The first female bishop of the Washington Diocese of the Episcopal Church was consecrated Saturday as the Washington National Cathedral opened for the first time since it was damaged in the Aug. 23 earthquake. Budde comes from Minneapolis, where she served as rector of St. John’s Episcopal Church for 18 years. She also spent a decade as leader of a clergy wellness program called “CREDO.” A graduate of Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria, Budde speaks Spanish and plans to preach and minister to Washington’s Hispanics in their own language. She and her husband have two adult sons. What do you most appreciate about your Episcopal faith?
What I appreciate most about the tradition that is mine is the person of Jesus, the example of his life, the power of his teaching and the mystical presence of the risen Christ that is the spiritual foundation of Christianity. It’s a great gift, to have a sense of the presence and the love of a personal God in your life.
What are your hopes for the Diocese of Washington?
My primary hope is that we will strengthen and grow our congregations and our core ministries. We have so much to offer. The Episcopal Church is a jewel of Christianity. We have a wonderful, expansive understanding of God. We are thoughtful Christians, open to the experience of Christ in the many ways he comes to us. We’re open-minded and inclusive of other faith traditions. And we believe that God placed us on this earth for a reason, to help heal the world and promote the well-being of all of God’s children.
You’re the first woman to be elected the bishop of Washington. What does that mean for you and for the diocese?
It’s a great honor, and I stand on the shoulders of women and men who have worked toward this as a possibility, within my lifetime. It would have been impossible when I was a child for a woman to be ordained. But I, a woman, was elected, because of who I am and what the diocese needs. My gender was not the issue. But it’s not lost on me. I want young Episcopalian girls to know that they can aspire to leadership.
The Episcopal Church is in a time of great upheaval, with some parishes, including some in nearby Fairfax County, choosing to leave. What is your message to D.C. during this time?
The upheaval is basically over. I think we’re kind of on the other side of it now. It always makes me sad when people leave in an unhappy way. But we are not forced to be together. So if people feel that God is calling them to be elsewhere, I give them my blessing and pray that we can still be brothers and sisters in faith. People left because we had genuine disagreements. What I love about the Episcopal Church is that we face those head on and really struggle with them. To the best of our ability we try to work them out together and honor our differences. In a majority of cases we do.
Most of the differences were about homosexuality in the church. What is your stance on that issue?
I’m a big supporter of full inclusion of gay and lesbian people in every aspect of the life of the church and of our society. So I’m thrilled to be in D.C., where same-gender marriage is legal. I know that it’s a painful and confusing issue for some, but I’m pretty confident that the gospel is clear on this in terms of our accepting people as we are created by God to be and not asking people to change to conform to some uniform standard of human expression. That was the major struggle of the early church regarding Jews and Gentiles, and St. Paul was clear that in Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female. Jesus always had his eye on those who were outside of things, wanting them to feel included and welcome at the table. The science is clear. Homosexuality is not a choice but an orientation. My guess is that in five to 10 years this issue would be behind us, I really do. I pray it will be, because we have a lot more important things to be talking about in the church than this.
At your core, what is one of your defining beliefs?
That life is a gift not to be squandered and that every human being has great potential for goodness and purpose and meaning. We’re called to rise to our best and to prevent any barrier that would prevent other people from knowing that same truth for themselves.
– Liz Essley
