Diocesan Council has given the go-ahead for a 100-year-old mission congregation to attain parish status in October.

At its May 23 meeting, Council unanimously approved a recommendation by the Congregational Development Committee to approve the application of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Boca Grande.

According to diocesan canons, a mission congregation can be elevated to parish status when it can demonstrate it is financially stable and self-sustaining, can pay a salary and benefits for a priest, can maintain an average Sunday attendance of at least 50 people and can pay its diocesan apportionment.

St. Andrew’s has grown over the years, said the Rev. John Adler, chair of the committee. “They have continued to grow. They’ve done well,” he told Council, noting the church is debt-free and, in a year’s time, has raised $2.3 million of a $3 million capital campaign.

The congregation, which celebrated its 100th anniversary last year, notes on its web site (www.standrewsboca.org) that land for the church was secured by Bishop William Crane Gray in 1908. In his journal, Gray returned to lead evening prayer on Tuesday, March 21, 1911, in the railroad depot that was loaned for the occasion. “All who could crowd in were there, and many on the outside. I raised the tunes, and the singing was hearty. It was an inspiring service. Great improvements are going on, and I believe Boca Grande has a future before it,” he wrote.

With Council’s approval, the final step with be a vote at diocesan convention, Oct. 10 in Punta Gorda.

In other matters, Council;

• Approved the appointments of people to three groups with responsibilities related to diocesan convention: a Program Committee, in charge of, among other things, planning convention, implementing rules of order and balloting procedures; a Nominating Committee, tasked with recruiting qualified clergy and laypersons to run for elected office in the diocese; and a Resolutions Committee, which will ensure proposed resolutions comply with the Constitution and Canons, are not redundant and are written in plain language.
• Tabled a request by All Saints Episcopal Church in Tarpon Springs to forgive $35,681 in outstanding apportionment debt for 2007 and to allow them to hold off paying $40,394 in outstanding 2008 apportionment payments until their 2008 parochial report in completed. While the parish has been working with the Congregational Development Committee, several Council members wanted to see specific data to determine if the parish was making a good-faith effort now to pay what it can. The matter will be taken up again at the Council’s June 20 meeting.
• Referred to the Finance Committee a plan to buy about $8,000 in videoconferencing equipment. A subcommittee of Council has been researching the possibility of diocesan groups using videoconferencing technology to save travel time and money. While Council was receptive to the idea, since the funds were not budgeted for 2009, the Finance Committee will be asked to look at the current budget to find a way to proceed.

--Jim DeLa