The Rev. Dr. Gregory Kimura
Answers to Essay Questions
1.Alaska has a rich history of evangelism. Yet even while new ministries spring to life, we struggle to attract new people to our churches. What would you propose as an evangelism strategy for Alaska?
Evangelism strategy.
This is a complex issue, especially in Alaska. In one sense, the Diocese is not unlike others in the Episcopal Church or in the mainline churches in general. Most of our parishes and missions have seen a marked decrease in members in the past few decades as there has been a rise in so-called ‘big box’ and nondenominational churches that stress praise music, therapeutic theology, and the so-called ‘prosperity gospel.’ It would be a mistake to mimic this strategy at the expense of core Trinitarian and Eucharistic beliefs and our broad Anglican perspective that have abided greater challenges to traditional Christianity in the past. In fact, some studies show that their type of evangelism has peaked, with members leaving and searching for churches like the Episcopal Church that have a developed history and theology that can feed mind, heart, and spirit.
Two recent studies, by the Pew Center and the Boisi Center at Boston College, both show that Alaska is one of the least church-going and least church-affiliated states. This seems counter-intuitive when you look around our cities and villages and see so many houses of worship, but it is true throughout the West and our Diocese. The flip-side of these studies is that we are apparently no less religious/spiritual, but that Alaskans tend to be more independent, raised outside a particular faith. Not born into a specific church, they generally don’t ‘join’ for the sake of it. They are seekers and independent thinkers. This group is one important field for evangelism. We need a comprehensive and Diocese-wide strategy to approach these folks in a way that is robust and exciting, but not threatening. This strategy must emphasize our Christ-centered message of hope, value, and care that is a viable option to the message of self-centered gain, materialism, and hyper-sexualization that constantly bombards us.
Another often neglected mission field for evangelism in our Diocese is the original mission field: our villages. While many of the traditionally Episcopal villages have been missionized now for more than six generations, that history has been one of waxing and waning attention, with other denominations sometimes ‘cherry-picking’ our members. I consider the biggest crisis in our state (let alone Diocese) the future of our villages. All of Alaska’s natural wealth comes from rural Alaska. All that we associate with Alaskan culture that derives from traditional subsistence life – the wisdom, the art, the connection to the land and each other – comes from the villages. Yet, our villages are tragically being left behind such that their very viability (and thus, of the traditional lifestyle) is threatened in the coming generations. Folks in the villages are waging a battle to survive. They need the church, their Episcopal Church, to help in all areas. Also, folks who out-migrate to hub communities and cities need help from the church to adjust to urban life. The Episcopal Church needs an evangelism strategy to feed them spiritually as well.
In all cases, evangelism is simply spreading the Good News of Christ Jesus to a world that needs it – even if that world does not know it yet. An effective strategy should not be imposed by a bishop alone but be a comprehensive and collective means and method to spread that message to its greatest effect. This needs to involve clergy and all laity as a ministry team.
2. Alaska is a young state in that its median age is fairly low. Alaska also has a heritage of honoring its elders. Describe your work with youth and elders.
Youth and Elders.
A couple of trends skew Alaska’s median age younger. One is that we have a transient population as a result of military and oilfield jobs. People in the military and oilfield (and related) careers are also our members and we see them come and go. While here, the church provides a spiritual home and a place of stability for them and their families. Another trend is what has come to be called ‘brain drain.’ Our young people grow up here, but then they leave for what are perceived to be better opportunities in the Lower 48. This is a great challenge to the state and the Diocese, as many of our best and brightest are faced with this dilemma. I saw this firsthand as the ecumenical chaplain to Alaska Pacific University and UAA. In that position, I ministered to the largest and youngest congregation in the state – the Anchorage university community. Those Gen X and Gen Y (born c. 1964-2000) are the first generation in this country to have a majority of members raised outside of church rather than in it (a result of their Baby Boomer parents leaving church). I gained hard-learned lessons talking and ministering to such young folks. Now the coming ‘post-millennial generation’ is looking to be even larger than the Baby Boomers, making it the largest in history. We will need to learn from them and learn how to speak to them, developing tools like digital and social media.
I have been ordained for sixteen years, active in parish ministry, ministering in churches with younger and older members. I have come to recognize that their needs and their attitudes are different. Both need to be respected, as all are equally a part of the Church in Christ. Our elders now are at a precarious position. Many are on fixed incomes and the current recession and stock market collapse has taken a toll. Many will not be able to retire and many will be struggling to meet a basic standard of living. Their needs will become increasingly a priority for the church. Many are staying in Alaska, although many are also leaving (an elder parallel to the younger ‘brain drain’).
The Diocese and the Episcopal Church will be judged by how it ministers to its youngest and oldest members, as they are the most vulnerable. I see this need in my secular job as the head of a statewide cultural-educational nonprofit. Alaska has an underdeveloped infrastructure for both. We are one of only 8 states without a comprehensive early learning program, hamstringing our children even before they start school. We have poor health care and social options for elders, right as the Baby Boomers are set to retire. This range of ministry and secular experience gives me knowledge and perspective on the issues and the sensitivity to think creatively on how the church might address it.
3. Based on your reading of the diocesan profile: What do you see as your greatest challenge as the Bishop of Alaska? What excites you most about the position?
Challenges/Excitement.
The greatest challenge for the next bishop is the same for the earlier ones: ministering to a diverse congregation over the largest geographic area in the Episcopal Church. The heart of this diversity is a split between rural and urban Alaska – and the long-seeded misunderstandings and antagonisms that have come about as a result of the different world-views. This division is also the center of Alaska’s social, cultural, and political differences (for example, subsistence). It is clearly more recognized and felt in rural Alaska, but it operates in urban communities as well. The biggest challenge is to bridge understanding and foster mutual respect between Alaska’s diverse people. It will be to keep Episcopalians in communion with each other in spite of their differences and to see these differences as strengths.
This challenge is all the more acute when the national Church and Anglican Communion are in turmoil. Conflicts over human sexuality have been experienced differently across the urban-rural divide in the Diocese of Alaska, but they have been no less difficult. The challenge for the next bishop will be as that bridge across different views – to establish the center around which opposing and perhaps irreconcilable views can meet, agree to disagree, and yet still find Christ.
I oversee a number of programs that seek to bridge the divide between rural and urban understandings. One program has operated in ninety-six communities across the state, involving student and teacher exchanges from Barrow to St. George to Ketchikan. I am of mixed heritage myself (Japanese and Anglo) with family who are both Christian and Westernized and traditional and Buddhist, so I have struggled personally with the dynamics of bridging different cultures.
I consider being a bridge figure a type of calling in a world where people tend to self-identify and separate into groups. Yet being a bridge, a reconciler, will be a requirement and a challenge of the highest order for the next bishop. Like all challenges, this ‘difficulty’ is also an exciting opportunity for growth for the Diocese. Alaska is something of a cipher for the rest of the US and the Diocese of Alaska always has been a place of possibility and imagination for the Episcopal Church. How we address the issue of what divides us in the context of national and Communion disagreements, if done thoughtfully, prayerfully, and in a Spirit-guided way, can model the very best not only for each other here in Alaska but elsewhere as well.
4. The Bishop of Alaska serves the largest area of any bishop in the United States. How do you currently maintain a healthy mind and body while balancing the demands of your vocation with relational and personal needs?
Balance.
We have watched the past several bishops wreck their health and sometimes their family lives over the stress of the position. Having heard the last two bishops respond to this question as candidates, and then watch them pulled in unhealthy directions anyway, I answer this with eyes wide open.
I am a forth-generation Alaskan, with roots in Anchorage and Cordova. I have traveled extensively for church and work, both in Alaska and out of state. Much has been to hub communities, but I have spent time not inconsiderable time in villages. I have been weathered in in Anvik when it was too cold to fly. I have been caught in Kodiak because of rain and wind. Part of work and travel in Alaska means planning ahead, patience, and a good book. I am an avid reader and writer and find this a good way of centering myself mentally and spiritually.
For me and my family, physical exercise is a necessary part of life as well. I work out at a gym and am an avid hiker and climber in the summertime and cross-country skier in the winter. My wife is a marathon runner and, although my knees won’t abide that abuse, she and I cross-train together. Nowadays, our seven year old son joins the hikes, too (even the long ones), with our toddler daughter in the baby backpack. I enjoy rock climbing and have gone on trips in Alaska, California, and Nevada for multi-pitch climbs. I need time with family and friends and do better personally and professionally when these relationships are fed with time together and love.
I am a firm believer in mind-body-spirit holism and that one needs to care for all aspects of the self. I require personal time and family life amidst the rigors and demands of parish ministry and professional life and would do the same if bishop. I refuse to sacrifice family to any job, even an ordained vocation. To do so sets a bad example if one is ordained. I always make space and time for personal and family needs. Healthy churches and employers understand this need. More than simply recharging batteries, it is a form of stewardship and respect for the gifts of family and relationships that God has given all of us to nurture that we might use them to God’s greater glory.
5. Most of our clergy are non-stipendiary and work in isolation from other priests. How would you provide pastoral care and support for these disciples?
Pastoral support.
Most Alaskan churches are unable and will probably always be unable to support the traditional full-time parish priest ministry model. Nowadays, it is just too expensive. I have been a full-time parish priest. I have also been a bi-vocational priest, with secular employment, so I have seen both sides.
While serving on the Commission on Ministry, the after-ordination support of what used to be known as ‘Canon IX’ clergy was a primary concern. We have many non-stipendiary clergy who do not enjoy the same network and other support as seminary-trained clergy. We need to think more creatively about how clergy connect and keep up-to-date with professional training, just as we talk about the laity doing so. One of the most important jobs of the bishop should be to communicate with, advise, direct, and help feed those clergy under local ordination orders who are doing the heavy lifting in communities with little or no support from outside.
The local ordination canon, which was created for mainly Native village communities by the national church under Bishop Gordon’s advocacy, has been stretched to the point that most aspirants are now from cities. This is not always inappropriate (as when such aspirants pledge to serve rural and underserved congregations), but it has frankly created an imbalance when it has not been the case. The high number of non-stipendiary clergy in our Diocese, and all clergy, need ongoing pastoral care and support, which is the responsibility of the bishop. Clergy also need good oversight and continuing education in important areas, such as pastoral counseling, crisis intervention, ministry techniques, bible, and preaching. They need to feel an integral part of the life of the Diocese, which is difficult when churches are so spread out and travel and training so expensive. Most of all, they need to be fed and refreshed by training and connection to the Diocesan Office to accomplish the important and difficult work they do every day in the churches.
6 Our Diocese is highly diverse in culture. Many of our heritages are unique to Alaska. What leadership experience do you have with diverse cultures?
Multicultural Ministry.
As discussed earlier, I am of mixed heritage myself, which I take to be an asset and strength when dealing with the increasingly multicultural church. My family was one of the first Japanese American families and has long roots in the state that persisted even after the family was forcibly removed and interned during WWII (as were all people of Japanese descent on the West Coast). In fact, it was during internment that the family converted to Christianity, as a result of a sympathetic minister who visited them in the camps.
Much of my ministry, whether in the parish or in University chaplaincy, has been to multicultural and especially Alaska Native peoples. In one of the first examples of the Episcopal-Lutheran Concordat, I served as interim pastor at two ELCA (Lutheran) churches. One, Hope Lutheran in Anchorage’s Spenard/Turnagain neighborhood, had a sizable Polynesian community in the area. As a result of that work, I was the first non-Roman Catholic to preach at Our Lady of Guadalupe’s new church, during the ecumenical Thanksgiving service. The other, Alaska Native Lutheran Church in Fairview, is the largest Alaska Native/American Indian congregation in the denomination. It consists of mainly Inupiaq members whose families are from six communities on the Seward Peninsula. The experience at Alaska Native Lutheran Church was one of the richest and most personally rewarding, and it opened up my eyes to the difficulties faced by Native peoples in an urban setting and the challenges they face in maintaining culture in such an environment while retaining connections to their home villages. I maintain good friends there and continue to visit when not serving elsewhere.
In my current secular job, I interact with most cultures and communities in the state as a grant-maker for cultural projects, activities, and programs. For a recent grant program for Alaska statehood, I actively sought applications from virtually every minority group in the state, visiting across the state. During my tenure, I worked to double the number of Alaska Native members, increase representation of women, and brought the first African American in the history of the organization to the Board of Directors. I regularly attend AFN and work closely with First Alaskans Institute and the various Alaska Native corporations and educational nonprofits in the state.
