The annual council of the Diocese of Mississippi attracted more than 1,000 people to Tupelo, Jan. 27-29. "Discipleship in the Light of Christ" was the theme of the council, which had two speakers with ties to Mississippi.

The Rt. Rev. Larry Maze, Bishop of Arkansas who formerly was a rector in Mississippi, challenged delegates to be the "salt of the earth" and "the light that fills the darkness of life."

William Raspberry, national newspaper columnist who is a native of Mississippi, spoke of the ills of poverty.

"We must recognize the transforming power of belief," he said. "Our spiritual part of our being is undernourished. We lose vitality when we are not engaged in a vital effort."

In business sessions, the council set the minimum stipend for clergy as $19,000, amended a diocesan canon concerning ecclesiastical discipline, and welcomed Church of the Epiphany, Jackson, as a new mission of the diocese.

A budget of $1.5 million was adopted.