It seems much of the southern church has accepted a mentality of decline. Leaders in some places put a positive spin on churches shrinking, as their version of planning for the future involves selling off property, laying off leaders, and giving up on the next generation. It shouldn’t be that way.

“Just last week I had a call from 2 elders asking if we could send someone into a community to do training and get a church up and running” says Bishop David Parsons. “We aren’t planning to downsize, God wants us to grow!”

With this in mind, Diocesan leaders are working on a new church planting strategy. This will include proposing changes to our Canons to create a new category for congregations that are just starting out with a supported priest, so that they don’t have to worry about administration or finance while they build connections to the community and get ministries off the ground.

As a first step, the leadership of the diocese have begun prayerfully discerning which communities are ripe for the planting of a new congregation. Are there challenges? “Yes for sure!” says Archdeacon Pryor, laughing. “Some might think we’re crazy. As of right now, we don’t know any church planting priests, and the old missionaries who were experts at planting churches have been promoted to glory… but then again, I’ve never seen a problem God can’t solve!”.