Werner Hopes to Be 'Bridge-builder' for Deputies
Episcopal News Service. October 3, 2000 [2000-157]
(Episcopal Life) "With all that he's done around Pittsburgh, it's a wonder the Very Rev. George Werner was able to keep his day job."
That was the first sentence of a glowing editorial in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette at the time of George Werner's retirement last December. Werner, 62, elected president of the House of Deputies at this summer's General Convention, was stepping down as dean of Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, a post he'd held for 20 years. He was, by that time, perhaps one of the best-known people in Pittsburgh, credited with a major role in reviving the downtown of the industrial city at the confluence of the Ohio, Monongahella, and Allegheny rivers.
The dismantling of the steel industry had taken a toll on the community and it benefited from the energy brought by the man some called "the high priest against pessimism." Werner helped found and led the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership, the Bethlehem Haven Shelter for Women, the Dollar Energy Fund, and the Interfaith Caregivers. He served on the boards of several local hospitals, chairing key oversight committees.
Now, many in the Episcopal Church hope the politically savvy, 30-year veteran of the House of Deputies and its two-term vice president will turn that same energy to his new post. Werner, elected on the first ballot, succeeds Pamela Chinnis, who served since 1991.
"He will excel in presiding," declares attorney Charles Crump, the doyen of General Convention, a 15-time deputy from the Diocese of West Tennessee. "He's crisp and precise, yet not overbearing. I think he will stack right up there with the top presiders."
"George is... organized, knows his way around... and he's demonstrated he can preside competently over the house," says nine-time deputy Marge Christie from the Diocese of Newark. "He honors and respects the church and will do everything he can to preserve its tradition, its honor and its integrity."
Appointments to committees and commissions, a task he will share with the presiding bishop, is a major part of Werner's new responsibility and he expects his Pittsburgh experience at "bridge-building" to serve him in it.
"I've been involved in bringing strange groups to the table, very diverse, often enemies... but we find an area of self-interest... and we develop new coalitions," Werner says of his work. "I want a mix. I want some people who are veterans... who know where the minefields are... know the history," but, he continues, "I want... people who can make something happen... I want not a politically correct diversity, I want every voice that will protect us from omitting something important."
Some veterans of the House of Deputies look to Werner for more. "George will excel in maintaining the independence of the house," says Byron Rushing, eight-time deputy from the Diocese of Massachusetts, who served with Werner on Chinnis' Council of Advice.
Werner says he wants to be a team member with the presiding bishop. "We have a lot of things where we are really one, in terms of spirituality, liturgy, a whole bunch of things. I love his Benedictine abbot approach for many reasons." But, says Werner, who's led five house committees, served 12 years on councils of advice, and been his chair of his diocesan deputation eight times, "the House of Bishops will never understand the House of Deputies. We need to keep those two things very, very clear. There are reasons for this.
"When the House of Bishops issues a 'mind of the house' and they are talking theology, that is totally appropriate. When they start saying how they feel on some of the social issues, we are a bicameral legislature. I will remind them of that. They can't do it as if they are the final word."
Werner's openness and frequent blunt talk can be both refreshing and problematic. He's quick to admit, "I have this problem that St. Peter did: I open my mouth and sometimes I put my foot in it." He also readily confesses, "Nobody has ever used the word 'humility' in a paragraph with me."
Although some deputies have criticized his informality in presiding and the appearance of disrespect when he addresses male clergy as "Father" and female clergy by their first names, Werner says he's making a conscious effort to be more formal.
Scott Evans, seven-time deputy from the Diocese of North Carolina, applauds "a great improvement" in the way Werner has presided. "I think he's quick to make decisions... He will need to listen to"He has a lot of energy," says Bonnie Anderson, five-time deputy from the Diocese of Michigan, who was chair of the Joint Standing Committee on Planning, Budget and Finance. "It can be used to be reactive and it can be used to be enthusiastic." voices of experience as he makes decisions."
Two priests in Werner's diocese, from opposite poles on the political spectrum, both have high praise for the new president. The Rev. Harold Lewis, rector of Calvary Episcopal Church in Pittsburgh and former officer for black ministries at the Episcopal Church Center, calls Werner's election as head of the diocese's deputation "a remarkable feat, given that George is a moderate -- liberal churchman in a diocese which has become increasingly conservative."
The Rev. Jim Simons, rector of St. Michael's Episcopal Church in Ligonier, a fourtime deputy from Pittsburgh, points out that Werner "has accomplished the almost impossible task of rising to his current office while not beholden to any ideological group. .. He truly wants to see all perspectives represented in the church."
The Rev. John Guernsey, secretary of the conservative American Anglican Council and six-time deputy from the Diocese of Virginia, endorses that assessment. "I was a leader of the AAC in the House of Deputies and I would have to say I've experienced George to be a bridge-builder. He reached out to us and sought to understand our concerns and priorities."
As Werner presided or sat second chair at General Convention, his wife, Audrey, was visible in the rear of the hall with her needlework. The Werners, who have four grown children, celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary in June. Together they've served urban parishes in Bridgeport, Connecticut, and Manchester, New Hampshire, before the move to Pennsylvania in 1979. They now live in Sewickley, Pennsylvania.
Now the man who "loves English mysteries," historical novels, and Henri Nouwen, who says his greatest passion is "people, I just absolutely love to connect" and who confesses his primary motivation to be "the fact that you can change things," will be leading the House of Deputies for at least the next three years.
He says his focus will be on community. "We are committed to community. You cannot be without community. We are defined by community...Our job, by Scripture, is to hang in together, learn from each other, grow from each other...be feisty, be passionate, do that, but we've got to stay in community."