The Great Cathedral Preach-Off
As many of you know, my wife, the Rev. Jo Nygard Owens, was recently called to serve as the Pastor for Digital Ministries at Washington National Cathedral. She’s now a full-time member of the clergy staff of that cathedral while serving remotely from Cleveland much of the time.
Some Sundays, though, we have the coincidence of both preaching at the same time on the same passage in two different cathedral pulpits!
Though Jo’s sermon got a few more digital views than mine did this week (9,000 and counting) it’s a fun reminder of the curious and exciting nature of cathedral ministry. Whether at a national cathedral or a diocesan one like ours, cathedrals are churches with a broader reach and the capacity to try new things (like the creation of a digital ministry clergy position), and the ability to extend the witness of God’s love far beyond a single neighborhood.
Indeed, our family’s experience this past weekend was a vivid reminder of networked gift of cathedral ministry in the Episcopal Church: we are deeply connected to one another, and form points of connections for people of faith throughout the country. One Trinity member even “confessed” that he was also a member of the digital congregation of Washington National Cathedral, but didn’t know about Jo until he watched us both preach on Sunday!
As you can imagine, I’m so proud of Jo and excited for her new call – though I was also glad when she returned home after a week in Washington. Our whole family is enjoying the adventure, though our children have the curious problem of hearing us talk about “the cathedral” and wondering,
“Which one?”
The Very Rev. Bernard J. Owens
Dean