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From the Rector

The Rev. Stephen Elkins-Williams

Dear Friends,

I want to tell you what has been happening about starting a new Episcopal congregation in the Chapel Hill area.

You recall that the Chapel of the Cross and Church of the Holy Family in Chapel Hill, with some participation from St. Stephen's in Durham, St. Bartholomew's in Pittsboro, and St. Matthew's in Hillsborough, under the direction of the diocesan Director of New Congregational Development, initiated a church planting process several years ago. Money was set aside, and promising areas were targeted (Carrboro and Chapel Hill North); but two separate national searches failed to 'land' a new church planter.

Now after a number of conversations among the rectors of these parishes, a new model and plan are emerging. Timothy Kimbrough at Holy Family, Brooks Graebner at St. Matthew's, and I are proposing that the three parishes in partnership hire an Orange County Missioner, who would lead the formation of a new Episcopal congregation in Orange County. The first year this priest would get to know and become known by the parishioners in the three parishes and begin to identify those interested in starting a new congregation. The second year, a working committee would be formed to help formulate a Mission Statement, determine possible sites for worship, develop a growth and publicity plan, articulate a vision for the recruiting and the incorporation of newcomers, and develop a financial plan and funding resources. The third year, the group would begin to worship together, reaching out to the unchurched and the unaffiliated. For canonical and simplicity purposes, the new congregation would be a parochial mission of the Chapel of the Cross, but all three parishes would be full partners.

Each of the involved vestries is considering this proposal at its meeting in late February. On March 19, the three vestries will all meet at St. Matthew's in Hillsborough for an historic joint meeting to discuss and vote on the proposal. If all agree, the rector and a vestry representative of each parish would form a search committee, who would immediately begin actively to recruit this Orange County Missioner.

I am excited by this proposal! Out of the deep disappointment of last year's near miss arises a new possibility, one that envisions our three parishes not only making disciples, but also doing so out of a wider vision of ourselves as the Episcopal Church in Orange County. In the 19th century, William Mercer Green was rector of St. Matthew's before coming to the University of North Carolina as a professor and founding the Chapel of the Cross. In the 20th century, our parish began the Church of the Holy Family. Now in the 21st century it is fitting for the three parishes to work together closely in founding a fourth Episcopal congregation in Orange County. May God who has begun this good work give us grace to fulfill it.

-- Stephen

© 2002: Chapel of the Cross