A letter yesterday from Dean Randy Hollerith announces that Washington National Cathedral will be eliminating 13 full-time and 12 part-time positions because of the impact of COVID-19:
“The coronavirus closures have upended life at institutions large and small, including here at the Cathedral, even as we have been able to successfully adapt our offerings to an online environment.
“The question before us now is how we keep that original vision thriving as the Cathedral weathers this latest challenge.
“The reality is that three months of closure due to the pandemic have had serious negative consequences on our finances. At the same time, we anticipate that social distancing requirements, public sentiment and concern for the most vulnerable all mean that it may take 12 to 18 months for us to return to pre-pandemic levels, and perhaps longer.
“Called to be careful stewards of the gifts God has entrusted to us, we find ourselves forced to reckon with the conditions as we find them, not as we might wish them to be. As a result, today the Cathedral announced a series of painful cuts that are both necessary and hard to accept.
“These changes are all the more difficult because they are not the result of mismanagement or poor planning. Indeed, the last four years have seen consecutive budget surpluses and growth in the size of our reach and the impact of our ministry. Today’s changes are the result of forces beyond our control.”
The decision reduces the cathedral’s workforce by 15 percent; an additional 12 full-time positions will be partially or fully furloughed and part-time and contract employees will have hours reduced. The full statement can be read here.
Image credit: By Siubo11A – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0