Woodstock Lay Leaders Day

We had another good day with Lay Leaders from the diocese in Woodstock on Saturday February 23rd.  A special thanks to all who made this day possible including Church of the Epiphany, the women in the kitchen, Rob Lofthouse, Matt Kieswetter, Paul Silcox and Bishop Terry.  I invite those who attended to leave their comments below.

Richard

Communication to the Diocese from SPIG

The Strategic Plan Implementation Group met for its regular monthly meeting on January 24, 2013.  Highlights of the meeting included:

• Hearing of the Bishop's plans to renew the membership of the RENEW committee and to revise its mandate in order to position it for the next phase of the Renew program.  The renewed committee's membership is intended to better represent the various geographical areas of the Diocese.
• A report by Keith Nethery and John Mencel about a visioning day that discussed the communication issues and needs that face the Diocese.  The day included discussions about who the Diocese needs to communicate with, what the messages are and what mediums should be used.  There were also significant discussions about how to coordinate these efforts.
• A discussion about concerns regarding the ability of parishes to continue to pay large increases in their share of apportionment, and whether or not the diocesan budget was in fact allocating money according to the strategic priorities of the Diocese.  It was agreed to present the following motion to Diocesan Council for its consideration:  "This Council requests the Bishop to establish a special committee to implement a process that aligns diocesan priorities as expressed in the Strategic Plan with the diocesan budget and that will align the diocesan budget with the parishes’ ability to pay apportionment.” 
• Continued discussion about Mutual Ministry.  The following motion was passed:  "“SPIG recommends to the bishops and human resources that a process of mutual ministry be introduced to diocesan clergy and offers its help in the implementation should it be requested to do so.”
• A presentation by the Rev. Dr. Gary Nicolosi regarding the plans for a post-ordintion training program.  The program has 12 modules - six of which would be offered each year.  Newly ordained clergy could enter the process at whatever point it is at, as each module is independent of the others.

A Great Day In Windsor

We had a fabulous Lay Leaders Day in Windsor on Saturday.  All the evaluations done by participants suggest that the day was worthwhile.  Participants in the day - I invite you to leave your comments here.

Richard Salt