The 213th Annual Council - Diocese of Virginia

Annual Reports
Commission on Church Planting
After the loss in 2006 of several planted churches and the chair of the Commission,
and after the missioner for church planting, the Rev. Victoria Heard moved to a similar
position in the Diocese of Dallas, the Commission and its leader, the Rt. Rev. David C.
Jones, revived the Commission’s work and addressed its future. Several changes were
made. Lucy-Lee Reed was selected by the Commission to act as convener and chair and
Tyler Fox was appointed as staff liaison. She generally meets weekly at the office with
Tyler. Also added was the Rev. Paul G. “Chip” Gunsten, representing the Evangelical
Lutheran Church.
The schedule of 4-5 meetings per year (with one retreat held at Roslyn in early Advent)
was maintained, but with added emphasis on annual face-to-face meetings with each
Church Planter and his/her leadership team, where progress in all areas is reviewed.
The membership of the Commission is composed of
Mrs. Lucy-Lee Reed, chair
The Rev. Jeunee Cunningham
The Rev. Paul G. “Chip” Gunsten
The Rev. Geoffrey Gwynne
The Rev. Paul Johnson
Mr. David Norton
Dr. Lissa Power-deFur
The Rev. John Thomas Sheehan
The Rev. Daniel “Peter” O. Worthington Jr.
Mr. Tyler Fox, Staff Liaison
The present roster of Church Planters includes
The Rev. Jeunée Cunningham, Vicar, St. Gabriel’s, Leesburg
The Rev. Rick Greenwood, Vicar, St. Clare’s, Richmond
The Rev. Geoffrey Gwynne, Vicar, Christ the King, Harrisonburg
The Rev. David Perkins, Vicar, All Souls’, Atlee
The Rev. Jesús Reyes, Vicar, La Iglesia de Santa Maria, Falls Church
The Rev. Richard Zalesak, Vicar, St. Francis’, Goochland
The church plants in the Diocese of Virginia have had interesting and exciting events
and progress in 2007. Two highlights were the visit of the Presiding Bishop, the Most
Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori, to La Iglesia de Santa Maria on Pentecost and the groundbreaking
ceremony for St. Francis’, Manakin Sabot first building on November 4.
Although these are lean times for church planting, we continue to strengthen and
support the plants we have, and pray that future gifts will allow us to begin new plants
once more.
Commission on Congregational Development and Revitalization
The Commission on Congregational Development and Revitalization was formed in 1994
with the mission to provide resources and tools to strengthen and revitalize existing
congregations in the Diocese of Virginia.
The Commission has worked on transitions in leadership and ways to serve the parishes
while also continuing certain programs during the 2007 year. We once again submitted
recommendations to Bishop Lee and the Executive Board for eight Mustard Seed
Grants in the amount of $143,714 to help those parishes in program and community
development. The Bishop and Executive Board approved those recommendations.
The Diocese of Virginia t Journal of the the 213 th Annual Council 135