Brotherhood of St. Andrew
Dallas Assembly
Episcopal Diocese of Dallas
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1Q10 CHAPTER DIRECTORS' MEETING HIGHLIGHTS The first Quarterly Chapter Directors' Meeting of 2010 was held Saturday morning, January 23rd at Holy Nativity Episcopal Church in Plano on January. The men of the Holy Nativity Chapter provided a continental breakfast, along with juice and coffee. The propose of the 1Q10 meeting was "brain-storming." It was intended to be a forum at which each chapter could discuss the way they operated, and outline what they felt were the strengths of their particular model. Participation was great! Approximately 30 men representing nine of the chapters in the diocese joined the Diocesan Officers and our Chaplain for the meeting. The photo below shows the main table. Overflow tables also had to be provided. These can be seen in the second photo.
Diocesan President, Robby Gerber stated that sharing the strengths and concerns of each chapter would further our capability to further our mission. Dates, frequency and duration of meetings vary from chapter to chapter. Two chapters meet once a month, six twice a month, and one, Incarnation, is just getting ready to start up again. Meeting days range from Thursday evening to Saturday morning to Sunday afternoon. Meeting durations range from one to two hours. Tony Federico (below) kicked off this part of the event, describing the frequency and format of the meetings for meetings held by the Holy Nativity Chapter
There was shared concern about the difficulty of recruiting younger members. Several members worried about being perceived as an "old men's bible study." Our Chaplain, Fr. Don Spafford (below) suggested that involving the young must be "intentional." An example would be providing service hours for high school youth needing these for graduation. Another speaker suggested "changing our model." Perhaps we could consider a base chapter of older members with sub-chapters of younger men or Hispanics. He pointed out that each of these groupings would involve men at more or less the same stage in life, hence with more common interests, joys and sorrows. Additional speakers mentioned the need to look at the needs of the church, especially evangelism, and to put together a critical mass of energetic men in each chapter.
Strong points raised mostly are fellowship and study. Visibility in the church and service projects were also mentioned. Barry Sullivan of Holy Trinity, Garland, (below) is shown providing a description of what the Chapter feels is their strong point and why they feel that way.
Events planned in each chapter for this Quarter were noted. These will be sent to our Diocesan Webmaster for posting. Don Candy and Robby Gerber are shown below discussing some of the upcoming events.
Larry Maxwell discussed the Brotherhood / Diocesan Habitat Ministry. The year 2010 will be the 5th year of the Brotherhood's commitment to build a house for $40,000. Full sponsorship of a Habitat house is now $65,000. Although fund raising came up a bit short in 2009, Larry is confident that the Brotherhood will be building its 15th house in the Fall of 2010. Contact Larry Maxwell if your parish would like to participate in this worthwhile ministry. Stay tuned for details. |
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Version 1.1, January 31, 2010 |
