One Church One School
Ministry Update

Sr. Bishop Lawrence L. Reddick, III, Presiding Prelate 8th Episcopal District
Rev. Pamela Blair, OCOS Episcopal Coordinator

“Teaching the value of life and the value of learning”

Our focus remains on the Vision for One Church One School to Teach the Value of Life and the Value of Learning and our organizational mission to support the children and youth in our communities in academic achievement, social behavior, and personal development.  Our efforts toward this mission commitment have shifted to meet the Quadrennial emphasis on being BOLD. To meet the demands of the new social environment, we are launching our new approach to excellence to get ALL A’s

ALL A’s Initiative: Advancing Awareness, Advocacy and Agency!

Awareness – The initiative will develop community programs to help fill in the gaps to support the educational and resource deficits students face. These programs will access the resources they need to obtain optimum academic achievement.

Advocacy – These programs will build bridges and community networks for parents and students to have training to understand better how to access available resources.

Agency – Provide forums for students, parents, and the community to share their concerns and to make impactful contributions to the social dynamic in their community as it relates to their education in and out of the classroom. This will be a platform for them to identify, inspire, and impact their community and who they are as individuals with diverse gifts and needs.

Regional Updates

Each OCOS Regional District Coordinator hosts monthly OCOS meetings to share partnership ideas, best practices, and ministry leadership

Sharon Roy – Tyler District OCOS Coordinator, hosted our September meeting on Ministry Volunteers.  The meeting agenda discussed how to maintain incentives, intentional collaboration within the district, and inspiration for our volunteers. Her presentation’s highlights included incorporating Senior Citizens into the OCOS partnership program, intergenerational volunteering, and collaboration between the district and community churches.

UPCOMING Meetings

  • Pamela Branch – Houston OCOS Coordinator, will host our October meeting; the agenda will be communicating with Gen Z (born 1995-2012) & Gen Alpha (born 2013-2025) and how to build intergenerational community partnerships. 10/25/2023
  • Phyllis Chalk – Beaumont OCOS Coordinator, Topic: Community Workshops Date: November TBD
  • **DECEMBER – Collaborative Town Hall Open Zoom Meeting OCOS Ministry Incentives Special Guest Speaker: Sharon Harris – Her Heart Can, Inc. – January 2024 Date: TBD
  • January – Rev. Pamela Blair-Episcopal Coordinator– Whole Health Wellness OCOS Ministry Initiatives Date: TBD
  • February – Rev. Tara Muhundrew- Dallas District OCOS Coordinator –Date: TBD
  • March – Rev. Tammy Black–Northwest Texas OCOS Coordinator – Community Partnerships Development Date: TBD
  • April – Rev. Patricia McGuire & Rev. Deborah Hoskins – Fort Worth District OCOS Coordinator – Community Parent/Teacher Partnerships – Date: TBD
  • **MAY Collaborative Roundtable Zoom Meeting OCOS Ministry Incentives

Central Texas: Tyler District – Ministry Updates

The Tyler District has a beautiful way of collaborating with the churches and schools in the community to create a network of partnerships that support more than one school. One of the ministry highlights was an intergenerational community lead card/letter-writing campaign where churches wrote letters to students for their birthdays and teachers to thank them. Sharon Roy, OCOS District Coordinator, led our September 19, 2023, meeting on Volunteer Engagement.

Southwest Texas: Houston District – Ministry Updates

At the start of the end of the school year 2022 and the beginning of this school year, regional and district One Church One School Partnerships in the Southwest TX Region focused on providing encouragement and support to the teachers at the schools where the churches are in partnership. 

The support has been by hosting various impromptu events & activities such as gift cards, small gifts in their mailbox, or a monthly lunch to give the teachers thanks & support.

The Region also celebrates its Graduates for this past year.

Miles Chapel OCOS Tweet
OCOS Miles Members
OCOS Serving Atherton Staff
OCOS Setting up
Principal and OCOS Coordinator
Houston District Updates
Miles Chapel completed the end-of-the-year activity providing the entire staff with an end-of-the-year barbecue lunch with all the trimmings, including a surprise goody bag. The staff was overwhelmed with gratitude for their thoughtfulness during the end of the year. Miles Chapel One Church One School representatives assured the staff that it was each of them who made a difference in the children’s lives at Atherton. 

Presentation on Volunteer Engagement presented by Tyler District OCOS District Coordinator.

2022-2026

One Church One School
Ministry Vision, Mission and Focus

Rev. Pamela Blair

Rev. Pamela Blair

Episcopal Director of One Church/One School Ministries

The purpose of the One Church One School Partnership ministry will support the Quadrennial Theme Be Bold: Face Now, Embrace Next, See New.

The planned initiatives are designed toward a strategy of collaboration in coordination with other ministries in the 8th Episcopal District to be effective in the schools and community.  

Ministry Vision

To provide community support via the servant leadership of the church that will help support members in the neighborhood in an environment of openness, inclusivity, and diversity to show the love as image-bearers of God. The primary work of the local church within the community schools is to support academic success and leadership development for students, embrace the demands of diverse neighborhoods and address the concerns and hopes of the community.

Ministry Mission

To develop sustainable programs meeting community needs. The focus will center on the following mission goals:

Value Added:

To encourage the active contribution of students to focus on inclusivity and diversity. The central purpose is that everyone has a purpose with value to contribute.
#1

Community Centered:

The community will be the recipients and participants in the church's programs per the community's needs
#2

Listen and Ask:

The work and programs offered will be from developing relationships with the community, creating an atmosphere of innovation involving the community in listening circles and conversations
#3

Servant Leadership:

The church will serve the community with opportunities for community/member ventures empowering the community to take the lead in their growth and development
#4

ONE CHURCH, ONE SCHOOL MINISTRY FOCUS OUTLINE: Community, Literacy, Education, and Outreach

Ministry Focus:
District Program Development

Community

Maintaining the essential purpose of the local church in the community, this area of ministry focus will examine the community's demographics and look at what the neighborhood offers and what the ministry needs. Examples of this will be if the surrounding community has families with food insecurities finding areas to create a community garden, salient programs for nutrition training can help empower and combat the food insecurities.

Literacy

In the context of communication and social change, the emphasis of this focus will be to address the needs of literacy. Specifically, literacy fluency in the following areas academic, digital, social, financial, and; healthily; another area of interest is to create programs to care for and generate respect for underserved populations in our community.

Education

This focus is to continue providing resources to local schools addressing the specific areas of need. A new effort is to strengthen support for students and their families in the areas of parent education, student mentorship, supplies, helping with meals for free and reduced lunch programs, programs that support life skills, and student leadership development.

Outreach

This portion of the ministry is to develop partnerships of advocacy and collaboration with existing programs and organizations that are doing work already in the community. The goal is to create a network for the community to learn about and access various resources.
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