Doss Resigns as Bishop of New Jersey, Diocese Begins Process of Healing
Episcopal News Service. March 18, 1999 [99-020]
(ENS) After years of confrontation and polarization, the Diocese of New Jersey will seek healing in the wake of the resignation of Bishop Joe Morris Doss on March 12.
The resignation takes effect in the fall of 2001 but Doss will take a "sabbatical leave of absence" beginning no later than June 30 or as soon as an interim bishop is appointed. Diocesan leaders and Doss agreed to a separation package of salary and benefits of $1.2 million.
"Being your bishop has not been easy," Doss said in his parting address at the diocesan convention in Somerset. "But the good moments, of which there were many, have been spiritually nourishing and rewarding, while the tough moments have been instructive and humbling."
Doss said that he was "profoundly sorry to announce to you that I cannot be the one called to lead the Diocese of New Jersey into a new millennium." He said that he wasn't resigning because of the lack of support, or because of a continuing investigation of his financial stewardship, but because he couldn't provide leadership for "the battered and beleaguered diocese." He said that he had come to the conclusion that he was "in the way" of a process of healing and reconciliation.
"You must not allow your opportunity for healing, reconciliation and reform to pass," he told 800 delegates to the convention. "Much work has been done, much learning has occurred, a great price has been paid."
Apologizing again for any part he played in the divisive controversies swirling around his leadership, Doss said, "For some of you it may seem to be a joyful occasion and for others a tragedy." Calling himself a "lightning rod," Doss said that his tenure had shown the need for healing and reconciliation, bringing to the surface deep-rooted problems in the diocese. He said that the need for healing, reconciliation and reform "remain deep, complex and long-existing. The need so pervasive that it calls for nothing less than transformation."
After his half-hour address, Doss and his family walked out of the convention center as delegates stood and applauded.
Challenges to his leadership have plagued Doss almost from the time of his election in 1994. Despite the use of an outside consultant and a diocesan wellness committee, the confrontation escalated into calls for the bishop's resignation from the Diocesan Council and Standing Committee.
A recent attempt by Presiding Bishop Frank T. Griswold to mediate a plan calling on Doss and diocesan leaders to "exert every reasonable effort to maintain a professional and collegial relationship with each other" in return for the early retirement of the bishop in 2002 was not accepted by the diocesan representatives. They demanded that the bishop leave as soon as possible, promising a generous separation package.
The package includes full salary and benefits until retirement -- and additional payments to his pension, $200,000 for the educational costs of his two children, $150,000 for the mortgage on his home, $30,000 moving expenses, $20,000 to replace his automobile, and a payment of $100,000 "payable at any time within the next three years at the bishop's request."
Diocesan officials admitted that they were not sure how they could implement the package since financial support for the diocese has been eroding. Revenues for 1998 were $1.5 million, according to the treasurer, Peter Hausman. The diocese has paid only a fraction of the $500,000 it usually sends to the national church in the last few years.
"I'm aligned with the group that wanted him to leave, but I don't think we can celebrate," said the Rev. Alan French, head of the Standing Committee, in an interview with the Newark Star-Ledger. "It's been a horrible ordeal I think it's a tragedy, but it's a tragedy that he brought on himself. Lots of other people were harmed over these years. Careers were destroyed."
A Doss supporter said that it was "a combination of exhaustion, pressure and a careful assessment of what is possible for him to do and what is not possible" that led to the resignation.
Bishop Clayton Matthews, on the presiding bishop's staff with responsibilities in pastoral development, told the convention that "over time...healing might happen" but he pointed to a "collective sense of loss." He added, "There are no victors -- but rather a people who like the Hebrews in the wilderness and the disciples on the road to Jerusalem. look to an uncertain future while trusting in God to guide us so that we can see and respond to opportunities for healing and reconciliation."
Matthews pledged the efforts of his office and the presiding bishop to work closely with the diocese. "Let's pick up the pieces and see what we can make of it. The pieces are all here -- something new and wonderful can be restored or we can throw it all away, thus destroying any chance of realizing things hoped for by all."
In a sermon at the convention Eucharist, Bishop Catherine Roskam of New York warned, "Your problems are not solved. Your bishop's leaving has only altered the manner in which you must deal with them. And as you engage in the work of this convention and of this diocese, the potential for more wounding is great -- if you forget that Christ has called us to be servants."
Roskam said that "healing will come," but that reconciliation precedes healing and repentance precedes reconciliation. "And plumbing the depths of your differences in a spirit of truth and love precedes repentance. So you have your work cut out for you. Tell the truth in love, plumb your differences, repent, be reconciled, and you will be in the place where your healing may begin."