The Diocese of Easton’s Discernment Committee met on September 16 to review its work over the summer and to provide an interim report to the Standing Committee. The Discernment Committee’s work teams are Prayer, Communications, Data Gathering, and Diocese Comparisons. Here are some actions taken by the work teams:
- The Prayer Team has published several prayers to be used by members of the Diocese. The prayers are on the Diocesan website and have been communicated to the parishes. This summer 18 parishes reported they are regularly praying prayers for transition and discernment every Sunday and many have a prayer group including these prayers in their prayer time. The Prayer Team is working on translating these prayers into Spanish.
- The Communications Team has established a Transition webpage on the Diocesan website, and a prayer page as well. Updates of transition news are being posted on the webpage and other diocesan publications. The Team is encouraging a communications audit be conducted in the diocese.
- The Data Gathering Team is working with diocesan staff and reviewing diocesan and parochial reports to put together a profile of the diocese’s financial, membership, human resources and organizational structures.
- The Diocese Comparison Team is researching dioceses that are comparable with the Diocese of Easton to learn how they are organized and what they might teach us.
The Discernment Committee is holding off on engaging the diocese in discernment until the Diocesan Listening process gets underway with a diocesan-wide meeting on November 15 at Christ Church Kent Island. An interim report of the Discernment Committee’s activities was submitted to the Standing Committee on September 18. The Committee meets again on October 28.