News (Page 61)

News (Page 61)

St. Stephen’s, Hurst, calls interim priest in charge

St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, Hurst, has called the Rev. Robert Gross to be their interim priest in charge. Gross was ordained a priest on December 6, 2008, in the Episcopal Diocese of the Rio Grande. In the fall of 2014, he moved to the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth from the Rio Grande diocese, where he served most recently as priest in charge at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, Fort Stockton. Prior to that, he was rector of Holy Spirit Episcopal…

St. Martin’s, Keller, announces new rector

St. Martin-in-the-Fields Episcopal Church, Keller, announced on Tuesday, December 2, that their new, and third, rector is the Rev. Scot McComas. He will start on February 9, 2015. McComas has spent ten years in ordained ministry, with experience in parishes and schools in Florida, North Carolina, New Jersey, and most recently, two parishes and the Parish Episcopal School in the Episcopal Diocese of Dallas. He is a graduate of Southern Methodist University, Harvard Divinity School, and General Theological Seminary, as…

Episcopal Parties File Motion for Partial Summary Judgment Under Neutral Principles

On December 1, 2014, Plaintiffs The Episcopal Church, Local Episcopal Parties, and Local Episcopal Congregations filed a joint motion for partial summary judgment in the 141st District Court, the Honorable John P. Chupp presiding. As the motion states: “Defendants are former Episcopalians who served as officers of The Episcopal Church’s Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth. They gained access to more than $100 million of property in that capacity. They committed to use that property only for the benefit of the Church…

Bishop High on immigration, Ferguson

As your bishop, I want to share my thoughts on our president’s recent announcement concerning immigration and on events in Ferguson, Missouri. It is my sincere hope the president’s action will result in true and comprehensive immigration reform through our legislative processes. I hope and pray our elected leaders will step away from their political posturing which has gotten this country where we are today. I hope and pray this behavior will end and some measure of sensible dialogue, discussion,…

Applications open for Official Youth Presence at General Convention

Applications and nominations are now accepted for high school teens to participate in the General Convention Official Youth Presence (GCOYP) at the Episcopal Church 78th General Convention to be held June 25 – July 3, 2015 in Salt Lake City, UT. In collaboration with the General Convention Office and the president of the House of Deputies, the Office for Youth Ministries is coordinating the application and discernment process for high-school teens to become a part of the GCOYP. Applications and nominations are available here. Now Closed…

Letter gives thanks for grant

Among the ten grants the Mission and Outreach Committee of the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth awarded in early October, 2014, was a matching grant of $3,000 to Christian Community Assistance/St. Christopher, Fort Worth, for a new telephone system. Recently Bishop Rayford B. High, Jr., received a letter of thanks from Chestene Weeks, the director of Christian Community Assistance. “Christian Community Assistance has once again been blessed with a diocesan grant. The grant we received in 2013 so energized our organization…

Fun, foolishness raises big funds at 2014 Diocesan Convention

There was fun and foolishness at diocesan convention, all for two very good causes. The organized silliness raised thousands of dollars for the Native American Youth Ministries and the Emergency Propane Fund of the Episcopal Diocese of South Dakota. At the Friday night Home Run Challenge between the bishop of Fort Worth and the bishop of Texas, the bishops were properly outfitted in handcrafted personalized purple mitered baseball hats. Each had a purple Nerf bat. Pitchers used plastic baseballs that…

Trinity, Fort Worth, outreach featured in Star-Telegram

The outreach efforts of Trinity, Fort Worth, as “part of the South Central Alliance of Churches’ mission to get turkeys and trimmings into the hands of some of Fort Worth’s most disadvantaged residents” was featured with a large photo and short story on the front page of the Tarrant & Texas section of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram with a longer story in the Faith & Spirit section in the print and online editions on Saturday, November 22, 2014. The story…

Handouts from Convention Workshops

The three workshops at the 2014 Diocesan Convention were very successful. The Oldest Profession: In the Beginning was the Word workshop on communication was given by Kai Ryan, Canon to the Ordinary,  and Carol Barnwell, Director of Communication for the Episcopal Diocese of Texas. They have posted their workshop resources here. Resources include Social Media for The Episcopal Church, Website 101, Facebook for Churches, Twitter for Your Ministry, Media Relations 101, Ten Essential Questions to Ask Before Using a New Communications…

2014 Diocesan Convention Social Media Transcript

We are sharing a chronological transcript of social media posts from our 2014 Convention November 14-15, 2014, as it tracks the flow and events of our convention. We chose to use the hashtag #DioFW for Convention conversations on Twitter, Instagram and Flickr. Attendees of the Convention workshop on communications will understand that this illustrates communicating our Convention story from the inside out. Read the transcript on Storify. [

The Rev. Curt Norman elected president of Standing Committee

The Rev. Curt Norman, rector of St. Luke’s, Stephenville, was elected president of the Standing Committee at a brief meeting on the second day of the 32nd Diocesan Convention on November 15, 2014, at the Jack Daniels Club at Globe Life Park in Arlington. The meeting was called by outgoing president Ms. Elinor Normand of Trinity, Fort Worth. Newly elected members are  Mr. Joel Walker, St. Martin-in-the-Fields, Keller; and the Rev. Amy Haynie, priest in charge, the Episcopal Church of…

Bishop High’s Address to Diocesan Convention

This is the text of the address of the Rt. Rev. Rayford B.High, Jr., sixth bishop of Fort Worth, to the 2014 Diocesan Convention, November 15, 2014, at Globe Life Park in Arlington. ———— Around 55 A.D., at Ephesus, Paul wrote one of the most valuable letters not only about life in a particular local church, but about his, Paul’s, character, mind and vigorous presentation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. His words from the 12th chapter of his first…

Elections at 2014 Diocesan Convention

The 32nd Convention of the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth at Globe Life Park in Arlington elected these people to positions on Friday, November 14: Becky Snell, St. Martin-in-the-Fields, Keller; lay member of Disciplinary Board Andrew Benko, St. Christopher, Fort Worth; clergy member of Disciplinary Board Susan Slaughter, retired, clergy member of Disciplinary Board Andrew Wright, Trinity, Fort Worth; Trustee of University fo the South Joel Walker, St. Martin-in-the-Fields, Keller; lay member of Standing Committee Amy Haynie, Episcopal Church of Wichita…

2014 Diocesan Convention opens with worship

The 32nd Convention of the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth at Globe Life Park in Arlington opened Friday, November 14, with Eucharist celebrated by the Rt. Rev. Rayford B. High, Jr., 6th bishop of the diocese. The Rt. Rev. C. Andrew Doyle, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Texas, preached. A diocesan choir led by John Dosher, director of music at St. Alban’s Episcopal Church, Arlington, led the robust singing. See more photos of the worship at the diocesan Flickr…