Last fall, Utah's religious community took a blow when the Right Rev. Carolyn Tanner Irish, Episcopal bishop of Utah, announced she was taking a medical leave of absence to deal with her addiction to alcohol. The news seemed to come out of the blue, at a time when her stature in Utah's interfaith community had never been stronger.
Bolstered by her leadership in marshalling religious support for stricter gun control measures in churches and schools following the shootings at Columbine High School last spring, the Utah native who had returned from the East to serve as the first female leader of a major denominational body seemed very much in control of her destiny.
Yet the hidden challenges that eventually forced her to seek help were symptomatic of a long-standing sickness much larger than the bishop alone, according to many in Utah's Episcopal Diocese. Her illness provided the first clear public manifestation of a larger church body "in crisis," though actions during the annual diocesan convention in Moab last October strongly hinted at trouble.
Delegates hastily introduced and voted on two resolutions aimed at limiting the power of the bishop to fire personnel without actually discussing the proposals with Bishop Irish. Chagrined, she wrote about her "personal hurt" in the October issue of the monthly Diocesan Dialogue, alongside an article by the paper's editor — the Rev. Dr. Jeff Sells — acknowledging the bishop's alcoholism as symptomatic of the behavior of the diocese as a whole.
"We are behaving now, and have been behaving in the past (nearly 50 years by most counts) as an alcoholic diocese," he wrote. "This is not a judgmental statement. It is, rather, an observable phenomenon, rooted deeply in our history. The overriding common thread in the diocese of Utah is one of secrecy. And it is possible to observe how this family treats secrets in spite of its stated purpose not to do so. One needs only to look at our behavior at the recent diocesan convention to see the rampant presence of secrets and innuendo.
"There are other behaviors in our diocesan life together, but secret keeping ranks high as the most subversive because, after so many years of secret keeping, we have difficulty realizing that's what we do. Like the frog in the water, the temperature rises slowly, but inexorably, until we are surprised by death."
He challenged church members to seek "salvation," which "represents being freed from slavery to the past" by having "the courage to change our behavior as a diocese."
The Rev. Mary Allen, vicar at Grace Episcopal Church in St. George, said while it would be easy to get drawn off into peripheral questions — including the fact that some church members weren't happy their leaders selected a female bishop — the heart of the problems the church in Utah faces "have everything to do with the addiction and our own addiction as a church.
"Churches like to be nice to one another — we think that's what being Christian is about. We tend to hide things or not confront issues because it's not nice. That's not what the church is supposed to be about, but that's what often happens. It's very easy for us to try to sweep it under the rug."
The Rev. Allen said for too long, congregations within the diocese of Utah have been "covering up whatever the 'dis-ease' is by abdicating our authority to the office of the bishop. That has shifted things completely out of balance, and it started long before Bishop Irish was here."
Though many of the problems predated her tenure — and her leadership style — "when you're doing a job interview, you put your best foot forward," which is what the diocese did in presenting itself to Bishop Irish, the Rev. Allen said. "The picture we gave her wasn't a fair picture. I don't think she knew what she was walking into. To do her justice, she had no idea how difficult the job would be when she walked into it. I don't know how she could have, given how unhealthy we were at the time. Again, it was that issue of secrecy and power," which continued to grow until the public acknowledgement of addiction, both for Bishop Irish and the diocese, last fall.
Stephen Hutchinson, a Salt Lake attorney and chancellor of the diocese, said one of the strong points that came from the bishop's election process was the agreement to open up more information about finances, among other things. "When you open that up, some people are very pleased to have the information, and some will disagree with decisions on how the board (standing committee) decides that some of that money gets spent. There's a lot more information available about that than there used to be. Some people may not like some of it, but mostly they do like it."
Questions surrounding how the diocese would use its multimillion-dollar financial resources arose during Bishop George Bates' tenure, following the church's sale of St. Mark's Hospital.
Many of her congregants — and even fellow clergy members — have struggled to make sense of what is happening within their diocese, Rev. Allen said. "Addiction is a foreign language to them. We're trying to teach the basics of it as well as doing the work of changing at the same time."
The Rev. Allen said she recognized the symptoms the Utah diocese has because in the late 1980s she served in an Oregon congregation "where the rector was alcoholic and the congregation was co-dependent. They just covered and took care of it.
With a background in dealing with addictive structures "in my own life and family," the Rev. Allen realized what was going on "and that they were expecting me to take over the co-dependent role and cover for him. None of it was ever addressed directly. I served there about three years and gained 100 pounds, which was my way of dealing with stress at the time. I came to study and learn about addiction and addictive behavior at that time, so I've been more open to recognizing it ever since."
Several key players at the diocesan level, including Jeff Sells, David Bailey and Chancellor Stephen Hutchinson, have been "very good about helping us work through this," though the work has been a challenge because people are naturally resistant to change and acknowledging problems, she said. "It's the usual response whenever bad news comes out — they want to know 'why did we even have to hear it — why are you even telling us this?' We've been trying to tell them that 'believe it or not, it's the best thing.' "
The Diocesan Standing Committee has hired ThoughtBridge, a group of consultants who help organizations implement change through negotiation and facilitation. Preliminary meetings with the consultants to help rebuild the diocese began in late March, with the goal of "building a healthy community of faith." Meetings will continue this weekend with the consultants, who have interviewed Utah clergy, both individually and as a group.
After the interviews, they identified the following challenges within the diocese in addition to addiction and secrecy: Tensions between and across urban and suburban areas, as well as among different groups of diocesan leaders and parishioners.
Feelings of isolation.
Highly public, negative messages about individuals in the diocese.
Cynicism and skepticism in the community that the problems can or will be addressed.
Hutchinson said the last point is moot for scores of clergy from all over the state who want to participate in the workshop this weekend. "We've been overwhelmed with the numbers, and it's more than the capacity of the workshop to accomodate. I think's that's a very positive sign that clergy and lay people are stepping up and saying 'I want to serve the church in this time of re-creation and rebuilding.' "
While rebuilding relationships and lines of communication will be a highlight of their efforts, learning new skills is also on the agenda, he said. "Some of it is not fixing things but bringing into the mix some programs, skills and processes that will help us do things in a new way and do it better, not only now but maybe for a few decades to come."
The Rev. Allen says she, too, is optimistic that with the help of consultants, "we can create something good out of it — that's what the church is about."
If the warm welcome Bishop Irish has received in her recent appearances at different parishes and at St. Paul's Cathedral on Easter are any indication of future response, she has reason to be optimistic about the future as well, Hutchinson said. While she was out of town and unavailable for comment, he said, "People have welcomed her, and she has acknowledged that she's felt love and prayerful support that people have given her. We're glad to have her back.
"This disease doesn't discriminate by economic class or religion. We've had comments from many people that have thanked her and the diocese for being as open about it as she has been. The comment has often come that this shows up in many other denominations, in corporations and in families that have not been so willing to talk about it or even acknowledge it."
As she continues her recovery, Hutchinson said Bishop Irish will come back to working with the diocese on a graduated scale over time. He believes both she and church leadership are committed to making permanent changes.
"I'm actually very optimist — despite fact that there is a lot of hard work to be done. It will be an adventuresome time where we will come out with some very exciting experiences in the months to come and what the church can bring to people in their individual journeys."
You can reach Carrie A. Moore by e-mail at carrie@desnews.com