PDF | Print | E-mail

When we launched St. James in 2009 we developed ministry solutions that both work for St. James and equipped St. James to help other churches start.  Our goal is to launch between two and five new churches each year.  Our long term goal is to help start 50 new churches and launch a new diocese centered in the San Francisco Bay Area.

In our first year we helped two missions get started.  St. John's in Orinda is our first.  Amazing Grace Anglican Fellowship in Roseville is our second.  All Saint's Anglican Church in Vacaville became a mission of St. James on January 1st of 2011.  All Saint's had been an Reformed Episcopal Church.  When The REC joined the Anglican Church in North America, All Saints experienced tremendous losses.  The remnant of this parish is now trying to rebuild. Holy Spirit in Folsom started in the spring of 2011, followed by St. Augustine's in Concord.  In 2012, Christ the Redeemer began in Davis, Redeemer Anglican began in Santa Cruz, Emmaus Anglican started in San Francisco, and a group is now forming somewhere in the Menlo Park - San Mateo Corridor.

Our first challenge in beginning a new mission is finding someone willing to try.  If you are a potential Church Planter we hope you will contact us so we can talk about the ways we can help you.

St. James helps in two main ways: Fr. Ed provides coaching and visits our missions on a regular basis.  Pat Morse, St. James Parish Administrator, provides administrative support.

The administrative support we provide is comprehensive.  Our goal is to provide thorough administrative support so that our missions can concentrate on building community and growing the mission. We support our missions with

• Liability Insurance.
• Book keeping, including database construction and updating, donation recording and tax receipt issuing.
• Banking.  Each Mission is provided with a bank deposit book for a local branch in their community where they can make deposits.  Deposits are placed in a fund designated for the mission.
• Online Giving
• Payroll with Direct Deposit & All Required Tax Forms.
• Website construction and training.

Fr. Ed connects with a key leader in each new church on a regular basis.  Currently this is once a month.  Plans are also being made for regular meeting of all mission leaders.  This meeting will foster community and help each mission learn from the others.  We will share best practices and celebrate accomplishments. we had our first such meeting in Spring of 2012 and look forward to having  2 - 3 meeting like this each year.

In his monthly visits, Fr. Ed helps each leader stay on track.  We teach a three stage process of launching a new church.  Each stage has multiple steps.  By approaching the challenge of launching a new church as a series of stages and steps we make the entire project manageable.  It is easy to become overwhelmed by all the work involved.  Fr. Ed helps each mission keep to the current stage and step.  He is also there to encourage each mission and help them feel connected to St. James and the other missions as well.