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Diocesan Connections
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From the Rector Dear Friends, I am happy to tell you that at Annual Convention earlier this
year, I was re-elected to Diocesan Council. I will not continue to
serve as chair of the Outreach Department, however; rather the
bishop has asked me to chair the Mission Action Plan (MAP)
Oversight Coordinating Committee. Let me explain what that
is. This past year, the Mission Implementation Team, with Lisa
Fischbeck as chair and comprised of representative diocesan
leaders, drew on over 700 surveys returned from 75 congregations as
well as many interviews and study of our recent diocesan history to
put together recommendations for this three phase plan. The first
phase of the MAP comprises this calendar year; the second phase the
next five years (2007-2011); and the third phase from 2012 on. The
Diocesan Council at its November and December meetings reworked
some recommendations for Phase I and accepted or rejected others,
resulting in 31 specific actions for 2006. These actions range from
establishing a new young adult ministry position (including
coordinating our seven campus ministries) and an additional youth
ministry position to help congregations do youth ministry on the
local level to recommending that, with the sale of Diocesan House
and the Summit, Annual Convention and any ordinations be held in
the same place (Greensboro and Raleigh, respectively) for the next
five years for the sake of continuity. A major thrust of these actions is making more resources
available to the congregations of our diocese for their local
ministry. This echoes a commonly expressed desire in the surveys
and interviews for greater involvement by the diocesan staff with
individual congregations. By adding another youth ministry position
as well as one to oversee young adult and campus ministry, for
example, we will be assisting local congregations and chaplaincies
in these vitally important areas. Another important dimension is
being better stewards of our bishop's leadership style and
talents as well as of his health. By maintaining two canons to
supervise a sufficient and capable staff, we are making it possible
for Bishop Curry to lead and inspire and shepherd in the ways that
God enables him to do so remarkably, and to do so, we hope, for
many more years. A final theme to these actions is communication.
With the addition of a receptionist at the diocesan office, the
hiring of a full-time communications coordinator,
increasing the number of issues of The Disciple to ten, and
the maintaining of accurate and more helpful databases, we will be
improving communication between the diocese and the congregations
and among the congregations themselves, that we may all better know
and support one another as together we make disciples and make a
difference. At the Diocesan Council overnight retreat in late February, we
will begin to deal with the recommendations for Phases II and III.
I look forward to helping move our diocese forward in these
imaginative and fruitful directions and to the Chapel of the Cross
being a significant part of it all. - Stephen Send
items for inclusion in future "Cross Roads." © 2006 The Chapel of the Cross |