As seen in the May/June 2009 issue of The Southern Cross:

Friday, May 1, saw the conclusion of the deanery spring convocations in our diocese. Those congregational and diocesan leader participants heard me present some particular thoughts on directions for the life of our diocese. I recap them here.

After the diocesan convention of 2008 I began to solidify some of my own thinking regarding some operational and mission issues in the Diocese of Southwest Florida. I decided that I did not want to wait until our next convention to inform the diocese so determined to present these thoughts to the deanery convocations after discussion with the Diocesan Council, deans and Standing Committee.

The presentations were not intended to be detailed plans as much as directions I think we need to go in for the long-term life of the diocese. By long term, I mean the next 25 to 50 years.

Episcopal Charities: I presented this concept and need at the October 2008 diocesan convention. The current action is simply to raise funds to build and Episcopal Charities Fund endowment so as to have monies available for outreach within and beyond the diocese.

The fund has been established and is now in the building stage. It is not yet significant but by paying continued attention to it, the fund will develop into an important instrument for community services and outreach.

DaySpring: It is time to begin the planning to return the major operational aspects of the diocesan office to DaySpring. The diocese already owns DaySpring and we are not served well by acting as though it is independent of the diocese.

Having the official diocesan presence at DaySpring will influence the ongoing operations of the camp and conference processes. I also am convinced that DaySpring needs an endowment fund to deal with the ongoing capital improvement issues.

A very modest amount has been contributed for this purpose but, again, we need to pay continued attention to this need for the long term. DaySpring should also have a larger and beautiful worship space for the needs of our diocesan activities.

If the Diocese of Southwest Florida ever sold DaySpring we would never recover it. I believe we should use this gift to our greatest advantage.
Congregational Models: Our diocese has many healthy examples of the traditional congregational model, which includes facilities, ordained and lay staff members, ongoing program, and self-sustaining operating budgets.

We need to be about the business of planting more congregations like these. However, our diocese also has the need to try different and creative approaches for congregational life, which may include congregational clusters or team ministry models so as to make available the shared resources of people, funds and materials.

We need to also pay heed to the “Emerging Church” desires expressed, as well as specific demographic shifts primarily in the Hispanic/Latino populations.

I am pleased and grateful to be in the Diocese of Southwest Florida. God willing, I hope to be your bishop for a long time. These are directions I think we need to more actively engage.

I intend to now develop a task force to begin addressing the questions to transform these directions into plans for the future. Some plans will, of course, be generated through existing diocesan organizations. One further piece is helpful to note here. The diocesan office move includes creating and maintaining an official presence at our Cathedral in St. Petersburg. I believe we have exciting and demanding days ahead.