Continuing Education Information and Guidelines for 2007

prepared by

The Continuing Education Committee

The Diocese of Western North Carolina

 All clergy are encouraged to spend one or two weeks in continuing education each year. Participation in both degree and non-degree programs, in this country and abroad, is encouraged. Enrichment programs of various kinds which benefit the parish and diocese in some way are given priority in the grant process.

Active clergy who are canonically resident in the Diocese of Western North Carolina are eligible for grants. Applications from “first-time users” and clergy in smaller congregations are given relative priority. Commitments to applicants are made in the year and for the year of a given request.

 Applicants should be made in writing, utilizing a standard application form. The application must include an applicant description of the program for which the person seeks funding. Supplemental materials describing the program of study and/or the persons or agency with whom the applicant will be studying may be submitted with application form.

Copies of the application form are available upon request from the Chair of the Continuing Education Committee.  Three copies of the completed application form should be submitted to the Chair of the committee, along with at least one copy of supporting materials.

Applicants should allow at least a month for the committee to act on their applications and up to another month before anticipating the receipt of funds.  (Sometimes applicants do not have much lead time in their planning, so disbursement of funds to grant recipients is, on occasion retroactive. In cases in which diocesan assistance is crucial to planning for a continuing education experience, the committee needs to receive the application in a timely fashion.)

Persons receiving grants are asked to provide the committee with written report on their continuing education experience. These reports should be filed with the Chair of the Continuing Education Committee within one month of the completion of the project.  (The committee may also request, on occasion, that the grant recipient discuss his or her completed project with the members of the committee.)

Grants routinely involve a three-way split: one-third of the cost of the project is paid by the applicant: one-third by the parish; and one-third by the diocese through the Continuing Education committee grant.

Routinely the maximum grant to an individual is ten percent of the amount budgeted for disbursement by the Continuing Education Committee in a given year.

 For more information or question you may contact

The Reverend Ron Taylor        

St. Peter by the Lake     

8433 Fairfield Forest Road,  Denver, NC 28037

frronrbt@yahoo.com