wfn.org | [ENS] Domestic Missionary Partnership stresses collaboration at

["Matthew Davies" <mdavies@mail.epicom.org>]

Thursday, February 10, 2005

Domestic Missionary Partnership stresses collaboration at Nevada meeting

by Dick Snyder

ENS: 021005-1

[Episcopal News Service] New ways of engaging the mission of the church
-
ways emphasizing the "partnership" dimension - were explored during the
annual meeting of Domestic Missionary Partnership, held Jan. 27-30 in
Boulder City, Nevada.

"We are all small dioceses committed to mission," said Bishop Keith
Whitmore
of Eau Claire. "We are proposing a new, broader way of partnership for
the
whole church."

That means moving away from being strictly a grant-making organization
to
being a "partnering organization," he added.

DMP took steps to make that transition happen by developing new
guidelines
for the organization that stress its collaborative and mission-based
nature.

Bishop Bill Gregg of Eastern Oregon said that the group is moving away
from
a mindset of having dioceses "on the dole" for national church funding,
to
looking at the funding as providing "investment, opportunities for
mission."

Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori of Nevada noted there are many new
possibilities for the dioceses to be in mission partnership with the
national church. "Why not look at creative ways to invest in our own
dioceses?" she asked.

She added that might take the form of national church assistance with
the
Diocese of Nevada to purchase land for new churches in the fast-growing
and
expensively priced Las Vegas real estate market.

DMP also will be more pro-active in telling its story and stating the
need
for increased mission activity, particularly in the small and rural
dioceses
that comprise its membership.

Whitmore said that will mean DMP is more aggressive in seeking national
church funding for mission, and raising awareness of the issues facing
small
and rural dioceses.

A member of Executive Council, Terry Roberts of Minnesota, attended the
meeting as did the Rev. Kristi Philip, a member of the Standing
Commission
for Small Congregations.

Roberts said that she was impressed by the "excitement and vitality of
this
group.

They have a single-mindedness about being the church," she said.

The meeting included discussion of mission projects within each of the
member dioceses.

Rosella Jim of Navajoland noted that a DMP grant provided funding for
development of indigenous training and leadership development within
Navajoland.

The Rev. Ben Helmer, national church missioner for small and rural
communities, noted that DMP "is the one place in the church where Native
and
non-native people can talk about mission."

The Rev. Marianne Ell of North Dakota said she appreciated hearing what
was
happening in the dioceses. "The power is in story
telling," she said.

Bishop Michael Smith of North Dakota, attending his first DMP meeting,
agreed. "I am proud to be identified as a missionary
bishop," he said.

Whitmore noted that the organization's understanding of mission is
rooted in
the Episcopal Church's Catechism.

"Mission involves all the members of the church" in praying and worship,
proclaiming the Gospel, and promoting justice, peace and
love, he said.

In other business, the DMP delegates approved grants for "mission
opportunity funding," formerly known as base budget support. Eau Claire
received $35,000; Eastern Oregon received $91,011; and Western Kansas
received $55,000.

Additional grants were awarded to North Dakota, in the amount of $10,000
for
ministry to the Sudanese within the diocese; and to Western Kansas, in
the
amount of $6,835 so that the bishop's secretary could be paid for full
time
work.

Next year's meeting will be Sept. 14-17 in Boulder City, at the Life
Giving
Spring Retreat Center operated by the Orthodox Church in America.

Domestic Missionary Partnership was formed in 1997 by several of the
member
dioceses of the former Coalition 14. Its members are the Dioceses of
Alaska,
Eastern Oregon, Eau Claire, North Dakota, Idaho, Western Kansas, Utah,
Nevada and Navajoland.

Two dioceses, El Camino Real and Spokane, ended their DMP membership in
the
past year.

-- Dick Snyder, a deacon in the Diocese of Utah, is senior correspondent
for
Episcopal Life.

___________________________
To SUBSCRIBE to enslist, send a blank email message, from the address
which
you wish subscribed, to: join-enslist@epicom.org

Send QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS to news@episcopalchurch.org.

The enslist is published by Episcopal News Service:
www.episcopalchurch.org/ens