Documents

Vestries, Bishop’s Committees and other lay leaders undertake important administrative responsibilities in West Missouri’s churches. Look here for the latest Constitution and Canons of the Episcopal Church and The Diocese of West Missouri. Find the business manual and diocesan policies and procedures for a variety of topics along with required forms and instructions. Resources on this page support the work of pastoral leaders with updated directives concerning worship and pastoral care.

Note: You can press Ctrl f to search within this page.

Church Business

• 2021 Expense Reimbursement Request Form
• Church Safety and Insurance Handbook
• Disciplinary Board – Intake Officer Poster
• Emergency Response Plan – Version 2.
• Minimum Insurance Requirements 2015

Samples for Bylaws and Articles of Incorporation

• Bylaws
• Articles of Incorporation

Continuing Education

• “3 for $350” Continuing Education Program Application Form
• Continuing Education Completion Report Form

Other Documents

• Living Into Our Ministries – The Mutual Ministry Cycle
• Manual of Business Methods in Church Affairs
  A comprehensive, user-friendly manual which supports the increasingly complex work of all treasurers and parish administrators. Includes forms, such as the Parochial Report Form, with instructions.
• Church Check-list for completing the Episcopal Asset map

Pastoral Directions

• Pastoral Direction for West Missouri During the Current Pandemic — 4-13-2020
• Phase Two Pastoral Direction for Clergy and Parishes of The Episcopal Church in West Missouri — 5-04-2020
• Clarification Statement — For the Phase Two Pastoral Direction
• Addendum to the Phase Two Pastoral Direction for Clergy and Parishes of The Episcopal Church in West Missouri — 5-13-2020

Policies

Business & General

• Accountable Business Expense Policy – Oct. 2015
• Alcoholic Beverage Policy
• Carrying Firearms On Church Properties Policy
• Clergy and Lay Professionals Continuing Education Policy
• Discretionary Funds
• Expenditure Authorization Policy
• Media Guidelines and Policy
• Parochial Financial Audits Policy
• Sabbatical Policy of the Diocese of West Missouri

Liturgical Directives

• Confirmation Reception and Reaffirmation Policy
• Distribution of Holy Communion Within and Outside the Liturgies for Holy Eucharist
• Deacons and Weddings
• Eucharistic Minister and Eucharistic Visitor Training
• Historical Liturgies and Other Anglican Prayer Book Services
• Laying on of Hands and/or Anointing of the Sick
• Licensed Preachers Policy
• Ordinations
• Postulants and Candidates for Holy Orders and Public Worship
• Use of Enriching Our Worship – Supplemental Liturgical Materials

Marriage

• Celebration and Blessing of a Marriage (2)
• Declaration of Intent
• Solemnization Of Marriages Policy & Procedure
• Witnessing and Blessing of a Marriage

Remarriage

• Policy Regarding Remarriage Following Divorce
• Application for a Judgment of Marital Status and Permission to Solemnize a Marriage
• Remarriage after divorce report form

Photo & Video Release and Licenses

• Photographs, video, and other content webpage
• Church Poster, letter-sized (CMYK)
• Church Poster, letter-sized (RGB)
• Church Poster, .png image
• Church Poster, .png image (No QR code)
• Church Poster, black and white .png image
• Church Poster, black and white, .png image (No QR code)
• ‘We Love Pictures’, png image
• Release and Licence text

Prayer Cycle

• Diocesan Prayer Cycle
• Diocesan Prayer Cycle post images

Human Resources

• 2021 Health Plan Coverage Comparison
• 2021 Member Education Video
• 2021 Health Plan Premiums
• 2021 Minimum Clergy Compensation
• Clergy and Lay Professionals Continuing Education
• Mutual Ministry Review Preparation
• Mutual Ministry Review

Hiring & Staff

• Diocese Recommended Hiring Process—provides step by step process and templates for congregations to use in selecting employees and volunteers.
• W-2 or 1099
• Church Employment Application
• Conducting a Reference Check for a Child/Youth Worker
• Written Offer Letter
• Background and Prevention Requirements
• Background Request Form
• CPG New Hire Checklist – Lay Employee
• Mandatory Lay Pension – Letter from CPF 01-10
• Diocesan Staff Handbook — Designed for Diocesan Staff and can be used as “template” for congregations. Contact hr-finasst@diowestmo.org for a word document template.

Safeguarding and Misconduct Prevention

“Updates Coming Soon” … in the interim, contact hr-finasst@diowestmo.org for online enrollment.

• Policy and Procedures Regarding Prevention of Sexual Misconduct
• Covenant for Sexual Responsibility
• National Sex Offender Registry
• Confidential Notice of Concern

Lay Licensed Ministries

Background

• Of Licensed Ministries
• Policy on Licensed Preachers
• Eucharistic Visitor, Your Ministry

Guidelines and Requirements

• Eucharistic Minister Guidelines and Requirements – 2019
• Eucharistic Visitor Guidelines and Requirements – 2019
• Evangelist Guidelines and Requirements – 2019
• Pastoral Leader Guidelines and Requirements as of Feb 2017
• Worship Leader Guidelines and Requirements as of Feb 2017
• Preacher Guidelines and Requirements as of Sep 2020
• Catechist Guidelines and Requirements as of Sep 2020

Application Forms

• Eucharistic Minister and Eucharistic Visitor License Application 2019
• Worship Leader and Pastoral Leader License Application 2020
• Preacher License Application 2021-2023
• Catechist License Application 2021-2023

Lay Licensed Ministry Certificates

These files require a password to open them. Need the password? Contact at BishopsAssistant@diowestmo.org

• Eucharistic Minister 2019-2022 
• Eucharistic Visitor 2019-2022 
• Pastoral Leader 2017-2020 
• Worship Leader 2017-2020 

Background Request Forms can be found in the HR section

Ordination

See also the Liturgical Directives section in the Diocesan Tab, above. For information on the ordination process visit this page.

Discernment

• Discernment Handbook (Issue 2.02 February 2021)

Forms

• Nominee Information Form

Templates

• Candidacy Application Template
• Candidacy Support Template
• Deacon (Transitional) Application for Ordination Template
• Deacon (Vocational) Application for Ordination Template
• Nomination Template
• Nomination Acceptance Template
• Ordination Support Template
• Priest Application for Ordination Template

Misconduct Prevention

• See Human Resources (HR) tab above

Provincial

• Province VII

General Church

• Church Pension Group
• Church Publishing
• Church Safety and Insurance Handbook
• Constitution and Canons (English & Spanish)
• Episcopal Church, USA
• Parish QuickFind (previously known as “The Red Book”)
• Episcopal Clerical Directory
• Episcopal Dictionary
• Episcopal Relief and Development (ERD)
• Episcopal Cursillo Ministry
• Online “Book of Common Prayer”
• Parochial Report – Forms
• Parochial Reports – Online Filing

International

• Anglican Communion
• Anglican Cycle of Prayer
• Anglicans Online News

Broken Links

If you spot any broken links, please let me know at communications@diowestmo.org so we can fix them — thank you.

Help

What the icons mean

• Link to PDF file. The link may go directly to the pdf file. However, we are updating all PDF links to go to a page showing an embedded version of the file’s contents.
• Link to a diocesan webpage.
• Link to an external website. External links may also look like this.
• Link to a form that can be completed online.
• Link to video content. The content may be a diocesan video, or an external video. The wording should provide the context.
• Link to a file that can be downloaded. Typically (but not always), these will be Microsoft Word documents. You may need the latest version of Microsoft Word to be able to use these files.
• Link to an image file to be downloaded.

Updates