One of the "newcomer" networks in the Province is the World Mission/Companion Diocese Network, which brings together the chairs of the various committees, commissions, and departments devoted to the world mission activities of each diocese. This is new because we've never rounded up these dedicated servants of the Lord and only recently did we even venture to propose a province-wide meeting of these chairs for the purposes of exchanging information, sharing experiences and reinforcing the importance of world mission as part of the church's over-all commitment to mission in each diocese.

Though we did not manage to get the 2004 meeting off the ground, we will propose it again in 2005, hopefully selecting a centrally located site so the various chairs will be able to travel to it without undue expense. Meanwhile, we have 7 out of the 12 dioceses in the Province engaged in an official Companion Diocese relationship.  An official relationship is one in which both dioceses--the one in the U.S. and the proposed companion (generally one outside the continental limits of the U.S. but not so limited)-- have agreed through a formal approval by each one's jurisdictional body (diocesan convention or council)  to enter into a relationship for a specific number of years (generally three with renewal possibilities).

The decision to do so is then forwarded to the Companion Diocese Network office in New York and is placed before a meeting of the Episcopal Church's Executive Council for approval. It then goes into the record books as an official companion dicese relationship.

The focus of these relationships is mutual understanding, interchange of prayers, information, visits, expansion of knowledge about one another, exchange of successful programs such as Cursillo, and the sponsorship of mission trips for specific purposes. Each of the dioceses involved in the relationship gains from the other.

There is always a careful consideration of the possibility of imbalance (especially in situations where meeting obvious needs with funding seems to overshadow the importance of other interchanges.) Often the U.S. diocese discovers that it has as much if not more to learn from the overseas diocese as vice versa.   

In Province VII there are currently seven known official companion relationships and several informal ones. Each year each of the 12 dioceses in the Province are asked to prepare a report of their world mission activities during the year. This report is then presented to the Episcopal Church's Companion Diocese (CD) office and to the network's representatives around the country. Each province has a CD representative appointed by the president of the province  whose duties include serving as liaison between the Province and the national Church, offering assistance with resources when requested, assisting in the process of locating and matching a U.S. diocese with one overseas seeking a companion, and keeping the lines of communication open for all world mission and companion diocese chairs.

The Companion Diocese Network office in the Episcopal Church Center keeps a current list of all dioceses engaged in an official CD relationship and of those dioceses seeking such a relationship. There is also a printed Companion Diocese Handbook available to all persons engaged in world mission 

The Companion Diocese representative for Province VII is Lucy Germany, 327 Llano Bend, Big Sandy TX 75755. Email: lugermany@att.net

Comments and input from all dioceses in the province are welcome, as are requests for the handbook (printed in English and Spanish) and the current list of  companion relatiionships.