Issues and challenges add up to ambitious agenda for Diocesan Council

By Ana Watts

Do the math. Seven carry-over issues from Synod 2009, plus five motions passed at Synod 2011, plus four issues recently raised by Archbishop Claude Miller, equals an ambitious 16-item to-do list (find it below) for the new Diocesan Council. Familiar programs like the Nicodemus Project and the 10-10-10 stewardship model are joined on the list by a review of synod office positions and an examination of options for synod and cathedral properties. “These are all front-burner issues,” says Archbishop Claude Miller. “We won’t be putting them on the back burner, we will have teams working on them all. You will see them on council agendas. We have an ambitious agenda, but I have no doubt we can accomplish it.” Exactly when these items will be seen on those agendas is yet to be decided however. Working in small groups at the recent Diocesan Council orientation meeting in Fredericton, members got a start on prioritization and analysis, but it was large task to complete in a small amount of time.

“We got a sense of Council’s number one, two and three priorities and some comments,” says Jim Morell who chairs the council Administration Team and facilitated that part of the meeting. “There was really no time to go in depth for greater understanding so that final decisions could be made. Council agreed I would use their feedback from the meeting to develop a summary document for the Admin Team to review. I anticipate it will list the 16 issues and challenges, offer some background information, delegate lead responsibility for each one, include any council comments and directions and so on. The resulting document should amount to an integrated plan for dealing with the work and it will be shared with council at its next meeting on March 17.”

Archbishop Miller is particularly passionate about item seven on the list — Explore Church Plants (growth & evangelism). This addresses ongoing growth and evangelism in the diocese and the implementation of recommendations from the church planting report called for by Synod 2011. “This work is on-going and very important and I know the Mission and Outreach team plans to bring something to the next meeting of Council. We are getting better at making disciples, but we are not sending them out yet, they are not yet apostles. The church is only the church when it does mission. We need to make disciples into apostles.”

Council oversees seven teams — Administration, Episcopal, Mission & Outreach, Parish Support & Development, Spiritual Development, Stewardship & Financial Development, and Youth Ministries; four standing committees — Human Resources, Finance, Constitutions & Canons, and Nominating; as well as five working committees — Archives, Communications, Companion Diocese, Investment (sub –committee), Property, and Synod Planning. Council members serve on at least one of these groups. Upon election council members are asked to indicate what areas of diocesan work interests them and what they can bring to these respective tables. This information is considered in the making of appointments. New Brunswick Anglicans from around the province are recruited to fill out the membership of these administrative groups. The result is a large and solid network of volunteers engaged in the life and work of the diocese.

“When team and committee members gathered at the Diocesan Council orientation meeting they were asked to discuss the strengths of their memberships,” says Council’s vice-chair Ann Fairweather. “If they felt they didn’t have enough members to address what’s on their plate they were encouraged to make plans as to how to go about recruiting new members.

“We believe that the Holy Spirit is leading us, guiding us and giving us wisdom to accomplish all that God wants us to do in this time and place. We are not alone on this journey. We have faith that God is equipping us to do his will, in his time. God doesn’t want us to get discouraged.”

 

DIOCESAN ISSUES & CHALLENGES TO SYNOD 2013
(As distributed to Diocesan Council Jan. 20, 2012)
1. Nicodemus Project
2. Shared budget (including stewardship and 10-10-10_
3. Governance Structures & Processes
4. Diocesan Self-Assessment
5. Health Benefits — Retirees
6. Clergy Stipends Review
7. Explore Church Plants (growth & evangelism)
8. Guidance to Parishes — Church Closures
9. Non-compliance — Year-End Data
10. Greater Chapter Meetings (agendas)
11. Study Anglican Covenant
12. Back to Church Sunday
13. Synod Office Review & New Treasurer
14. Synod/Cathedral Properties
15. Bishop’s Archdeaconry Commissions
16. Discussions — National Church — Possible Capital Campaign

 

31 January 2012
Diocesan Communications