Bishop George Sumner has created a strategic planning committee to help implement a strategic plan for the next five years. The committee has been meeting with various groups throughout the diocese to learn what issues are most important to them. Recently, the committee held three open-forum meetings to hear from parishioners and clergy about what programs and tactics are most needed in the diocese.

Currently, there are these seven priorities:

Lay Empowerment: provide resources which deepen discipleship and cultivate lay ministry. Offering accessible diocesan curriculum available for adult & youth confirmation, Sunday school, etc. Provide training for youth ministers, camp counselors, and make the Stanton Center available electronically.

Congregational Development: become a congregation-led diocese through the strategic renewal of urban and rural congregations. Create an order of lay catechists – trained preachers and teachers. Make diocesan assistance available to enable congregations to create a one-page strategic plan, unique to specific demographics and resources. Provide a rural dean to promote collaboration congregations in East Texas.

Clergy Development: intentionally recruit young, bi-lingual, evangelistically-minded clergy, continue formation, and collegiality among diocesan clergy. Provide a clergy conference each spring and several ministry-related workshops annually. Offer financial resources for clergy hospitality and gathering locally. Provide an annual discernment conference in the diocese.

Church Planting: serve as a model and beacon for planting activity. Create a plan, overseen by the church planting commission, with multiple models including: diocesan plants, planting out of parishes, other fresh and creative starts.

Gospel Inculturation: proclaim the gospel in an increasingly multi-lingual, multicultural population. Shift from ethnic ministry to reaching out as the Church with the gospel message to various tongues/cultures. Include bilingual lay catechists and clergy. Offer Spanish language education for clergy at Trinity School for Ministry in Ambridge, Pennsylvania.

Outreach and evangelism: a two-edge witness which invites others into the Kingdom while serving those in distress. Some themes are, the Church existing not for itself, but for the benefit of those who do not know Christ; the Church reaching out to strengthen society, participating in a joint project in South Dallas with African-American pastors, renew effort toward parish evangelism planning with Carrie Headington.

Witness: become a diocese known for its traditional Gospel witness to larger Church while serving as a gracious and generous space for all to do ministry. Strengthen relations with global partners, committees of national church and neighboring dioceses. Create agreement on annual giving to The Episcopal Church. Appoint an annual global bishop in residence. Make diocesan friendships with Province 9 in Latin America and participate in Province 7 in which EDOD is located.

The strategic planning committee is also asking questions specifically about the diocesan communications department. They would like to know what is working, what is not working and what needs to be done that isn’t happening?

The committee is also working on creating a shortened version of the following mission statement: Every congregation, a member of a global body, gathered around Jesus Christ, present in the world and sacrament,, and sent ravingly out into the world by His Great Commission and commandment.

The open-forum meetings have attracted about 105 participants from all areas of the diocese. The finalized plan is expected to be unveiled at the diocesan convention in November.

For those interested in a presentation from the committee about the plan or would like to provide feedback, please contact the Rev. Betsy Randall.

The members of the committee are: Christopher Ayres, Transfiguration in Dallas; Cathleen Dolt, St. James in Dallas; Robert Hulsey, St. Andrew's in McKinney; the Rev. Lino Lara, San Francisco de Asis in Dallas; the Rev. Betsy Randall at Epiphany in Richardson; Lee Spence, St. Dunstan's in Mineola; Dan Weston, Epiphany in Richardson; the Rev. Paul Wheatley, St. Augustine's, Oak Cliff in Dallas.