The convention of the Diocese of Southwest Florida gathered Oct. 14 in Punta Gorda.

Two mission congregations, St. Margaret of Scotland, Sarasota, and St. Mark's, Tampa, were elevated to parish status. A new congregation, Iona-Hope in Fort Myers, was granted organized mission status.

In his convention address, the Rt. Rev. John B. Lipscomb, Bishop of Southwest Florida, reminded listeners that last year's convention had adopted a new vision for the diocese called Horizon 2020.

"Our vision is for our leaders to be more concerned with the empowerment of the church and the support of individuals in ministry at the local level than governing the day-to-day affairs of our people," Bishop Lipscomb said. Our vision sees our leaders taking corporate responsibility to further the work of reconciliation, healing and building strong communities of witness."

Convention delegates defeated a resolution that would have required all congregations to make a public, itemized accounting of money spent each year on outreach. They voted for a resolution which adopts a diocesan code of ethics which sets standards for conduct in areas such as confidentiality, pastoral relationships and finances for clergy and other church leaders.