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March 20, 2024
Sisters and Brothers in the Diocese of Florida,
We pray that your journey through Lent is a time of deeper relationship with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Your Standing Committee continues to give our all to you and this Diocese, making progress in several areas.
I assure you that every member of the Standing Committee, the Diocesan Staff, and so many others who are partnering with us, have made significant progress in the past few months as we move forward as a diocese. Below are a few of the areas where significant progress is being made. This is not an exhaustive list.
Audits
- Posting the completed 2020 audit
- Beginning 2021 audit
- Reassign a staff member to help with daily accounting
- Allowing comptroller to focus more fully on audit process
- Prioritizing the audits as goal #1 until we are up to date on all audits
- Allocating resources and funds to accelerate audits
Diocesan Office
- Providing regular and consistent presence and support at the diocesan office
- Assessing and revising current policies and procedures
- Seeking a Chief Operating Officer
- Reassigning roles of diocesan staff to better meet demands and goals
Committees and Councils
- Appointed Convention Committee on Charter and Canons
- Empowering Diocesan Council to appoint other needed committees:
- 100th Anniversary Celebration for Camp Weed
- Nominating Committee
- Architectural Review Committee
- Convention Committee
Ongoing Areas of Focus (as communicated in December as part of long-term plan)
- Ordination Process - Commission on Ministry
- Temporary Pause on new persons entering the process to allow time for clear and consistent policies and procedures
- Finances
- Implementing a culture of financial transparency and accountability
- Website and Communications
- Adding webpages for Commission on Racial Reconciliation, Clergy Discipline (Title IV)
- More regular and consistent communication to the diocese
- Care of Souls
- Bp Benhase and Bp Stokes continue to be very busy with parish visits, confirmations, ordinations, and consulting with the Standing Committee
- Canon and Constitution
- Sending communication to clergy regarding “Cure”
- Reviewing and publishing lists of canonically resident clergy with and without cure, inactive canonically resident clergy, and non-canonically resident clergy with cure
- Establishing procedures and protocol for database management
Canons and Constitution
- Identifying prospective members to the 2024 Canons and Constitution Committee to begin work for the 2024 Annual Diocesan Convention on September 21, 2024
- Defining the word “cure” for our diocese based on other dioceses in Province IV and the Episcopal Church definitions
- Reviewing and publishing lists of canonically resident clergy with and without cure, inactive canonically resident clergy, and non-canonically resident clergy with cure
- Developing and publishing procedures for granting canonical residency and license to officiate
- Establishing procedures to regularly and accurately keep all diocesan databases up to date
Faithfully,
Your Standing Committee
The Rev. Teresa Seagle Mr. Keith Daw
The Rev. Sarah Minton Ms. Jackie Jones
The Rev. Justin Yawn Ms. Heather Prox
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