News Briefs
Diocesan Press Service. June 7, 1965 [XXXIII-15]
DELAWARE DIOCESE DEVELOPS NEW PROGRAM
In 1963 the Diocese of Delaware replaced the director of Christian Education with a director of program. The fact that this post was experimental and, therefore, cut through the lethargy of the familiar, caused more to happen within the diocese than anyone had imagined.
After more than two years of operating under this new structure, the diocese has decentralized its work, "recognizing that the principal work of the church takes place in the local communities and activities in which laymen live and are involved (parish, school, campus, place of work, home, civic affairs, etc.). Thus we strive to motivate, train leadership, provide techniques and resources and materials for local congregations and secular groupings, so that they may carry out their ministries themselves," states a recent report on the effectiveness of the reorganization.
Their emphasis on leadership training is helping the laymen of the diocese find their ministries in their everyday lives. Such training is a part of the strategy of every department and division.
The program director has helped carry out these changes by meeting with all diocesan departments and divisions, bridging chasms and eliminating duplications. He also visits individual congregations, advising and coordinating.
The diocese also presupposed that the influence of the church as separate denominations will always be fragmented and limited, and that the church should make itself felt through joint action, working with as many denominational and secular agencies as possible.
One concrete example of the diocesan commitment to be the church in the world and to engage in a united witness whenever possible is its role in the Council of Churches of Wilmington and New Castle's department of metropolitan ministry. The metropolitan ministry, has divided the city of Wilmington into five "larger parishes" composed of all the cooperating congregations within a given area. Representatives from each congregation serve on the larger parish councils which meet monthly to determine and administer programs such as summer and Saturday youth work, meals-on-wheels for shut-ins, study halls and tutoring.
When the Mutual Responsibility and Interdependence document was distributed, the diocese was almost ripe for a real reception. Their newly formed MRI Department encompasses missions, stewardship, metropolitan ministry and ecumenical relations. This department has issued a guide with suggestions on parish evaluation, missionary education, Uganda project efforts and a companion relationship.
PERSONNEL CHANGES ARE APPROVED
Three personnel changes were made official at the May meeting of the Executive Council.
D. Barry Menuez was named associate secretary for coordinating the pilot diocese program in the Division of Domestic Mission of the Home Department. The Rev. William Heffner of the Diocese of Dallas and formerly of Okinawa, is to be new associate secretary in the Division of Projects and Special Programs of the Overseas Department.
The Rev. Daisuke Kitagawa has been named executive secretary of the College and University Division of the Home Department. Dr. Kitagawa has been executive of the Domestic Mission Division.