News (Page 59)
Executive Council committees organize for 2015
Bishop Rayford B. High, Jr. announced members of the four committees of Executive Council at the January 31 meeting of council. (This list was updated 3/19/2015) Read a report of the meeting here. Congregational Development Committee This committee serves as the Executive Council’s link with programs and services for the missionary work in the diocese and development of congregations, which may include: church plants; overseeing missions and assisting congregations moving from mission to parish status; and leadership development and stewardship…
Parish assessments supported diocesan vision in 2014
The assessments that congregations pay to the diocese are the basis for the diocesan budget. At the January 31, 2015, meeting of the Executive Council, Diocesan Treasurer Bob Hicks reported many of the ways the diocesan vision was supported by diocesan dollars in 2014: Paid the full Asking of The Episcopal Church and Province VII Assessment for the 6th year in a row. Continued our growth towards a charitable tithe with donations to: Episcopal Relief and Development Sewanee, Seminary of…
Assessment Task Force reports to Executive Council
Mr. John Banks, All Saints’, Fort Worth, chair of the Diocesan Assessment Task Force, reported on the work of the task force at the January, 2015, meeting of the Executive Council. Read a report of that meeting here. The task force was established by Resolution FC1, Establishment of an Assessment Task Force at the 2014 Diocesan Convention.It met for the first time on Saturday, January 17, 2015, to organize itself and begin work. Members of the task force are Chair, Mr. Banks Mr.…
Campaign Committee reports to Executive Council
Floyd McKneely, chair of the Funding for the Future Campaign Committee, reported on the work on the committee at the Executive Council’s first meeting of 2015. Read about that meeting here. McKneely said that the campaign team conducted interviews and a focus group in each of the five deaneries. The interviews with individuals covered basically the same information as the online survey.The focus group survey was exactly the same as the online survey.The focus groups’ answers are collected separately so…
Constitution and Canons Committee Reports to Executive Council
Mr. George Komechak, chair of the Constitution and Canons Committee reported on the work of the committee at the Executive Council’s first meeting of 2015. Read a report of that meeting He said that in response to the new Canon 42, Committee on Constitution and Canons, describing the organization and function of the committee that was passed at the 2014 Convention, committee appointments have now been made by Bishop Rayford B.High, Jr. The members and their term completions at end…
Convention Evaluation Summary presented to Executive Council
Ministry Support and Communications Officer Tracie Middleton presented a summary of the evaluations filled out by those attending diocesan convention at the Jack Daniel’s Club at Globe Life Ballpark in Arlington to the January 2015 Executive Council meeting. Read a report of that meeting here. To download a pdf or ppt of the slideshow above, click on the gear icon in the viewer control bar. The slide show will play automatically; click the pause button at the bottom left of the…
Chaplains to retired clergy expanding ministry
Last year the Rev. Susan Slaughter, retired rector of St. Luke’s in the Meadow, Fort Worth; and the Rev. Courtland Moore, retired canon to the ordinary, and long time priest of the diocese, were asked by Bishop Rayford B. High, Jr., to serve as chaplains to the retired clergy of the diocese. The Rev. Jim Horton and his wife, Anne, stepped down from that role last year. Since then, Slaughter and Moore have worked to update the list of retired…
Letter from Bishop Rayford High introducing the Funding for the Future Campaign
Dear Friends in Christ, Greetings in this season of Epiphany – this season of blazing new trails, of returning to our own country “by another road” (Matthew 2:12). Like the wise men, we in the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth have had encounters with Christ (individually and together) over these past five years that have changed us, and which call us forward in ministry and mission – in ways that we never would have dreamed years ago. At our Diocesan…
Funding for the Future Campaign Goals
The Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth, with its commitment to be a place where “all are welcome,” has a unique call to make a difference in these 24 counties of north central Texas in the 21st century. In the six years that have passed since some of our diocesan leadership left The Episcopal Church while claiming Episcopal Church property, the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth has stabilized, grown and gained momentum in mission and ministry. We are, in this new…
Capital Campaign Survey Link open through Feb. 15
At diocesan Convention in November, the Convention voted to explore a diocesan-wide capital campaign. A Capital Campaign Committee has been formed, chaired by Floyd McKneely, and a study process is underway to determine the purposes and goals of this campaign. Goals identified at the outset of the study include these: funding for clergy salaries for church plants and church “re-plants” funding for a full-time bishop funding for campus ministry funding for other mission and ministry endeavors – things that we can…
Episcopal parties file reply to response on motion for summary judgment
On January 23, 2015, the Episcopal Parties filed their final objections to the arguments and evidence cited by the ACNA parties and a reply to the arguments the ACNA parties raised in opposition to the motion for summary judgment. Objections to and Motion to Strike Defendants’ Supplemental Summary Judgment Affidavits 012415 Reply in Support of Plaintiffs’ Motion for Partial Summary Judgment 012315 The schedule for the summary judgment motions in the 141st District Court of Tarrant County is as follows: December…
Wise County Episcopalians to explore establishing an Episcopal presence
In early November, two Episcopalians in Wise County reached out to the diocesan office through the “contact” feature on the diocesan website, seeking some connection with The Episcopal Church. Bishop High followed up immediately by email and later in a face-to-face conversation to discuss possibilities for establishing an Episcopal presence in Wise County. The next step of this process will take place Friday, February 6 with an exploratory meeting in Boyd, Texas among three residents of Wise County who have indicated…
Experience Solemn Evensong at All Saints’, Fort Worth
Experience Solemn Evensong at 6 pm Sunday, March 1, at All Saints’ Episcopal Church, 5001 Crestline Road, Fort Worth, 76107. Music will include Plainsong Magnificat and Nunc dimittis, as well as Psalm 8 sung by the All Saints’ Choir directed by Organist and Choirmaster Frederick Grime, and the congregation.The choir will sing “How lovely is thy dwelling-place” from the Requiem of Johannes Brahms, and Ave verum corpus by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Admission is free.
Executive Council to meet January 31
The Executive Council of the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth will meet from 10 am-2 pm Saturday, January 31, 2015, at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, 463 West Harwood Road, Hurst, Texas, 76054. Agenda Executive Council 20150131 This is the first meeting in 2015 of the Executive Council. The Executive Council is established by canon and is to “carry out the program and policies adopted by the Diocesan Convention. Except as may be provided for by the Diocesan Convention, by the…
Episcopal Parties file Response to Defendants’ Motion for Partial Summary Judgment
On Monday, December 22, 2014, Plaintiffs The Episcopal Church and the Local Episcopal Parties and Congregations filed their Response to the breakaway Defendants’ motion for partial summary judgment in the 141st Civil District Court of Tarrant County, the Honorable Judge John P. Chupp presiding. Read the Response to Defendants’ Second Motion for Partial Summary Judgment – PDF The Rt. Rev. Rayford B. High, Jr., bishop of the diocese and one of the named plaintiffs in the case, expressed his confidence that…
Diocesan Office hours during Christmas and New Year’s
The Diocesan Office will be closed for Christmas on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday (Dec. 24-26). The office will be open next week on Monday, Tuesday and Friday (Dec. 29, 30, and Jan. 2) but closed Wednesday and Thursday for New Year’s.