episcopal Church, whereby churches and/or clergy, unhappy with their bishop’s decisions and/or actions could apply for DEPO citing the Diocese of Easton as precedent to argue their case.
Conclusion
The diocese is expecting a fruitful and consequential convention that is likely to go a far way in determining its future going forward. I pray God’s guidance on our deliberations, fellowship and time together as God’s beloved family on the Eastern Shore.
Bishop Santosh Marray