wfn.org | [ENS] 'Groundwork' begins for evangelism,

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

Daybook, from Episcopal News Service

January 10, 2005 -- Monday Mission

'Groundwork' begins for evangelism, back-to-school TV advertising; New
teaching resources mailed to all congregations, dioceses

[ENS] -- Designed to help increase local church hospitality and
evangelism
in preparation for back-to-school national television advertising, new
teaching resources for use in Lent or Eastertide 2005 have been mailed
to
all congregations in the Episcopal Church.

Titled "Groundwork: Digging Deep for Change and Growth," the resources
are
also available on-line at www.episcopalchurch.org/groundwork.

The materials precede the scheduled March 2005 preview of new TV ads
designed to reach "Generation X" viewers (often defined as those born
between 1962 and 1981) who are unaffiliated with any church. The ads are
being developed through the Episcopal Church's Office of Communication
pursuant to $750,000 allocated for this purpose by General Convention in
2003. For a free consultation regarding this advertising, congregations
are
invited to contact the Episcopal Media Center in Atlanta, telephone:
800.229.3788, after reviewing their Groundwork packets.

Aimed to achieve membership growth, the 2005 Lenten study resources
emphasize complete analysis of congregational systems at work in local
ministry, the Rev. Dr. James B. Lemler, director of mission for the
Episcopal Church, said in a recent interview.

" 'Groundwork' is an educational offering for Lent 2005 that joins
together
reflection on the study and proclamation of the Lenten Sunday Scripture
cycle and learning about evangelism, congregational invitation, and
mission
in the present changing context," Lemler said.

Three printed packets have been mailed to each congregation, with a
cover
letter from Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold requesting that one packet
be
forwarded to the congregation's lead educator, another to its lead
communicator, and the third to the vestry or bishop's committee.

Component pieces in the packet include:
-- The Groundwork "Guide for Lenten Study and Action (Year A)," written
by
Lemler and the Rev. Charles Fulton, the Episcopal Church's director of
congregational development;
-- "Communication and Advertising: A Guide for Congregations," by the
Rev.
Canon Louis C. Schueddig, president of the Episcopal Media Center, and
Canon
Robert Williams, the Episcopal Church's acting director of
communication;
-- "Welcoming the Visitor: A Guide for Congregations," by the late Susy
Miller, well-known consultant to congregations and the wider Episcopal
Church;
-- "Competence in Cross-Cultural Ministry: A Guide for Congregations,"
by
the Rev. Patricia McCaughan of the Diocese of Los Angeles, and Williams;

-- "Ministry with Young Adults and 'Next Generations,'" two guides by
Thomas
Chu, the Episcopal Church's program director for Ministries with Young
People;
-- "Vestry Planning for Evangelism: the Groundwork of Leadership," by
Lemler
and Fulton.

Links to resources provided in Spanish by the Rev. Isaias Rodriguez of
Atlanta and the Rev. Daniel Caballero, the Episcopal Church's missioner
for
Hispanic ministry, will also be provided within the next 10 days on-line
at
www.episcopalchurch.org/groundwork.

Groundwork, said Lemler, "is part of the goal of personal and
congregational
transformation that is at the heart of the Episcopal Church's mission
and of
the National Advertising Collaborative that has been launched.  The
'Groundwork' learning resources are being developed to be used for study
on
Sundays, in mid-week Lenten programs, and for leadership/vestry
retreats. 
Its frameworks will assist Episcopalians to consider their own faith
stories, how the local congregation invites people (especially young
adults), ways of learning about their own context, and the meaning of
baptismal identity. 

"It is hoped that 'Groundwork' -- and its components developed in
English
and Spanish -- will be a foundational step for congregations in their
mission of invitation and evangelism and will provide links to resources
for
these important ministries."

Lemler said the "Groundwork" resources will also provide a thematic
complement to the Episcopal Church's new on-line visitors' center,
http://www.comeandgrow.org/, and to additional related communication
initiatives.

[Printing by Mission Graphics, Episcopal Church of Our Savior, New York
City. The Church of Our Savior, www.ecoserve.org, is a Jubilee Center of
the
Episcopal Church. Production and printing fees assist growing ministry
in
the Chinatown district of Manhattan]