Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe on Episcopal church staff realignment
Dear People of God in The Episcopal Church:
On the day I was elected presiding bishop in June 2024, I told the General Convention:
It’s time to reorient our churchwide resources—budgets and staff—to support dioceses and congregations on the ground where ministry happens. To build on what dioceses and diocesan partnerships already do better than the churchwide structure and use churchwide resources to strengthen those ministries.
We must reform our structure and governance so that our essential polity, in which laypeople, clergy, and bishops—all of us together—share authority, does not collapse under its own weight.
Today I am announcing the first major milestone toward achieving these goals: a realignment of the church center staff that will position us to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ more effectively in the world that we see emerging.
Any change of this magnitude requires difficult decisions. Earlier today, we said goodbye to 14 colleagues whose positions have been eliminated. Please know that we have offered each of them a generous severance package and substantial outplacement program to support them as they discern their next vocational steps. I am grateful for them and their service to the church center.
As you may know, the realignment was directed by Executive Council in 2023 and incorporated in the 2025-2027 General Convention budget, which requires us to reduce staff costs by $3.6 million over the triennium.
Our goal with the realignment, however, is not solely financial. By identifying priorities for our work as a staff and restructuring the staff to support dioceses more fully, we believe that we can help The Episcopal Church make an even stronger and more effective witness to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
To realize this vision, we will have to change some of our core staff priorities. In some areas, we will pivot to focusing on investing in strong diocesan programs and initiatives and making them available to the entire church. In other areas, we will be trying some experiments to see what might work in today’s church, learning from what we try, and building on what succeeds.
Here are some other details about this phase of the realignment and other changes now unfolding in our ministry as a staff:
- Sixteen colleagues have chosen to participate in a retirement incentive program, which was made available to employees who are at least 65 years old, or who will turn 65 in 2025. Those employees will be retiring on various dates in the coming months.
- In addition to today’s departures, 13 vacant staff positions will not be filled.
- Although I expect this to be the most significant phase of the realignment, we will continue to study the structure and organization of departments as some were not involved in this initial realignment study. We are seeking outside advice to assist those departments in defining their priorities.
- Seventeen colleagues will be invited to participate in a new cohort-based program we are developing to invest in early and mid-career staff as they take on new roles or responsibilities. This is one way we hope to develop talent throughout the organization to build capacity for leadership in the years ahead.
Several church center functions are being reorganized:
- Evangelism and the formation of new Christians is central to our vision and the tenets of our faith. In this realigned structure, we will pilot new ways to invest in strong formation and evangelism resources developed by dioceses. We are also anticipating an active partnership with Forward Movement that will make our collective witness across The Episcopal Church even stronger.
- The essential work previously done by the Offices of Transition Ministry and Pastoral Development is being retooled and restructured, and will now be handled in a new leadership development department that will be formed in the coming weeks.
- Our commitment to church planting and redevelopment is undiminished, and in the months to come, we will be reorganizing this ministry and the ways it supports and serves our dioceses.
I want to be clear that none of these changes indicate a lack of commitment to the ministries that are being reorganized. On the contrary, the data we collected over the past months from staff, Executive Council, and bishops indicate that these areas of ministry are high priorities, and we want to devote resources and time to new models and opportunities to achieve our priorities.
Today I am also announcing several changes on our senior team:
- I am pleased to announce that Rebecca Blachly, who has led the Episcopal Church’s Office of Government Relations since 2016, has agreed to join the senior team as chief of public policy and witness. In this new role, she will continue to oversee the Office of Government Relations and The Episcopal Church’s presence at the United Nations. She also will assume responsibility for Episcopal Migration Ministries, global partnerships, and ecumenical and interreligious relations, coordinating our public witness across all the contexts in which we advocate.
- I am grateful to share the news that the Rev. Canon Chuck Robertson, who has been part of the church center staff since 2007, has agreed to serve as canon and senior advisor to the presiding bishop. In this new role, he will lead our work with theological seminaries in The Episcopal Church and across the Anglican Communion; coordinate the work of our staff and governing bodies to assist the Diocese of Haiti and its ministries; design new models for development and fundraising to support our dioceses and church center ministries; and support me in my ministry in the Anglican Communion.
- Our realignment process has indicated that, at this time, we do not need to fill the role of chief operating officer. I am glad to say that Jane Cisluycis has agreed to remain on the staff as senior director of operations, with responsibility for information technology, human resources, archives, and building services.
We live in turbulent times, and it is unfortunate that this necessary reorganization is taking place during a period of wrenching upheaval in civil society. In the church as in society, people of good faith can disagree.
But when we remember that we belong to God—when we refuse to succumb to division and deceit and rely instead on this Christian community—we can find the face of Christ in one another, extending grace and understanding even when we are on opposite sides of debates or deliberations.
As we pursue the difficult work of change in The Episcopal Church, it will be all too easy to let disagreement lapse into conflict. I pray that all of us can be guided by the words of the prophet Micah, who reminds us to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with our God.
May God bless and keep each of you as we continue this journey together.
The Most Rev. Sean W. Rowe
Presiding Bishop
The Episcopal Church
