Adapted from Canticle Communications
The Very Rev. Gary Hall, dean of Washington National Cathedral since October 2012, has announced that he will retire on Dec. 31.
“Over the past three years, the bishop, the staff, the chapter, and I have done the hard work of placing the cathedral on solid financial footing: Our budget is balanced and we are closing the books on our most successful year in recent history,” Hall wrote in a letter to the cathedral community.
“The cathedral, however, is on the cusp of a new era. The next decades will require both the continuing evolution of its internal culture as it contends with the changing face of American religion and our country’s increasing diversity, and a major capital campaign,” Hall added. The cathedral’s needs require a leader who can commit at least a decade to the job, he said. “[A]t the age of 66, with two years remaining on my contract, I am not the person for the job ahead.”
The Rt. Rev. Mariann Budde, Bishop of Washington, will serve as interim dean beginning Jan. 1. The search for Hall’s successor will begin in September and will be conducted by a search committee that the bishop and the chapter will appoint.
