Dear Friends,

According to the Catechism in the back of the Prayer Book (pp. 845-862), “The mission of the Church is to restore all people to unity with God and each other in Christ.”

Reconciliation, then, is not one among many ministries of the Church, but the basic ministry. As members of the Church, we are to work, pray, and give, that we and others may be reconciled to God and to one another. That is why the Church exists.

In this issue of "Cross Roads," you will read about different manifestations of this important ministry of reconciliation. I want to speak to you in this column about one specific endeavor that underlies them all: the exciting opportunity of starting a new Episcopal congregation in Orange County.

As you know, we have joined with St. Matthew’s in Hillsborough and the Church of the Holy Family in Chapel Hill to begin this new congregation. We have hired the Rev. Lisa Fischbeck to lead this effort. Lisa was sponsored by this parish for ordination in the early ’90s and served five-year stints as an assistant at St. Stephen’s in Durham and at Holy Family. She is currently serving her second three-year term as Dean of the Durham Convocation. Her experience as a priest, her knowledge of this area, and her enthusiastic leadership abilities make her exceptionally qualified for this challenge.

Since beginning this task in September, Lisa has made contacts with people interested in beginning a new Episcopal congregation: some currently without a church, some from each of the three sponsoring parishes. The hope is to begin worshipping together in a temporary location later this year and to be received by the Annual Convention of the Diocese of North Carolina next January as a parochial mission. As its identity begins to take shape and as resources become available, the new congregation will locate a permanent location and grow into parish status.

Why is it important for us to be involved in this effort? Because as the Episcopal Church, we have something very important to offer the thousands of people moving into Orange County each year. Over 22,000 people are projected to move here in the first decade of this century and nearly that many in each of the two decades to follow, over a 50% growth in 30 years! And those figures do not include surrounding counties. The Chapel of the Cross, which draws from all these counties, can accommodate some of these newcomers, and our Long Range Planning Committee is working hard to lead us in being prepared. But we will lose many, many people who would be interested in the Episcopal Church if we do not have other options for them to join. The efforts to do so will strengthen, I believe, not only the Episcopal presence in Orange County, but also each of the individual congregations as well, including ours. The stronger the Church and the stronger our congregations, the more able we will be to carry out the mission of restoring “all people to unity with God and each other in Christ.”

If you think that the Spirit may be calling you to this significant opportunity, please contact Lisa or me. Let us all pray for the fruitfulness of this important effort.

Faithfully,
- Stephen