About Region 3 of the
Episcopal Diocese of Virginia
The Diocese of Virginia is composed of 180 or so Episcopal congregations in the Commonwealth of Virginia in an area defined on the north by the Potomac River, on the south by the James River (which flows through the City of Richmond), on the east by the Chesapeake Bay, and on the west by the West Virginia border. The Episcopal Diocese of Virginia represents more than 81,000 baptized members and almost 400 clergy. Both in terms of number of communicants and geographic size, the Diocese of Virginia ranks second of all Episcopal dioceses.
The Episcopal Diocese of Virginia is divided into 15 geographical regions, each of which has a Dean (a clergy person), a President (a layperson) and a Regional Council (the clergy and lay representatives from each parish in the Region).
Region 3 of the Diocese of Virginia includes the 9 congregations in Arlington County: Iglesia Cristo Rey, Iglesia San José, St. Andrew’s, St. John’s, St. George’s, St. Mary’s, St. Michael’s, St. Peter’s, and Trinity.
The Region 3 Council is composed of clergy and elected lay delegates from each of the Region 3 congregations to coordinate the ministries of the individual member parishes and share information about the “wider church.” Lay delegates are elected by their vestries. The number of lay delegates from each congregation is dependent upon the number of confirmed communicants in good standing each congregation: each congregation is entitled to one lay delegate. However, every church having more than 300 confirmed communicants in good standing reported to the Diocesan authorities in the last annual report is entitled to an additional lay delegate for each 300 confirmed communicants in good standing, or major fraction thereof, above the first 300. This means that congregations having 456 confirmed communicants in good standing are entitled to two lay delegates, and congregations having 607 are entitled to three delegates, etc.
When restructuring the Diocese in 1971, the Council’s vision was that the Region bring local congregations and churches into coordinated planning and action. Regions were asked to develop programs, especially in the areas of Christian education, Christian social relations, missions and stewardship, but not restricted to these programs. The idea was that the regional program would be a composite of the specific programs from the parishes.
The Region 3 Council meets periodically throughout the year.