Sometimes Episcopalians are criticized for being too congregational -- their emphasis may be on their parish church instead of the diocese or even the national church. We can understand this dilemma, because for most of us, church life is centered in our parishes. It is a fact that the most important sacramental ministries of our lives take place in parish churches. We are baptized, confirmed and married in our parish or mission churches and our lives are celebrated in funeral services there. We experience some of the church's most basic ministries in our parishes -- evangelism, stewardship, counseling, healing, confession, education.

Dioceses and the national church, as well as the wider Anglican Communion, have a myriad of helpful, useful ministries, but the church's pastoral ministries are most effective at the parish level. We experience the presence of God in our churches, we engage in fellowship with others there and hopefully see Christ in them. We learn the basics of our faith in our churches and most of us find our spiritual lives centered there. The parish church is indeed where the action is.

We celebrate parish churches and their ministries in this special Parish Administration Issue, one of four we produce each year. It contains articles, advertising and other matter intended to be of value to those involved in the leadership of a congregation. We hope they, and the rest of our readers, will find this issue helpful and enjoyable.