Sunday Services
7:30 and 10:30 AM
The
Cathedral Church
of Saint John
Ten Concord Ave.
Wilmington
Delaware
19802
voice: (302) 654-6279
fax: (302) 777-5789
Wheelchair
Accessible
Parking lot
on Concord Avenue
The Very Rev. William B. Lane
Interim Dean of the Cathedral Church of Saint John
It is a pleasure for me to join you in doing the mission and ministry of this grand old Cathedral. For one hundred and fifty years, Saint John's has been a living and vibrant witness to the Gospel of Christ and a sign and symbol of the Episcopal Church's commitment to the City of Wilmington. It is my hope and intention that we will work together to assure the continuation of this witness and commitment for the next one hundred and fifty years.
Allow me to introduce myself to you.
I spent twenty-two years in the Diocese of Delaware before leaving in 1997 to become Dean of the Cathedral Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. When I came from the Diocese of Maryland to Delaware with my wife Beverly in 1975, it was with a three-year contract to serve as Coordinator for Christian Education for the Diocese and as Vicar of St. Nicholas' Church in Newark. Those three years stretched into twenty two as I later became Coordinator for the Mission and Ministry programs of the Diocese, and then Associate Rector of Christ Church Christiana Hundred. The first place where I worshiped and preached in the Diocese of Delaware was in this Cathedral during the period that I was being interviewed and "inspected" for the position with the Diocese and St. Nicholas'.
When it came time to retire as Dean in Bethlehem, Beverly and I decided to return to the Wilmington area that had been home for us and our son Elliott. Elliott now lives and works in the Northern Virginia, Washington DC area. We are living at Coffee Run in Hockessin. Beginning last September and continuing to just a few days ago, I served as Interim Rector of the Church of the Ascension in Claymont. Now, I join you as your Interim Dean and look forward to what God calls us to do and be in the days, weeks, and months ahead.
On the Feast of Pentecost, 2006, Saint John's celebrated its past. With our Bishop and the two previous Deans, we rejoiced in all the blessings that this Cathedral has experienced, and in the faithfulness of its people and clergy. Now, from the solid foundation of that past, we must reach for the future. Each of us individually and all of us together are critical for the well being of Saint John's and its life and work. In the days ahead, the content of the future will be revealed. We can't with assurance predict the nature of that content, but we can with our time, talent, and treasure; with our hearts, minds and strength, contribute to it, so that whatever it turns out to be, we can recognize ourselves in it.
So, now we begin, trusting that God will provide through His grace the means for us to be faithful to His Son, the one we know to be the way, the truth and the life.
If you have any questions or would like to follow up on something, please do not hesitate to contact me, Dean Lane, at 302.654.6279 or