2010
Leon Clement Mozeliak, Jr.
To Live or Die: What Criteria Help Determine Whether A Mission Can Grow Into A Parish: How Diocesan Dollars Should Be Spent
This thesis explores the potential for growth of mission congregations in varied developmental circumstances and their anticipated potential to evolve into congregations of parish status. When twenty- five or more adult confirmed communicants in good standing gather together as the Body of Christ in a given geographical location, in the Episcopal Diocese of Upper South Carolina, with the intent to form a mission congregation to spread the Gospel the approval of the Ecclesiastical Authority must be requested in writing. With the Ecclesiastical Authority’s determination that such organization is expedient, approval must be given by the Diocesan Executive Council. This thesis is offered as an aid in assisting Ecclesiastical Authorities and Diocesan/Regional Judicatories in their ministries concerning these small congregations which are often known as missions.