By Jim DeLa
Editor, The Southern Cross

The diocese’s office of mission and outreach has organized mission efforts into seven areas and is inviting deacons to lead committees as they focus on outreach in the larger community.

The Ven. Dennis McManis announced the plan at a recent deacons’ retreat. “I decided to challenge them to get involved with seven specific ministries, to get them involved out in the community,” McManis said.

“I told them my attitude that by virtue of our baptismal covenant, we’re all called to diaconal ministries,” he said. “Therefore the diaconate has a very specific ministry of leadership for all the baptized faithful. They need to play a role in being inspirational in moving our churches outward into the world.” Lay person are especially encouraged to participate in these new committees.

Along with many existing ministries, there are several new opportunities:

Human Trafficking: McManis is working with the Coalition Against Human Trafficking, which is involved in cases across Southwest Florida.
“We’ve approached the coalition and asked how we can get involved. I think we’re one of the first churches to get involved,” McManis observed. Recently, the diocese helped the coalition with transportation for a group of Filipino workers liberated from slave labor conditions by federal agents in Boca Raton.

Ministry to Military Families: The idea for this ministry came from a conversation with Bishop George Packard, head of the office of Armed Services, Healthcare and Prison Ministries, McManis said. “He was telling me that virtually no one is helping the families of military personnel, or helping them with re-entry into the U.S.,” he said. “With MacDill [Air Force Base in Tampa] in our diocese, I think there’s a real role we can play. It can be anything from mental health care, to retreat for families and kids.”

Asian ministry: The Asian community is the fasting growing ethnic population in Southwest Florida by percentage, McManis said. Eventually, he says, “It’s our hope to put a multi-cultural center at the Chapel Center at the University of South Florida,” with specific emphasis on Asian and Hispanic cultures.

While the deacons are being asked to take a leadership role, the laity will be heavily involved, McManis said. “As those committees grow, I would envision deacons could go into any congregation in the diocese that wanted to get involved and help them get started.”
If you would like to get involved, contact Deacon Dennis McManis at (941) 556-0315.

The committees are:

Mission

• Dominican Republic
• Haitian Mission in Immokalee
• REACH Rwanda
• Asian ministries
• Hispanic ministries
• Chapel Center at USF

Outreach

• Homeless programs
• Florida Coalition Against Human Trafficking
• Migrant farmworkers
• Undocumented hospitality/service workers

Social Justice and Advocacy

• Millennium Development Goals
• Government policy and relations
• Ecumenical relations

Pastoral Ministries

• Hospice/hospital/nursing homes
• Prison
• Military families

Chaplaincies

• Parish disaster preparedness planning
• Disaster response teams
• First responders/crisis intervention

Communications

• Monthly web site update
• Marketing/public relations
• Retreat and convention planning

Education

• School for Ministry Development/education
• Grant writing