Lance Ousley Essay Question 1: What is it about the Diocese of Nevada that excites you and draws you to accept our invitation? (500 word maximum) Your profile communicates to me beyond its words your deep desire to live into the fullest of God s dreams for you and the people you serve in your diverse communities. This, along with your open honesty and vulnerable selfawareness about your strengths and challenges draw me into your prayerful hope for what God is doing and can do through you for Nevada, the Church, and the world. I believe these qualities are reflective of your listening for the Holy Spirit in one another and in our emerging contexts. They are the beginning of creating space for new expressions of ministry that sustain us and those we serve. Your desire to embrace the rich diversity of your people, contexts, and cultures even with the discomfort that change may bring, says to me that you understand spiritual growth is a continuous and dynamic journey. This lets me know you have an openness to what God has in store for you and for the communities you serve. Naming both your openness and reticence empowers you to address this diversity with hope, grace, and an innovative spirit. That energizes me because when we are open to God s transformation in our lives miraculous things happen! The vast expanse of your borders and the beauty of the Nevada landscape offer an opportunity to explore our connection to the native lands through our liturgies and stewardship that can bless the whole Church. Given the sheer distance between communities, your resilient response of the missional spirit in the diocese is inspiring and draws me closer with a sense of wonder and excitement. I can imagine soaking in God s presence across the panoramic terrain on those trans-diocese journeys with a camera ready to capture a moment of natural beauty and grace to share with a meditation on a parable or psalm. Jesus always met people where they were, whether that was in sacred or secular space. He didn t wait for them to come to him. He went to them, and more often than not, that was in the everyday places like meeting the woman at the well (John 4:4-42) or Zacchaeus along the roadside (Luke 19:1-10). He calls us to do the same, and I sense in your profile a longing to build bridges between many points in your various contexts, both sacred and secular. This attracts me to join you in whom you feel God is calling you to be in Christ. I feel you are inviting someone who, as your bishop, will partner with you in ministry, listen and learn with you, and offer a guiding hand, while encouraging and empowering each of you to live into your baptismal call to ministry. That is an invitation I would be excited to accept and honored to serve.
Lance Ousley Essay Question 2: Our Diocese is looking for a Bishop with an active spiritual life. Please describe your personal spirituality, prayer life, and practice of self-care. (500 word maximum) Each morning I begin this simple prayer, God, help me to seek your kingdom in all I do this day, and as I rest my head on my pillow at night I end the prayer with, In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. This spiritual practice frames my whole day as a prayer. So, my personal spirituality might best be described as a constant prayer offering to God. I can t separate my spiritual life from my everyday life; they are one and the same. And some days I feel my offering falls short (I suspect others do, too), but at the end of the day my offering all has been part of my spiritual journey. It is a journey of self-discovery, growth, and the discovery of God s unconditional love for all people, including me, in spite of my stumbles! This perspective of being in constant prayer and attentiveness helps me to look for the presence of God whether I am praying the daily office at home, presiding at Eucharist, buying groceries, commuting to work, serving at a shelter, hiking a mountain trail, listening to music, leading a Bible study, or having dinner with friends. It means for me even when I enter the most secular of spaces I should expect God to be there, as well as the hunger to experience Christ s love present in the people I encounter there. I always am blessed with an encounter with grace when I am attentive to it. My spirituality also is grounded in regular scripture study and reflection. Reading, marking, and inwardly digesting the scriptures helps me to keep the good news of the Gospel in perspective when so much of the reported news is not good news. This grounding also helps me to be present with others in more meaningful ways when they are in need. I practice self-care through staying connected with family and friends who remind me who I am, encourage me, challenge me, and keep me humble! I also practice what I preach with integrity, which helps me sleep at night. I also do not take myself too seriously, but I take what I do seriously. I have discovered this to be the best foundation for taking care of my physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being, keeping me centered in Christ and less stressed. I have been studying and practicing Bowen Family Systems Theory for almost 20 years and have found this to be a wonderful emotional and spiritual practice. My clergy colleague group offers mutual support and prayer that is life giving. My spiritual director helps me to remain reflective and growing in Christ, which is a continuous process for us all. I enjoy hiking, jogging, water sports, camping, gardening, and other outdoor activities. I keep up with annual physicals and follow my doctor s advice. I exercise regularly for my overall health, creative space, and prayer life, following Jesus s model of going away to the mountain to pray.
Lance Ousley Essay Question 3: The ministry of all the baptized (MOAB) is a vital, active part of our diocesan and congregational life. What is your understanding of MOAB? Please share one or two stories from your experiences of MOAB and tell us how you would encourage these ministries in Nevada. (500 word maximum) Your profile states that Total Ministry and the Ministry of All the Baptized (MOAB) are used interchangeably, but I read here both a question concerning Total Ministry and a question about empowering all people in their baptismal ministries. I want to begin by addressing our Baptismal theology. I believe that when we are baptized the Holy Spirit gives each of us ministry to do with our God-given gifts that fulfills us in ways that nothing else can. One man in our congregation who started coming just before he retired recently was coming late to services and leaving early. He later confessed he was trying to slip in and out under the radar. A few months ago, after he found his ministry he emailed me a simple message, I m having the time of my life, and just think I was trying to go unnoticed! I believe that clergy and other leaders are to help the Baptized figure out their particular ministry that feeds their souls and blesses the mission of the Church. In this, we live out lifegiving ministries together with each person valued in the community. It gives them a purpose and meaning to their life, helping them to feel more a part of the community. I pray intentionally for members of the church to find their ministry aligned with their passion and our mission. The church is healthier with more people involved in ministry, as is our faith, and we are better able to present Christ to the world. So, for me, the ministry of each and every baptized person is imperative in every congregation for the sake of our God-given mission. In regard to Total Ministry, or MOAB, I believe that it is a viable and essential model for mission sustainability in many of our congregations with a good system of training, organizational, and leadership development. There is a blessing in the shared roles of leadership centered on particular God-given gifts of individuals and their passions to do the various works of ministry that might otherwise be done by a fulltime priest. The Total Ministry model lifts up these diverse gifts forming a collaborative circle of leadership that is a great asset in these ministry contexts. Total Ministry also creates an environment where the spiritual gifts of each member of the congregation are emphasized. This fosters the empowerment of others stewarding their gifts of ministry and cultivation of new leaders. Creating a culture of empowerment and leadership development is imperative in this model. One of our most vibrant congregations in my diocese is led by a wonderful Total Ministry team that generates enthusiasm in their members with cultivation of leaders for the next generation. The joy is palpable and infectious in this congregation because so many of their members are living out the job they were given by the Holy Spirit at their baptisms. I believe we all have much to learn and utilize from the Total Ministry model, regardless of the size of our congregation.
Lance Ousley Essay Question 4: Describe your vision of the ministry of bishop. Tell us about your ministerial experiences and spiritual gifts that equip you to fulfill this vision and meet the needs of our unique Diocese? (750 word maximum) My vision for the ministry of bishop is illuminated by the bishop s ordination vows in the Book of Common Prayer, our Baptismal liturgy, and my relationships with and working for bishops. The BCP gives us a wonderful framework for the specific ministry of bishop. This framework, my particular experiences, and the context of the Diocese of Nevada inform how I would live out this ministry with you. The ordination vows charge the bishop-elect as chief priest and pastor to guard the faith, unity, and discipline of the church. I believe these vows are fulfilled best when the bishop integrates these with the promises we make at baptism, and they can t be fulfilled without a ministry of relational presence. Having served in churches far from diocesan offices and experience on four bishops staffs, I am passionate about forming relationships in congregations across the diocese. As your bishop, I would commit to having a personal presence throughout the diocese. I have found being available face-to-face is invaluable for our relationships and work together. I believe this is essential because clergy and congregations often feel isolated, especially when facing fears about their future. I would offer encouragement and hope, with loving and reassuring presence, helping congregations to see a way forward. As followers of Jesus Christ we are called to share his unconditional love across the diversity of humanity, especially to those who have been marginalized in any way. Nevadans are not void of relational complexities within diverse contexts. Therefore, as your bishop I would lead us in striving for justice and peace among all people and respecting the dignity of every human being across our diocese and in our local communities. As your chief priest and pastor, I would stand firm in Christ s unconditional love as a unifying agent in our diversity, listening to pain and frustration, joys and hopes, offering a place at the table and a voice for all. Through personal experience I know the stresses and blessings in rural, urban, and suburban ministries. I see opportunities in the challenges you present. I know there are challenges for many congregations to support full-time clergy. Seminary education is not always an option. As I guard the faith, I would work with you supporting affordable local options that prepare persons for ordained leadership and that also bring a cohesive expression of the diversity of Episcopal theology and worship for our local contexts. I believe in this challenge as an opportunity for deepening our relationships across the diocese. Owning businesses, being a youth minister, priest and canon have offered me extensive experience developing, casting, and implementing strategic visions for organizations inside and outside the church. These experiences taught me that bringing people along as we go with constant vision casting and recasting is vital for success in achieving our goals. It is imperative in the Church that the visioning process is a continuous collaborative conversation reflecting to one another what we each see on the horizon for our mission. I believe our vision for tomorrow shapes who we are today, and it is the bishop s role to lead in that process. As a bishop s Canon I have assisted many congregations in strategic visioning processes. My entrepreneurial, financial, and ministry experiences have sharpened my ability to identify diocesan and congregational resources for our vision that often are hidden right before our eyes. I offered my administrative, pastoral, and
leadership gifts as a convocational dean serving 14 economically and culturally diverse congregations from 5 rural counties, many with part-time and/or locally trained clergy and only two were multi-clergy staffed. As their dean and fellow presbyter, I created a structure of mutual support with them sharing successes and struggles, developing authentic community, and fostering partnerships between congregations. We all benefited from one another, because every congregation has gifts to share to enrich the whole. As a rector I shepherded a rural parish to regionalize our thrift shop through inviting two struggling Episcopal congregations from a neighboring county to join us and share in the proceeds for their local outreach ministries. This outreach partnership created a renewed sense of mission, built community, deepened our diocesan identity, energized our congregations, and served our community s needs better. I believe a person is not called to be a bishop, but to be a bishop of a particular place and people specifically rooted in their hopes and dreams, culture, and context for proclaiming the Gospel. As your bishop whatever we would do, we would do it together as Episcopalians of Nevada.