Committees and Commissions
In certain circumstances (see the diocesan Canons) the Standing Committee is the ecclesiastical authority of the Diocese of Virginia in the absence of the Bishop. The committees and commissions of the Diocese of Virginia serve specific ministries or program areas to support the work and vision of the Church. Membership to a commission is through appointment by the bishop, who will review nominations for commissions, and subject to approval by the Executive Board. The Executive Board meets five times a year and will consider the bishop’s appointments for approval for commission membership at their regularly scheduled meetings. Committees and Commissions are dedicated to creating effective and helpful resources and programs to benefit the life of the Diocese around a specific area. Groups and individuals in the Diocese of Virginia may use this nomination form to nominate (or self-nominate) someone for a particular committee or commission of the Diocese.
Creation Care Committee
Questions? Email the Creation Care Committee at creationcare@episcopalvirginia.org.
Committee on Congregational Missions
The Committee on Congregational Missions works to support the mission churches of the Diocese of Virginia. The committee chair is the Rev. Webster Gibson, Rector of Christ Church, Winchester.
Diocesan Mission Churches
- All Souls Church, Mechanicsville
- Buck Mountain Church, Earlysville
- Calvary Church, Hanover
- Christ Church, Brandy Station
- Christ Church, Lucketts, Leesburg
- Church Of Our Saviour, Montpelier
- Church Of The Good Shepherd, Bluemont
- Church of the Holy Cross, Batesville
- Church of the Incarnation, Mineral
- Epiphany Church, Oak Hill
- Good Shepherd of the Hills Church, Boonesville
- Grace Church, Bremo Bluff
- Grace Church, Stanardsville
- Holy Cross Korean Church, Falls Church
- Immanuel Church, King And Queen Court House
- La Iglesia de Cristo Rey, Springfield
- La Iglesia de San Jose, Arlington
- La Iglesia de Santa Maria, Falls Church
- Grace Church, Red Hill
- Meade Memorial Church, White Post
- St. Andrew’s Church, Marshall
- St. David’s Church, Aylett
- St. Francis’ Church, Manakin Sabot
- St. Gabriel’s Church, Leesburg
- St. George’s Church, Pine Grove, Stanley
- St. John the Baptist, Ivy
- St. John’s Church, Columbia
- St. Luke’s Church, Simeon
- St. Luke’s Church, Remington
- St. Paul’s Church, Ingham, Shenandoah
- St. Peter’s Church, Richmond
- Varina Church, Henrico
Committee on Ecumenical & Interfaith Relationships
The Committee on Ecumenical & Interfaith Relationships works to strengthen partnerships and understanding with other faith groups. Each year, the Committee participates in the LARCUM Conference, a meeting of the Lutheran, Anglican, Roman Catholic, and Methodist Churches in Virginia. The committee chair is the Rev. Nik Forti, Rector of The Fork Church, Doswell.
Committee on Liturgy & Church Music
Using diocesan guidelines, this Committee plans and implements diocesan worship services and represents the Diocese at the National Liturgical Conference. The Committee also provides the Leadership Program for Musicians. The Rev. Crystal Hardin, priest in the Diocese of Virginia, is the committee chair, and the Rev. Canon d’Rue Hazel, Canon to the Ordinary, is the diocesan staff liaison.
Commission on Ministry
The Commission on Ministry (COM) is a body of elected and appointed persons representing both lay and ordained people in the diocese who advise the Bishop around various aspects of the preparation and conduct of ministry (Title III) and in particular, the discernment and formation of those who are called to Ordained ministry as deacons and priests. The COM takes a holistic and global view of vocational formation, as outlined by the Canons, and ensures that its committees have the resources and support to enact the work outlined in the Canons.
In Virginia, the Commission on Ministry is comprised of several different sub-committees who together, engage the work of discernment and preparation of people for ministry in the church. Every person elected or appointed to serve on the Commission on Ministry is also engaged with one or more of these working committees. Elected members serve for 3-year terms, and Bishop-appointed members serve a single year term. The Rev. Dr. Sarah Kye Price, Vocations Minister, is the diocesan staff liaison.
Committee on Parish Youth Ministries
Parish Youth Ministry, also known as PYM, is a committee of the Diocese of Virginia that is exclusively made up of 25-30 high school students from around the Diocese. This committee of diocesan youth enables young people to be full and active participants in the life of the Church. PYM organizes youth events and promotes youth involvement, in addition to providing support at Annual Convention meetings. PYM plans and leads Shrine Mont Weekends for Middle and High School age students each year. These events are an opportunity for students from around the Diocese to come together with their peers for a weekend at Shrine Mont.
Ministry for Racial Justice and Healing
The sin of racism has infected our hearts as Americans and as a Church since the time of our founding. Dismantling racism for the sake of all people includes the hard work of naming our complicity in structures that disproportionately benefit white people. It also includes the holy and life-giving work of becoming anti-racist. The Ministry for Racial Justice and Healing’s mission is to actively engage the Diocese of Virginia in creating sustainable programs to dismantle racism, white supremacy, and the legacy of colonialism through education and advocacy with social, governmental, and ecclesiastical systems.
Truth and Reparations Taks Force
The 227th Convention passed Resolution R-10a in November 2021, which committed the Diocese to create a $10,000,000 fund for reparations to benefit Black, Indigenous, and peoples of color communities. The resolution cites that “the Episcopal Church and the Diocese of Virginia have a long history of support for and complicity with chattel slavery, violence against Indigenous peoples and land, segregation and other racist systems.” It further acknowledges that the Diocese “is home to numerous church buildings constructed by enslaved people, and many parishes within the Diocese of Virginia are grappling with their history of support for slavery and white supremacy, and their ongoing complicity in racial injustice.”
The Truth and Reparations Task Force was created, per R-10a’s instruction, to “identify and propose means by which repair may begin for those areas of our structures, patterns, and common life by which Black, Indigenous, People of Color ….still carry the burden of injustices, exclusions, and biases born out of white supremacy and the legacy of slavery.”
Triangle of Hope
The Triangle of Hope is a covenantal community between the dioceses of Liverpool (England), Kumasi (Ghana), and Virginia dedicated to transforming the long history, ongoing effects and continuing presence of slavery in our world through repentance, reconciliation and mission.
Participants in the Triangle of Hope Youth Pilgrimage prepare together through worship, prayer, study and retreats throughout the year, then travel as pilgrims to another diocese or host fellow pilgrims here in Virginia each summer for three summers.