Embattled bishop a `Washingtonian of year'

Christian Century, Jan 16, 2002

The liberal Episcopal bishop of Washington, D.C., locked in a high-stakes turf battle with a conservative Maryland rector, has been named one of Washingtonian magazine's dozen "Washingtonians of the Year." Bishop Jane Holmes Dixon, 64, was cited by the magazine for promoting "tolerance and togetherness" in the wake of last September's terrorist attacks.

The magazine also highlighted Dixon as a crusader struggling to break the stained-glass ceiling in an overwhelmingly male profession. "Dixon loves what she calls `the only job where women dress like men who dress like women.' She now realizes that she has become a role model for young girls who see the priesthood as a possible vocation," the magazine said. Dixon is nearing retirement; a successor bishop will be chosen in a diocesan election this month.

The magazine, however, made no mention of Dixon's current battle, which has raised her profile but also drawn the ire of church conservatives. In early 2001, Dixon vetoed the call of a conservative rector to a Maryland parish, saying Samuel Edwards would not respect her authority as bishop and would not promise to keep the parish within the Episcopal Church. When Edwards would not leave his pulpit, Dixon filed suit in federal court, and a judge ruled in favor of Dixon. That case is currently on appeal. Dixon also survived ecclesial charges filed against her, but one church charge filed against Edwards is headed to trial.

Dixon, ordained in 1982, serves as president of the Interfaith Alliance, a multifaith umbrella group based in Washington. "My ministry has been striving for justice," Dixon told the magazine, pointing to a quotation from Micah in her office: `Do justice, love mercy, walk humbly with your God.' We tend to do a lot of loving justice and doing mercy, and that's not what the scripture says." Welton Gaddy, executive director of the Interfaith Alliance, said that Dixon "has provided a prophetic and inspirational emphasis on justice throughout the faith community for many years."