Educating Your Parish: One Church's Story

Christ Church of the Ascension is a Network parish in the Diocese of Arizona, overlooking the city of Phoenix. More than 500 parishioners worship on any given Sunday. Christ Church, founded in 1963 and a Network affiliate since September 2004, is a “Christ-centered, Bible-based parish worshipping in the Anglican tradition.” Since many perspectives are represented in the parish community, Christ Church has developed an aggressive education and communications program to keep members informed of challenges facing the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion.

“Being a Network parish in the Arizona desert, we felt somewhat distant from decisions being made on the national level,” said Jane Allred, a vestry member and senior vice president of a major digital marketing firm. “Those decisions, however, still impact us, and they were not being actively discussed within our diocese. Life pretty much was cruising along as it always had for us. We were running Alphas, confirming dozens of parishioners at a time, opening a pre-school, and practicing our ‘radical hospitality.’”

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