The Rev. Dr. Francis H. Wade will serve as interim dean of Washington National Cathedral, Episcopal News Service reports.
The chair of the Washington National Cathedral Chapter, the Rev. James P. Wind, announced Jan. 4 the appointment of the Rev. Francis H. Wade as interim dean of the cathedral. Wade has been called on a part-time basis to focus on spiritual guidance and support to the cathedral during its search and transition to a new dean. Canon Kathleen A. Cox, the cathedral’s executive director and chief operating officer, will continue to oversee the day-to-day operations of the cathedral. Wade will take up his new position on Jan. 6, according to a press release.
It was also announced today that the Cathedral Chapter has selected Alexander H. Platt to chair the search committee for a new, permanent dean with the goal of calling that individual by the fall of 2012. The Rev. Samuel T. Lloyd III stepped down as cathedral dean in September 2011 to return as priest-in-charge of Boston’s Trinity Church, Copley Square, where he had previously served as rector….
“Frank Wade’s long-standing reputation as a preacher and teacher brings experienced leadership to Washington National Cathedral during this time of transition,” said the Rt. Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde, bishop of Washington, in the release. “He also is a gifted pastor, who will help bring together the cathedral community, other clergy, volunteer leadership, and staff to continue the cathedral’s mission as a spiritual home for the nation, embodying the Episcopal Church’s expansive and thoughtful understanding of God and passionate commitment to the reconciling ministry of Christ.”
Wade will work closely with Budde and Cox, as well as with the Rev. Canon Jan Naylor Cope, cathedral vicar. He will also work closely with the worship team in developing major services of national importance, as needed, lead cathedral worship, and preach regularly, the release said.
Day1.org offers this profile, which shows an existing relationship between Wade and the National Cathedral that should help ease the transition into Wade’s interim deanship.
The Rev. Dr. Francis H. Wade is a retired Episcopal priest and former rector of St. Alban’s Episcopal Church on the grounds of National Cathedral, Washington, DC.
He is a graduate of The Citadel and the Virginia Theological Seminary and has served as an Episcopal priest since 1966. After serving congregations in his native West Virginia for seventeen years, he was called as Rector of St. Alban’s congregation since 1983.
His sermons have been published in a variety of anthologies. His meditations as Chaplain to the House of Deputies at the 2000 General Convention of the Episcopal Church were published by Forward Movement Press and recorded by The Episcopal Media Center under the title Jubilee People, Jubilee Lives. He is also the author of Rites of Our Passage, a collection of sermons. A book on tape and CD by Dr. Wade titled The Art of Being Together: Common Sense About Life Long Relationships was produced by the Episcopal Media Center. He is active on a variety of community and church boards. For several years he co-led a course for the Alban Institute titled “For New Pastors of Large Congregations”.
He has been married to the former Mary Jane Criss since 1963. They have two children and two grandchildren.