DWTX Church Plant Awarded National Grant
The St. Nicholas Church Plant Initiative, led by the Rev. Beth Wyndham, has been selected to receive a Seed Grant of $30,000 from the Episcopal Church Executive Council.
At its October meeting, the Episcopal Church Executive Council approved thirty-four grants, totaling $689,500 for new church starts and Mission Enterprise Zones, following Resolutions A005 and A032 approved by General Convention in 2018 to solicit and recommend grants for new worshipping communities throughout The Episcopal Church. Eleven recipients of the one-time Seed Grant have gone through project discernment, including assessment and coaching; the maximum award in this grant category is $30,000.
“With this first round of grant funding, we are delighted to propel the Jesus Movement forward as we empower lay and clergy leaders to meet new neighbors and welcome new perspectives in the communities they serve," states the Rev. Canon Janet Waggoner, co-chair of the Task Force on Church Planting and Congregational Redevelopment.
The Rev. Beth Wyndham, and her spouse Jeremy, were commissioned this year as the diocesan Church Planters and have directed planting efforts along the U.S. 281 corridor, north of San Antonio and near Bulverde.
The Rev. Beth Wyndham, Diocesan Church Planter, shares, "I am grateful to receive this support from the National Church through the hard work of the Task Force on Church Planting and the Executive Council."
She elaborates further, "When writing the grant, I had the opportunity to reflect on the support I have been receiving from our diocese. We are living into Bishop Reed’s call to be a diocesan family of churches planting a new worshiping community. The support from Bishop Reed, my fellow clergy, the diocesan staff, and the faithful people of the Episcopal Diocese of West Texas add an abundance of joy to work I love deeply. This grant will allow us to empower people at St. Nick’s to share the love of Jesus with so many in our hill country area. We have big dreams for outreach ministries and children’s ministries and this grant is a blessing to help plant some seeds in those ministry areas."
Read The Episcopal Church news release at www.episcopalchurch.org/posts. For more information about St. Nicholas Episcopal Church, visit stnickshillcountry.org.
