Virginia Episcopalian Magazine Summer 2013 Issue | Page 3

The Heart of the Diocese
the Rt. Rev. Shannon S. Johnston
With our headquarters in Richmond, and with so many
congregations in that metro area, is the Diocese of Virginia
“Richmond-centric”? Or, conversely, have we been too caught
up in Northern Virginia for the last 25 years? Is our diocesan
life dominated by big churches, or do we still hold to the ethos
and personality of smaller congregations? “Why don’t we put a
cathedral in Fredericksburg?” I’m often asked. “After all, that’s
the center of the Diocese,” the rationale goes.

It all depends on just what you mean by “center.”

I know that, for many people, the practical center of the
Diocese is their own particular congregation. I hasten to counter
that, in the Episcopal Church, this is neither theologically nor
historically true; this is not our ecclesiology – our theology and
polity of the Church. Even so, I can understand this personal
attitude. Your congregation is how you primarily experi