ROANOKE — The church is not exempt from the trials of these turbulent times, but the Episcopal Church has the leadership to march forward past the pandemic.
West Virginia’s Episcopal Diocese has been in good hands under the care of the Rt. Rev. William Michie Klusmeyer, who has served as the state’s bishop since his election and consecration in October 2001.
As Klusmeyer heads into his 21st year in service to the state and his 66th year of life, he’s looking ahead to retirement and recently wrapped up the election process to select his successor.
Rev. Matthew Cowden was selected as the bishop coadjutor for the West Virginia Diocese. With familial connections to West Virginia and a passion for the future of the church, he’s excited to study under Klusmeyer, who is looking forward to retirement. Last September, the diocese announced Cowden’s appointment. He comes to the new role after having recently served as the rector of St. Michael and All Angels in South Bend, Indiana.
Cowden’s ordainment is scheduled for today on the campus of West Virginia Wesleyan College, but during the past week, Cowden and Klusmeyer were joined by the presiding bishop over the Episcopal Church of the United States, Michael Curry, who will officiate today’s ceremony. Cowden will be only the eighth bishop to serve the Episcopal Diocese of West Virginia in its more than 150-year history.
The three reverends sat down for a preordainment interview Friday at the Stonewall Resort in Roanoke, West Virginia and discussed the challenges the church has faced over the last few years and Cowden, the bishop-to-be, talked about real solutions to the issues West Virginia has experienced.
Pews versus views
The percentage of churchgoers in the United States is falling, and the COVID-19 pandemic didn’t do the church, in general, any favors with the amount of people in the pews.
Curry has seen this happening. Since he was ordained presiding bishop in 2015 for a nine-year term, Curry has seen churches struggle to keep up with the times in many ways.
Recently, the Episcopal Church conducted a nationwide survey with individuals from various religious, ethnic and economic backgrounds and the results on several matters were conclusive.
“Eighty-four percent of people who responded said that Jesus of Nazareth was a significant spiritual figure. What that tells us is that there is a religious and spiritual hunger that people acknowledge,” Curry said.
That same survey went on to ask about the public’s perception of Christians and the church as a whole and the responses were mixed. Some said that the church is laden with hypocrisy, while others said the opposite.
“So, yes, our numbers are fluctuating, our population is aging. And yet there are signs of life all over the church,” Curry said. “The church has a future and we’re going to reconfigure. That’s happened many times in the history of Christianity.”
Klusmeyer has lived these changes in West Virginia specifically, and he believes the pandemic has given the church the key to what the modern church looks like.
He told a story of how he once officiated a wedding, where the groom’s family was overseas and couldn’t attend, so they attended by phone. This was around 30 years ago.
“At the time, that was high tech! And it really made me wonder why I wasn’t having a phone line into the church every Sunday,” Klusmeyer said. “We thought, if you wanted to come to church you show up. Now, after the pandemic and all its Zooms and Facebook Lives, we have people tuning into West Virginia church services from all over the country.”
Families who have moved away from West Virginia are still tuning into their hometown church service. As Cowden prepares to become bishop, he sees this as the future of the church.
“We used to count numbers in pews and now we’re counting numbers of views,” Cowden said. “This is just the beginning. We have to invest in that, we have to invest in this technology and have to do it the right way.”
Attracting youth through authenticity
A big takeaway from the church’s nationwide survey was that many young people don’t believe that most religious organizations are authentic. The headlines of billionaire mega-pastors preaching for donations and flying in private jets have spoiled the classic ideals of what it means to be a preacher for many.
Being honest, real and open with the public is something of a trend for many institutions and the church is no exception. Curry calls this, “flipping the paradigm.” Historically, churches wait for the congregation to come to them, but Curry is calling for the churches to meet the people where they are.
“Where are the people? Where are the young people? The church has to go where they are,” Curry said. “Whether that’s on campuses, community colleges, or the military, we have to go where they are and we have to go with a kind of authenticity that offers listening as much as it offers sharing.”
Klusmeyer thinks the change in paradigm goes even further. He compared the societal expectation of grocery stores to be open 24/7 to that same expectation 40 years ago.
He said the church needs a similar shift. Not everyone is available from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. on Sunday morning, so the church need to reassess its archaic schedules.
“Today, if Kroger isn’t open 24/7 there’s a problem, and yet the Christian church, across the board, continues to only offer service Sunday mornings like we did in the 1950s,” Klusmeyer said. “A majority of people aren’t even available on Sunday mornings … we need to be out there where the people are and that’s not necessary on Sunday morning.”
That includes accommodating for the younger generations, Klusmeyer called kids the life of the congregation, and being accommodating to young families is the key to long-term commitments.
He told a story of a family who had a little girl named, Katie who would make a fuss during service that caused some other families to complain about the noise. Instead of asking the family to leave the service or send Katie to the nursery, Klusmeyer asked the complainants to move seats. He believes, because of support like that throughout Katie’s life that is the reason she’s now the leader of the Sunday school at that church today, all these years later.
“It’s important that families see in us [Christians] a spirit that is different and that’s something that’s authentic that can’t be manufactured,” Cowden said. “Meet them where they are, whether that be in person or online. Young people can sniff out when we’re authentic and if we’re honest they’ll see that.”
Parting advice for the new bishop
Prior to Cowden’s ordainment today, his two elder bishops offered him some advice that summed up the conversation quite well.
Curry’s advice had to do with a passage from the Gospel of John, chapter 12.
“The King James Version has them saying, ‘Sir, we would see Jesus.’ Our path to authenticity, with all of our foils, is to authentically love like Jesus,” Curry said to Cowden. “Sir, help them see Jesus.”
Klusmeyer had four points of advice from his years of service that he passed to Cowden as well.
“There are four things I look for in clergy when I bring them in, first is love the people, second is to walk with the people, preach a sermon like you really believe it and lead liturgy that lets us know God has come closer,” Klusmeyer said.
Cowden is obviously excited to begin his role and is eager to learn in the coming months. He hopes that all the people of West Virginia, whether they be religious or otherwise, welcome him and open their arms to his love.
“Keeping in the advice from Bishop Mike, you shall be loved and I look forward to sharing a loving relationship together,” Cowden said. “There is great play in holiness and we’re going to play and pray together as the people of God.”
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