John Bryson Chane

John Bryson Chane

Episcopal Bishop of Washington

The Right Reverend John Bryson Chane is the eighth Episcopal Bishop of Washington, a diocese that encompasses 93 congregations and about 45,000 church members in the District of Columbia, and the Maryland counties of Prince George's, Montgomery, Charles and Saint Mary's. Before coming to Washington, the “On Faith” panelist was dean of Saint Paul's Cathedral in San Diego from 1996-2002. In Washington, he also serves as president of the Protestant Episcopal Cathedral Foundation, which governs Saint Alban’s School for Boys, the National Cathedral School for Girls, Beauvoir Primary School, the Cathedral College and the National Cathedral. Throughout his ministry, Chane has been active in projects addressing low-income housing needs, public education reform, poverty and health care reform issues. He also has worked with Episcopalian and charitable organizations around the world as a community organizer, board member and adviser. In San Diego, he was part of an initiative to strengthen ties with Hispanic church members. As part of that effort, he served on the Diocesan Hispanic Task Force and coordinated the “Church Without Borders” program linking the Diocese of San Diego with the Diocese of Western Mexico and the Anglican Church of Mexico. Chane, who earned his divinity degree at Yale Divinity School, enjoys playing drums in reunions with his old blues band, "The Chane Gang." Close.

John Bryson Chane

Episcopal Bishop of Washington

The Right Reverend John Bryson Chane is the eighth Episcopal Bishop of Washington, a diocese that encompasses 93 congregations and about 45,000 church members in the District of Columbia, and the Maryland counties of Prince George's, Montgomery, Charles and Saint Mary's more »

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God With Us, Not Working Against Us

The question raises the very essence of the nature of God.

The belief that God is the causal agent in natural disasters such as Hurricane Katrina and the religious fanaticism of 9/11 and acts as a grand puppeteer is just plain bad theology. It is a severely flawed theology which lends itself to the belief that human beings are mere actors on the stage of life, with God sharing the roles of both producer and director.

Katrina was a natural disaster and not a punishing act of God. 9/11 was the act of a few people who chose to interpret their flawed theology by acts of violence which were clearly a contradiction of the teachings of the Great Prophet.

Human beings have no control over such devastation...unless there is proof that they have, by their irresponsibility, contributed to Global Warming by abuses of the natural environment through overuse of fossil fuels and by the by-product environmental pollution of industrialization through Globalization.

God was present in New York through the hundreds of rescue workers who risked and gave their lives following acts of terrorism that were fueled by bad theology and self righteous abuses of religions Holy Texts.

God is present even now following Katrina and 9/11 and still is active in and through the hands, the compassionate hearts, minds and hard work of the thousands of people who continue the rebuilding and healing process in New Orleans and Mississippi and continue to work in finding true pathways for peace that are the cornerstone of the ancient Holy Books of Christianity, Islam and Judaism.

God lives within each of us...not outside of us!

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