The first class of Community of Hope Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth was commissioned Sunday, May 24, 2015, by Bishop Rayford B. High, Jr. at St. Christopher Episcopal Church, Fort Worth.
The class included (pictured from left to right) Eleanor Forfang Brockman, St. Luke’s in the Meadow, Fort Worth; David Carpenter, St., Luke’s in the Meadow, Fort Worth; Juan Portillo, San Miguel Lutheran Church, Fort Worth; Donna Clopton, St. Christopher, Fort Worth; Nick Busken, St. Luke’s in the Meadow, Fort Worth; Ron Hitchcock, and Annette Mayer, both of St. Marting-in-the-Fields, Keller. Mayer is not shown in the photo.
Community of Hope is a pastoral care training program for laity whose mission is to create and sustain Christian communities of volunteer lay pastoral caregivers around the world. Community of Hope communities are united in prayer, shaped by Benedictine spirituality, and equipped for and serving in pastoral care communities.
Bishop High has been part of Community of Hope for many years. Last summer he asked Mayer, who was at that time a pastoral intern at St. Alban’s, Arlington, and the Rev. Amy Haynie, Episcopal Church in Wichita Falls, to begin a training program within our diocese. Bishop High believes that Community of Hope training benefits all of the congregations within the diocese, as well as spiritually enrich all who are called to this training community.