Nickerson Reflects on His 12 Years at Center of Church Life
Episcopal News Service. September 3, 1998 [98-2225]
(ENS) The bookcases are empty, the walls are bare, even the lobster trap from Maine is gone. Don Nickerson, sitting behind his clean desk in his fourth-floor office at the Episcopal Church Center, was counting down the last few hours before his June 30 retirement.
"I have made the transition and I'm looking forward to new people and new places," he said with the gentle demeanor that has marked his dozen years at the center of church life -- as executive officer of General Convention, secretary of the church and its Executive Council. "It has been a great run."
Don and his wife Sue had quickly sold their home in Connecticut and were headed for family property in New Hampshire. And they have a cabin in their beloved Maine where he served a parish before his election to national office.
As he looked back over his tenure it was easy to identify the low point -- the embezzlement by former treasurer Ellen Cooke. "I felt that the staff members, including me, were isolated from each other by the way she treated us," Nickerson said. Like others on the staff, he sought support from colleagues in dealing with his feelings of anger and a sense of betrayal.
"It wasn't just the money, it had more to do with the integrity of the staff," Nickerson argued. And he found the negative impact on the trust of the national staff "incredibly painful." It took him a while to move beyond the anger to "a point of prayer for her, realizing that she needs to stand in the grace of God. I hope she realizes what she did and has amended her life."
Nickerson regrets "the tragic loss of a lot of high-quality staff members" in the financial fallout. "Yet we responded by going out into the dioceses and engaging them in conversation. It gave us the chance to radically reexamine our connection to the dioceses and, in conversation, rediscover our common mission," he said. "And it built a sense of accountability so that they could see what we were doing and why."
Nickerson is convinced that "the church is full of mission opportunities, so there is no permanent damage." In his travels throughout the church he has seen numerous examples of vibrant ministry at the local level. In his role as registrar, he has participated in 101 consecrations, what he calls "moments of high celebration, a time when the church feels good about itself, filled with hope and expectation."
When asked about the changes he has seen since he attended his first General Convention in 1970, Nickerson leans back in his chair and looks thoughtfully out the window.
The loss of representatives of the church in the Philippines, Brazil, Mexico and Central America means "the loss of an important perspective and insight we sorely need. It may be a positive move for them but it is a loss for us," he says.
He mentions the controversial decision to hold the General Convention in Phoenix in 1991 "one of the biggest crises I faced as the executive officer." While the argument raged over whether to hold the meeting in a state that did not commemorate a holiday for Martin Luther King, Jr., "I think we made the right decision -- to stand with the city and the diocese and to use the occasion to denounce the sin of racism," Nickerson said.
Over the years he has seen some significant changes in the way General Convention does its business. For a while the number of resolutions became impossible to handle but now it is more manageable, he thinks. And the shift toward a more "spiritually centered convention," with the Eucharist as "the main focal point," has made a difference in the spirit and tone. The daily Bible studies around tables provide what he calls "pockets of intimacy" and undergird both the spiritual dimension as well as the legislative process.
For the man who has helped keep the machinery oiled, Nickerson is "less concerned about the decision-making process" than he is in defining the church's mission in today's world. "Structure will take care of itself," he says, "because it is meant to enable ministry." And he is convinced that the church needs the kind of leadership that "helps move the church beyond itself"
As he has watched the General Convention struggle with difficult issues, Nickerson finds in the somewhat messy process "a wonderful diversity of representation from the dioceses. We need all the voices," he declares in deflecting arguments for a smaller House of Deputies. "The General Convention is the major opportunity we have for conversation in our church. It may be complicated but people really want it to work well."
Nickerson has noticed some shift of leadership in the General Convention. When he was a deputy in the 1970s, "most of the leadership came from the House of Bishops. But now I think it has shifted to the House of Deputies, especially among the lay order," he says. "They seem less bound by tradition, more open to change. So that's where I think the voices of change are coming from."
He also pointed to "some incredible steps in these years" to include women in church leadership. He expresses some regret that he won't be present at the General Convention in Denver when Pamela Chinnis finishes her tenure as president of the House of Deputies. His participation in the consecration of Barbara Harris as the first woman to serve as bishop in the Anglican Communion was "a highpoint." He has been at the consecration of all eight of the women who are bishops in the Episcopal Church.
The inclusion of small groups in the convention has "encouraged participants to tell their personal stories," Nickerson observes, "and it gives them more power in the life of the convention."
When pressed about his own legacy, Nickerson says that he hopes he has "increased trust in the legislative process. That has been my primary goal, to maintain the integrity of the process." He admits that he likes to teach others about how that process works, "conveying my enthusiasm." That is what he has enjoyed the most, "helping people understand how we make decisions."
As he and his wife head off to New England and retirement, Nickerson is convinced that "we are a healthier church because we've learned to talk with and respect one another." General Convention has become more representative, "with new people and new expressions of truth," he says. "And we are reclaiming some of the joy of ministry, with excitement and pride in what is possible in the church," part of the impact of the new presiding bishop.
Drawing on a metaphor from the rocky coasts of Maine, Nickerson says, "We know where the lighthouse is, alerting us to where the dangers are, but at the same time promising us safe passage to the harbor."