wfn.org | Episcopal Evangelism plan calls for more members by 2020

[Daphne Mack <dmack@dfms.org>]

For more information:

Episcopal News Service
James Solheim
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http://www.ecusa.anglican.org/ens

GC2000-093

Evangelism plan calls for doubled membership by 2020

by Jan Nunley

     (ENS-DENVER) When the "Decade of Evangelism" kicked off at 
the Diocese of North Carolina's Kanuga Conference Center in 1990, 
there were high hopes that the 20th century's last decade would 
usher in a new era of cooperation and unity in the Episcopal 
Church. But the next ten years were more like a "decade of 
factionalism," with three of the most contentious General 
Conventions in the church's history. Even a 2.4% increase in 
average Sunday attendance from 1993-1997 was overshadowed by 
bitter--and very public--debates over women's ordination and 
homosexuality.

     The debates aren't over. But the deputies and bishops 
attending the 73rd General Convention in Denver, sadder but 
perhaps wiser about the commitments necessary for successful 
growth, adopted an even more ambitious goal. The Convention 
approved a "20/20 vision" for the Episcopal Church that calls for 
doubling baptized membership within 20 years (A033a) and 
established an "Alleluia Fund" (A034s) for new church development 
and congregational revitalization.

Retooling the church for mission

     The "20/20: A Clear Vision" plan takes its name from a 
seminal meeting in the Diocese of Texas in the fall of 1998, 
where Bishop Claude Payne and members of his staff shared with 
Episcopalians from all over their "clear vision of one church" 
constituted as "a community of miraculous expectation." A repeat 
of the conference was held in the fall of 1999. 

     The Diocese of Texas is now four years into a goal of 
growing by 200,000 baptized members within 10 years. The mission 
imperative was also sparked by a 1998 St. Louis gathering called 
"Congregations in Ministry: The Next 8 Years," at which the 
largely online Episcopal Network for Evangelism was formed 
(http://members.aol.com/ENE2020).

     The new evangelism thrust has several interlocking 
components. First is the enabling resolution, A033a, which sets 
forth the "domestic mission imperative" of doubling growth by 
2020. The suggested means to accomplish such growth include 
"creative strategies for evangelism; prayer and spiritual 
development; recruiting and equipping innovative leaders; 
strengthening congregational life; [and] focusing on children, 
youth and campus ministries." 

     To make certain that vision is implemented, Executive 
Council is directed to establish a "20/20" task force (A034s) 
whose goals include "recruiting, educating and training 
evangelists and church planters who were born after 1964 and/or 
are people of color," and training leaders in second-language 
skills and cross-cultural sensitivity. The task force has a year 
to report back to Executive Council.

     Mindful that nothing gets done in the church without money, 
another component of the plan is the establishment of the 
"Alleluia Fund: Build My Church," a new initiative to provide 
funding for new church planting and revitalization of existing 
congregations. Money for the Alleluia Fund will be gathered 
during Easter 2002 and presented on the Day of Pentecost 2002, a 
process to be continued for the next 10 years.

     A "census" of church membership will be conducted by 
Executive Council with a target date of January 1, 2005 (A101a). 
Another survey, by the Standing Commission on Ministry 
Development, will be completed with an eye toward more closely 
defining statistically who is and who isn't a "confirmed" 
Episcopalian (A103a). Evangelism efforts are also to be extended 
to singles (A037a) and children (D045a).

Not just another "two decades of evangelism"

     Some have questioned whether the church is simply plunging 
from its ill-fated Decade of Evangelism into "two decades of 
evangelism" that may be just as disappointing. But the difference 
between the 20/20 plan and the Decade of Evangelism, say 
proponents, is that the Decade lacked some critical components 
for success: a clear goal, a clear plan, and some means to 
monitor progress. 

     "We just haven't been taking evangelism and Christian 
education/formation seriously--meaning seriously enough to 
organize to get them accomplished well, and in a major way," 
writes Ted Mollegen, a deputy from Connecticut. Mollegen is a 
member of the Standing Commission on Domestic Mission and 
Evangelism, and founding member of the Episcopal Network for 
Evangelism (ENE). "Our general denominational attitude seems to 
have been that those who ought to become Episcopalians will 
probably find a way to do so," he said.

     Mollegen says the numbers don't indicate an evangelistic 
advantage for either side in the debates that roil the church: 
sexuality, women's ordination, or liturgical style. What does 
work is a commitment to mission, rather than maintenance of 
existing structures and systems. 

--The Rev. Jan Nunley is director of communications for the 
Diocese of Rhode Island.