Ministry Council Begins National Support System
Diocesan Press Service. April 2, 1975 [75127]
NEW YORK, N. Y. -- The Ministry Council of the Episcopal Church has begun the development of a national support system for Diocesan Commissions on Ministry (DCOMs).
The Ministry Council, composed of representatives from eight agencies in the church having to do with ministry, and representatives from the eight domestic provinces of the church, met in New York City on March 17-18.
The representatives from the component agencies asked the respective staff members to compile information, materials, and services, which are available now or potentially, for assisting the DCOMs. The staff members were also asked to find appropriate means to promote and disseminate these resources.
Some of the component agencies, it was pointed out, have been developing their own support programs for DCOMs, but it was felt that a unified approach was needed.
The Council took steps to insure inter-agency staff coordination and communication through regular quarterly meetings.
Mrs. W. Ashton Lee, Denver, Colo., representative of Province VI, presided as vice chairperson of the Ministry Council in the absence of Bishop Robert R. Spears of Rochester, chairperson.
In addition to the representatives from the eight domestic provinces, membership on the Ministry Council comes from the Board for Clergy Deployment, the Board for Theological Education, the Church Pension Fund, the General Board of Examining Chaplains, the House of Bishops Committee on Pastoral Development, the Executive Council's Committee on Lay Ministries, the Commission on the Structure of the Church, and the Conference of Deans of Accredited Episcopal Seminaries.