Formerly called Department of Intercultural Evangelism and Mission (DIEM)

Contact:

Department of Missions: Vision

• That a rich variety of congregations be developed to include diversity in language and culture.
• That congregations will intentionally worship and work across cultural lines, listening to and learning from each other, collaborating and working to fulfill the Great Commission.
• That the diocese will encourage and support the spiritual and organizational growth of its new and existing mission congregations while respecting the need for good stewardship of both mission and diocesan resources.
• That mission congregations will be encouraged and supported to grow toward parish status to the greatest extent possible.

Department of Missions: Mission

We seek to serve and equip the people of the Episcopal Diocese of El Camino Real for ministry in our multi-ethnic society, by providing:

• Oversight of missions, including financial and organizational management
• Resources and financial accountability for missions (including distribution of budgeted diocesan funding for operations)
• Practical ideas and information for missions, especially for those sharing a campus with another congregation
• Help to plant new congregations and develop existing missions
• Assistance in developing partnerships between congregations of different ethnicities and among individuals and churches ministering to specific groups
• Awareness and proposals for response to demographic patterns and shifts within our diocese (racial, ethnic, language, and other patterns)
• Visibility for missions and promotion of their wider participation in diocesan convention and operations
• Support for verbal and written translation services to communicate with diocesan congregations in their primary language (as needed) and avoid barriers to participation. This is of particular importance for diocesan press releases, Bishop's monthly messages, pastoral letters, convention summaries, major policy documents, diocesan surveys, and similar official communications.

How is a new congregation created?

One common way is for a new congregation to work with the Diocesan Department of Intercultural Evangelism & Mission (DIEM).

DIEM meets each month to discuss how best to support the new and developing congregations of our diocese as they grow into bishop's congregations, missions, and finally parishes.

DIEM is now working with over a dozen active and growing congregations and their clergy, many of whom come from a variety of cultures and traditions. These new church plants, bishop's congregations, and missions often celebrate God in languages other than English.

What does DIEM do?

DIEM provides administrative and financial oversight, planning, and goal-setting with mission congregations in the Diocese of El Camino Real. This means that DIEM meetings balance a sense of celebration with the hard work of addressing the challenges all new organizations face.

Most of DIEM's time, money, and energy is taken up by work with its missions, bishop's congregations and new church plants. Currently, DIEM is not financially or organizationally responsible for parochial missions. Once a congregation is welcomed into union by the convention as a parish, it becomes independent of DIEM financial and organizational oversight. However, DIEM does work on behalf of evangelism, church growth, and advocacy for intercultural ministry throughout the diocese.

DIEM reports to the ECR Ecclesiastical Authority monthly and has regular interactions with many other Diocesan groups. DIEM will, from time to time, publish internal management documents. These will be available for review in the DIEM section of the diocesan web site in the DIEM Documents section.