Cathedral churches have a unique opportunity at this time to address questions regarding the intersection of faith and public life. I have become increasingly interested in how the faith community can be a partner with government, business, and other nonprofits in working together for the common good. Our prevailing view tends to see churches as one interest/pressure group among many. Can we move beyond that narrow understanding to a more comprehensive vision of the role cathedral churches can play in public life?

Washington National Cathedral is at the earliest stages of this kind of work, but I can suggest a few initiatives we have underway toward this vision. First, our Veterans Initiative seeks both to honor veterans through public events and to provide a space for their spiritual healing. It also increasingly is seeking, in partnership with others, to raise the public policy questions about how America can best serve veterans in the areas of employment, education, and healthcare. 

A second focus is our emerging work in the newly reorganized Cathedral College, which sees the cathedral as a gathering place for conversations about the future of mainline Christianity and the development of leaders who will take the church into its next iterations in the twenty-first century. 

And finally, we hope to expand our interfaith work beyond the occasional summit to the regular gathering of Christians, Muslims, Jews, and others trying to address issues affecting the common good: poverty, incarceration rates, climate change, and racial justice in America. We will still take on advocacy issues (gun violence, LGBT rights), but increasingly we see our role in public policy as primarily one of gathering communities and encouraging collaboration.

The Very Reverend Gary R. Hall

Dean, Washington National Cathedral

The Board of the Anglican Theological Review met at Trinity College, Toronto in September to discuss future issues and plans for our upcoming centennial celebration. We also gave thanks for the wisdom and guidance of those members of the Board whose terms ended with this meeting, and welcomed those who are beginning their service.

Thank you . . .

Welcome . . .

Roger Ferlo (President), Walter Brownridge, Jane Shaw, Scott Gunn,  and Wayne Smith 

Jon Nilson recently announced his retirement from Loyola University Chicago and his decision to hand over the responsibility of book reviews for Ecclesiology and Ecumenism to a new editor. We are grateful for Jon's fine work as a book review editor. 

The ATR is also pleased to welcome Richard Mammana, Ecumenical and Interreligious Associate for the Episcopal Church, editor for

Anglicans Online, and founder of Project Canterbury, in his new role as the ATR book review editor for Eccclesiology and Ecumenism.

The Toronto meeting was also an occasion to welcome four new seminary representatives to the ATR Board:

Don Collett (Trinity School for Ministry), Stephen Burns (EDS)

Marion Grau (CDSP), Robert MacSwain (University of the South), and Todd Townshend (Huron University College)