Jim Beckwith served faithfully as the Treasurer of our Diocese from January 2021 until June 2024. Jim was always collaborative, curious, and calm under pressure. He was also a consummate professional, and even better, good humored.

Jim stepped into the role of Treasurer at an especially crucial time. The pandemic was in its early stages and would continue to affect the work Jim did throughout his tenure. Not only did Jim’s predecessor, Barb Fox, leave big shoes to fill, but she had just suffered a massive stroke. Charles Thorne, our Canon for Finance, had not yet started. And Jim had the auspicious honor serving not just one, but three bishops while he was Diocesan Treasurer.

Early on in his tenure, Jim began meeting with Canon Dede Moore. What initially started as a way for Jim to get his bearings now has turned into a weekly meeting of key senior staff and the conveners of the Budget and Finance Committee. That meeting remains one of the critical ways for the group to collaborate with one another and to support the Diocese.

As Treasurer, Jim liked to focus on risk. For Jim, risk was not about maintaining the status quo and keeping the institution unchanged. Instead, by focusing on risk, Jim wanted decision makers to lean into more faithful discipleship. Jim often liked to say that the Diocese had to invest for the long-term. For Jim, that meant investing until the second coming of Christ. To do that, people needed to put their decisions into perspective by considering the larger (and longer) context of the questions at hand. Only then could more faithful decisions be made.

Jim liked to say that he came from a family of clergy, but he chose not to follow them into ordained ministry. Sometimes, he joked about that, while at other times, was pensive about his choice of vocations. Jim’s service to our Diocese is a reminder that every ministry matters. Every ministry is holy. Everyone who is baptized belongs to the priesthood of all believers. May we each follow faithfully in those footsteps.

It is with great pleasure that I present the Bishop’s Cross award to Jim Beckwith.