By the Rev. Mike Michie,
St. Thomas, San Antonio
Commissioned by Bishop Read at our last Diocesan Council in San Marcos, a new Church Planting Task Force has been formed to chart the path forward for starting new ministries in the Diocese of West Texas. There are few places in the United States more prepared and growing than our diocese, and we are thrilled that Bishop Read wants to prioritize this in the diocese.
Having started an Episcopal church in McKinney, Texas and as the former Staff Officer for Church Planting Infrastructure for the Episcopal Church, I was honored to accept the opportunity to chair this terrific team. Your committee is:
- The Rev. Jan Dantone, Epiphany, Kingsville
- The Rev. Ripp Hardaway, St. John’s, New Braunfels
- The Rev. Stephen Shortess, St. Andrew’s, Seguin
- The Rev. Beth Wyndham, St. Nicholas, Bulverde
- Bob Myer, St. Helena’s, Boerne
- Marissa Roth, Christ Church, San Antonio
- Cruz Torres, Diocese of West Texas Seminarian, Seminary of the Southwest
- Molly Wren, Advent, Brownsville
We’ve attempted to have a balanced team, in every way. We also hope that this will be a long-term task force for our diocese. As we’ve organized our work, our hope is that we create an environment of support for the people, clergy and lay, that God has called to start new ministries. Rather than church planting being something that we observe and root for, we hope to help provide ways for every person in the diocese to support a new church, from prayer all the way to being a part of the launch team.
Our team will gather in retreat with the purpose of writing a long-term strategic plan for church planting in the diocese. This will include theology, geographic strategy, leadership development, and more. We are interested and praying about it all! We’d love to see bilingual, urban, suburban, rural, traditional, and contemporary churches get started. Most important, is following where Jesus is leading us and supporting the good people that God is raising up in our midst.
Are you interested in church planting? Have an idea about a place or a kind of ministry that you think God would bless? I’d love to hear from you. Send me an email at mmichie@tom1604.org and please keep me and our terrific team in your prayers. You’ll be hearing again from us soon.
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