Posts from March 2014

Posts from March 2014

CANCELLED – Author Barbara Crafton coming to Trinity, Fort Worth

UPDATE: This event has been cancelled due to a sudden injury. Please keep the Rev. Crafton in your prayers. We have no information at this time about plans to reschedule this event, but will keep you informed as soon as there is anything to report. The Rev. Barbara Crafton, an Episcopal priest and acclaimed author and speaker, will visit Trinity Episcopal Church, 3401 Bellaire Drive S, Fort Worth, on March 29 and 30. All sessions are open to the public…
word image promoting congregational development workshop in the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth

How to avoid having one unhappy person undermine your congregation

Church members frequently refer to their congregations as a family, and the simile is apt in many ways, since churches, like families, are made up of different and interdependent parts: clergy, wardens, lay leaders, members, some of whom are older, some younger, some in families, some single. Nor is this a new understanding – St. Paul pointed it out in 1 Corinthians 12: “The body is a unit … though the parts are many, they form one body.” And when…

Dr. Esther Mombo, lay Anglican theologian from Kenya, will speak Thursday, March 27

Dr. Esther Mombo, a lay Anglican theologian from Kenya, has been invited by Brite Divinity School at Texas Christian University to be a guest professor for this term. She is a Henry R. Luce International Scholar and former deputy vice chancellor of academic affairs at St. Paul’s University in Limuru, Kenya. The invitation was the result of a professional connection Dr. Ed Waggoner and the Rev. Canon Janet Waggoner made at Yale Divinity School, a relationship that deepened when they…

Executive Council holds first meeting after deanery reorganization

The Executive Council of the diocese had its first meeting since the reorganization of the deaneries. The meeting on Saturday, March 1, 2014, was hosted by St. Alban’s Episcopal Church in Theatre Arlington and held at Covenant Methodist Church in Arlington. At the January 25, 2014, meeting the Executive Council concurred with the revised deanery plan offered by the Rt. Rev. Rayford B. High, Jr., who said he made the revision in order to have a deanery structure “that is…

2014 Executive Council member list updated

The membership of the Executive Council of the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth changed slightly as a result of the revision of the deanery system, approved by Executive Council in January 2014. Here is the membership as of March 1, 2014. Note: *Members with voice but no vote **Members with neither voice nor vote President: Bishop, Rayford B. High, Jr. First Vice President: VACANT (Canons provide that the Bishop Coadjutor fill this office) Second Vice President: President of the Standing…

New Congregational Grant Requests process announced at Executive Council

At the March 1, 2014, meeting of the Executive Council, Finance Committee member Cherie Shipp reported on a new Congregational Grant Requests approval process “to support the growth in mission and ministry for new or restart of existing congregations. Financial assistance will be provided to supplement clergy compensation and benefits. The goal is to support growth of congregations in their mission and ministry and to help them to self-sufficiency in three years or less.” The process was put in place…

Stewardship network offers workshops, keynotes online

The Episcopal Network for Stewardship (TENS) is inviting congregations across the Untied States to join their 2014 Walking the Way conference via webcast June 6-7. Opening and closing worship, three keynote presentations, and four workshops will be live-streamed from the Atlanta-based conference, and subscribers may participate in real time or watch recorded webcasts at their convenience. The Rt. Rev. Robert Wright, bishop of Atlanta, will offer the first plenary address on Friday afternoon, June 6, after opening worship. His address…

Texas Supreme Court denies motions for rehearing

On Friday, March 21, 2014, the Texas Supreme Court denied the motions for rehearing of its August 30, 2013, opinions in the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth case and the companion Masterson case from the Episcopal Diocese of Northwest Texas. Both cases address fundamental Constitutional issues regarding the rights of American churches, including The Episcopal Church, to determine their ministers and internal governance and to maintain their churches and other property given for the mission and ministry of the Church.…

U.S. Supreme Court Ruling Leaves Falls Church Property in The Episcopal Church

On March 10, the U.S. Supreme Court denied the petition for writ of certiorari filed by a breakaway faction from the historic Episcopal congregation of Falls Church, Virginia. The order makes final the April 18, 2013 decision of the Supreme Court of Virginia that the continuing Falls Church Episcopal, founded in 1732, and not the breakaway faction that left in 2006, retains the church property. This case joins the long line of cases in which the nation’s highest court has…

New administrative assistant joins diocesan staff

Michele L. King has joined the diocesan staff as administrative assistant. Her first day was Monday, March 3. King comes to the diocesan position from being parish administrator at St. Martin-in-the-Fields Episcopal Church in Keller. She has extensive church-related work, having the pastor’s secretary at Christ Lutheran Church in Hebron, Connecticut; executive assistant to the senior pastor at Crown of Life Lutheran Church in Colleyville, Texas; and office manager at Center Point Church in North Richland Hills. She has an…

Ashes to Go offered by several Episcopal parishes

St. Luke’s, Stephenville is teaming up with Methodist and Roman Catholic campus ministries to offer an ecumenical service and ashes at Tarleton State University. St. Luke’s in the Meadow Episcopal Church, 4301 Meadowbrook Drive, Fort Worth, will offer Ashes to Go in English and in Spanish from 7:30 to 8:30 am at the intersection of Somerset and Meadowbrook for commuters and for parents dropping children off at Meadowbrook Elementary School and Meadowbrook Middle School. St. Martin-in-the-Fields Episcopal Church, 223 S.…

Ashes to Go an ecumenical event at Tarleton in Stephenville

This year the Ashes to Go ministry has been expanded into an ecumenical event on the campus of Tarleton State University in Stephenville. On Ash Wednesday, March 5, the Rev. Curt Norman, rector of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, 595 N. McIlhaney, Stephenville, will take part in an ecumenical service on the campus. At 3 pm prayers and Imposition of Ashes will be offered by the Tarleton Episcopal Campus Ministry, the Tarleton Catholic Campus Ministry, and Tarleton Wesley (Methodist campus ministry)…

Registration is open for ‘Growing Together in Faith’

Sign up today to attend “Growing Together in Faith – How Your Church Family Works,” April 4 and 5. The workshop will feature Peter Steinke and Ana Hernandez as presenters, and will offer an opportunity for your congregation’s leadership team to learn more about embracing change in order to grow.

College ministry conversation convenes

Want to revitalize or start a campus ministry at a college near you? Want to help support college ministry across the diocese? Then come be part of the conversation, 2-4pm on March 22 at Trinity Episcopal Church, 3401 Bellaire Dr. South, Fort Worth, TX 76109.

Learn to write an icon

For a reasonable investment of time and money, you can create a classic icon, learning this time-honored tradition from David Holland, retired Episcopal priest and long-time icon-writer.

Discover ‘ChurchNext’ for accessible Christian formation

Have you and your congregation discovered ChurchNext – safe online learning presented by expert teachers in scripture, liturgy, and important Christian topics, in engaging presentations that are convenient and affordable. The classes are available to anyone with a computer, a smart phone, or a tablet and access to the internet.
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