Workshops
There will be 8 sessions of workshops. Two workshops will be repeated and one is double-long, spanning 2 sessions. Expected times are indicated for each workshop. The schedule could still change. Click on the links below for descriptions. During each session there will also be at least one space for open Conversations of Possibility.
From a Mindset of Scarcity to Abundance: A Faithful Transformation in West Baltimore City - Darlene Clark & Amanda Talbot, St. Luke's Youth Center, Baltimore City - Tuesday, 10:30-11:15
Saint Luke’s Youth Center (SLYC) is a nonprofit organization that arose from the mission of the former St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in West Baltimore City. Though the church closed in 2020, its mission has continued to grow and thrive, transforming the lives of our city's families and those who walk alongside them. SLYC exemplifies how unwavering faith in the abundance of God’s love and generosity can shift our engagement from a mindset of scarcity and fear to one of abundance and hope.
Join us in celebrating the strength and courage that come from unwavering faith in the abundance of God's love, empowering us to go into the world in peace with gladness and singleness of heart.
Building resilient rural communities: Belonging through bridging - Biswa Das & David Peters, Iowa State University, Tuesday, 10:30-11:15, repeated 11:30-12:15
The rural Shrink Smart project in Iowa offers a unique perspective as they work with small and shrinking rural communities that have been able to protect quality of life and community services for their residents even as they lose population. The session is designed to discuss how this might have relevance for the work of faith communities.
Leaning into a Future Church: Values for a New/Old Way - Chantal McKinney, Root Thrive Soar & Lydia Bucklin, Episcopal Divinity School, Tuesday, 10:30-11:15
Join Chantal McKinney and Lydia Bucklin in an interactive conversation, sharing wisdom and experience as we dream and reflect together about what a thriving future church can and should look like. Topics will include macro-level shifts in church and society, mutual mission, Spirit-led decision making and discernment, and values of the future church that is emerging now.
Camerados and Public Living Rooms - Ellen Bruckner & Friends, Tuesday, 10:30-12:15, repeated 11:30-12:15
Camerados is a Social Movement that recognises the most important thing and what gets us through tough times is each other. Camerdaos answer to this are Public Living Rooms. Run by people in communities for their communities. Public Living Rooms create space without an agenda, where its ok to be a bit rubbish and no one will try to fix you. A space where the power is mutual, folk look out for and are alongside each other. It also feels and looks a bit like your living room, they are indoors and outdoors, happen as a one off or regularly. There are now over 250 Public Living Rooms in 5 different countries. This conversation is a fantastic chance to explore opportunities to create belonging through Camerados Public Living Rooms in your community.
Nuts & Bolts of Mutual Ministry - Leaders from the Episcopal Diocese of Northern Michigan, Tuesday, 11:30-12:15
This will be an opportunity to take a deep dive into the logistics and inner workings of Mutual Ministry as an ecclesial structure. We will answer questions such as
How does discernment work?
What does theological formation look like?
How does a Commission on Ministry support Mutual Ministry?
What are the roles of seminary trained professionals?
How is this model funded?
Root Thrive Soar: the three-year experiment of missional engagement in community - Chantal McKinney, Root Thrive Soar, Tuesday, 11:30-12:15
Three years ago, a small but diverse cohort of churches embarked on a three year journey (not a program!) to deepen their commitment to being the love of Christ in their communities. What did they learn? How did it happen? What could happen if your church joined with others to journey toward mutual community engagement, circular leadership, and decolonized expressions of church?
The structures of collaboration: How much chaos can we sustain, how much order do we need? - Katie Nakamura Rengers & Susan Oakes, The Abbey, Episcopal Diocese of Alabama, Tuesday, 3:30-4:15
Creativity, hospitality and community need chaos, uncertainty and the space to pivot! And they also require commitment, scaffolding and accountability. What does this lively, and sometimes contentious, dynamic look like - both in our smaller faith communities and in dioceses that are striving to support them?
In 2015, Katie founded The Abbey, a new missional community in the Diocese of Alabama. The community was primarily lay led for four years, before partnering with Susan as their Chaplain in 2024. Katie and Susan will tell the story of The Abbey community through the lens of their very different leadership styles, gifts and struggles. Katie will also offer what she has learned from working with New Episcopal Communities on the Presiding Bishop's Staff - including how dioceses might shift their thinking and practices to allow for more creative, missional expressions of the church.
Humanize My Hoodie Movement - Jason Sole, Humanize My Hoodie Movement, Tuesday, 3:30-4:15
Learning from Transition in North Dakota - Kim Fox, Robert Fox, Steve Godfrey, Jess Krzewina, and Brian Thom, Episcopal Diocese of North Dakota, Tuesday, 3:30-4:15
In 2021 the Episcopal Diocese of North Dakota began an an intentional 3-year process of transition following the Way of Love and focusing on administrative support to congregations and leaders; communications and events that help strengthen leadership; Sunday worship with regular Eucharist celebrations in places that is not always a given; developing teams in congregations and a School for Ministry; youth and a new generation of leadership; Reconciliation, especially with respect to historical trauma and indigenous/non-indigenous relations; and developing a plan for a New Season of Ministry. In this workshop we will present and reflect on some of what we learned in those three years and welcome questions and conversation.
New Visions for Christian Ministry and Church Structure from the Missionary Past: Roland Allen and Lesslie Newbigin in Conversation - Jesse Zink, Montreal Dio, Tuesday, 3:30-4:15
As Christians consider changing forms and structures for their witness in a secular and pluralistic world, this workshop investigates two dissenting voices from the missionary past whose ideas can offer new vision and ideas for Christians in the 21st century. Roland Allen was an earlier 20th century Anglican missionary in China who was profoundly dissatisfied with the then dominant approach to mission. He articulated a new path to ministry and church formation that stressed local leadership and a desire to move past large institutions and the overriding power of money. Leslie Newbigin was a mid-20th century Presbyterian missionary in India who sought to put Allen's ideas into practice and believed Christian mission and Christian unity went hand-in-hand. By exploring the work, ministry, and ideas of Allen and Newbigin this workshop will give attendees concrete ideas for how to restructure church institutions and prepare ministry leaders oriented towards faithful and creative Christian witness in today's world.
Using Liturgical Direct Action to Create Social Change - Brandon Wrencher, Rally NC, Tuesday, 4:30-5:15
What if we saw the miracle acts of God in Scripture as stories of the people joining God in collective action? What might shift in your ministry to the community if you and your people reenacted the liturgy in the public square as a tool of resistance and social imagination? Come learn about how a North Carolina faith community used a community organizing methodology called liturgical direct action to partner with the community for social change through an Away With the Mangers advent housing justice campaign.
Gathering Around Collective Contemplative Practices - Jonathan Myers, West Central Abbey, Spokane, Washington, Tuesday, 4:30-5:15
In a time where people people are intensely divided around ideas and hyper individualized by social media, having opportunities for people to do things together highlights our shared humanity and need for community. Shared experiences are known to bring people together, deepen community, and broaden relationships. When shared experiences allow space for intentional listening to Spirit together then we can build collective resilience, hope, and love for sustaining and realizing the way of love in community. In this conversation, we will explore specific contemplative practices such as pilgrimage, imaginative prayer, and examen.
Opening the Book of Nature - Lanni Lantto, UP Wild, Tuesday, 4:30-5:15
A part of what we do at U.P. Wild Church is reclaim our connection with Gods’ great congregation roaming freely beyond the church walls. Jesus deliberately spent time in the wilderness, and the fact that he did so shows us that there is an opportunity in nature that relates to our spiritual hunger for the presence of God. What are the ways in which we can creatively be church outdoors? We will experience a Nature Prayer Service, Wonder and Ponder, Prayers with Creation, Passing the Peace + more.
Regional Mission: Renewing Hope in the Heartland - Betsey Monnot, Meg Wagner, Jay Elmquist, Suzanne LeVesconte, Episcopal Diocese of Iowa, Tuesday, 4:30-5:15
The Diocese of Iowa’s Regional Mission Initiative (RMI) is an immersive program to support and strengthen our lay and clergy leadership in small churches to address the challenges facing our shrinking, rural communities that is just being launched this year. Join us to hear about how we plan to work with clay land clergy leaders to:
Find new ways to invest in the health and welfare of their towns to sustain vibrant community in the midst of depopulation realities
Provide coaching in relational work to develop new partnerships within their local communities
Companion and nurture new expressions of church where there is no current Episcopal presence within an hour’s drive
Encourage and support creative public projects to be more visible as a progressive, inclusive faith tradition
Support ongoing leadership formation and discernment for ordination, including robust Christian formation for all ages and lay ministry training
Discern and develop sustainable leadership options to best serve their vision and mission
Gather and share information and resources across the regions and our diocese
Casa Maria: A Ministry of Radical Hospitality - Julie Luna and Cyara Carabarin Carretero, Casa Maria/St Nicholas Episcopal Church, Richfield, MN, Tuesday, 4:30
Casa Maria is a collaboration between the families of St. Nicholas Episcopal Church and many community partners. It began during COVID to address the needs of food insecurity among our immigrant families, and has blossomed into a safe community space where anyone is welcome to gather to share resources, attend a health clinic, receive free groceries, study English, and attend a Spanish-language worship service. Come learn about the joys and challenges of sustaining a ministry among the most vulnerable.
Music that Makes Community 101: a Laboratory of Learning, Discovery, and Communal Joy - Conie Borchardt, Executive Director of MMC and other MMC practitioners, Wednesday, 10:45-12:30
How can you use music to build community? Come and experiment with song and musical forms you can use in worship and beyond, reflect on what we observed with others, and start to hypothesize future experiments. Join Music that Makes Community practitioners for a double session of exploring paperless singing and the leadership practices that build and strengthen community!
The Unchurched Gen Z - Eric McIntosh, Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh, Wednesday, 10:45-11:30
I invite you to get to know the Church of tomorrow if you dare. We should stop complaining about the generational gaps and get to know those who do not necessarily want to get to know you. Or do they? Language is everything. How and why they gather is everything. I invite you to come and consider what they say, what they hear and what they won't listen to. Then let's imagine the legacy of church we leave them. Tomorrow's Church should include their imagination.
Denominational Identity, Collaborative Leadership, Renewal & Evangelism - Steve Godfrey, Episcopal Diocese of Northern Michigan, Wednesday, 10:45-11:30
Episcopalians often identify with a lot of hierarchical markers – bishops, vestments, titles, clerical collars, Eucharistic worship led by presbyters, regal language in beloved hymns, imperial architecture, canons and conventions, Robert’s Rules of Order. Lutherans, Methodists, Roman Catholics, and others also have identities bound up with certain structures of order that can make it hard to be creative and collaborative and really share Good News. Join a conversation about how we can honor our cherished identities and move beyond the barriers they create, and how we can challenge some of these barriers so they are less of a barrier to reimagining church, community, and leadership.
Camp as Cathedral - Jerusalem Greer, The Proctor Center, Diocese of Southern Ohio, Wednesday, 10:45-11:30
Camp as Cathedral - It is no secret that membership among American mainline churches, places that were once key hubs of social connection and spiritual growth, is in decline. What is also no longer a secret, thanks largely to a new report from the US Surgeon General, is that Americans are lonelier than ever. And according to this report, entitled, The Surgeon General’s Advisory on Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation, and the Healing Effects of Social Connection and Community, religious organizations – including the Christian church - bear some responsibility for this epidemic and its remedy. A remedy that will take both intention and imagination on the part of church leaders and their remaining members. While religious affiliation and how people connect are simultaneously changing, so is how Americans – religious and non-religious- experience their spirituality. At the end of 2021, a poll entitled Jesus in America looked at American opinions and habits regarding religious life. One surprising piece of data revealed that most everyone, regardless of religious profile, agreed that being outdoors or in nature is spiritually fulfilling. It is at the intersections of these emerging realities - the decline of American mainline churches, the epidemic of loneliness, and the increased desire to connect with God in the very place which we have neglected most of all-the Earth and her natural bounty - that an opportunity for the Body of Christ to reclaim and proclaim the Good News of a Triune God who is relational, creative, and deeply in love with all of Creation – “from soils, waters, and clouds to earthworms, fish, and people” presents itself. Worship movements such as Wild Church , Farm Church and Hiking Church have already begun to sprout up across the country and across denominations, rising to this challenge. People are no longer just meeting God outdoors alone on solitary walks or fishing trips, they are also gathering together outdoors to meet God., There is significance in this trend since, according to Priya Parker, a gathering researcher and facilitator, how we gather shapes how we think, feel, and make sense of the world. “Gathering”, according to Parker, is the conscious bringing together of people for a reason. Parker believes that, ultimately, her call as a writer and practitioner in this area is to “help people experience belonging.” Like Jesus with the disciples in the garden, or with the multitudes on the shore, shouldn’t the Church be about the work of bringing people together for a reason, such as new life in Christ, and to help people experience belonging, belonging to God, to creation, to each other, and even to themselves? As people who bear the image of the Triune God who sets the lonely in families, listens to the needy, and fixes breakfast for his friends, is this not also our call? As the Body of Christ, shouldn’t we follow the example of a God who comes close to us, meeting people where they are, including the great outdoors? And if the answer is yes, how might we gather and organize (seeing as how we are an organized and communal religion) intentionally in outdoor spaces? As an Anglican (of the Episcopal Church of America variety) I am familiar with the presence of Cathedrals within a geographically ecclesiastical location, where they are meant to serve the “community as the mother church of its area and the seat of a bishop” (CoE website). Cathedrals in our tradition are meant to enhance a community’s spiritual life, root the Church to a place and its people, and contribute to the social and economic activity of the larger community beyond its walls. The Very Rev. Canon Gary Hall, former dean of Washington National Cathedral, wrote the following in an article entitled “The Purpose of Cathedrals” for the Anglican Theological Review in 2014: “Cathedrals do have a potential for reaching constituencies not normally served by parish churches. Their spaces, their programs, their function as community gathering places can draw a range of people (devotees of the arts, skeptics, the spiritual but not religious, those who doubt the credibility of the institutional church, to name a few) who would never consider going to a local parish. Cathedrals are uniquely positioned to engage the world in a way no other church community can.” What we know now, on the other side of 2020 in particular, is that the world and its inhabitants are - in some ways - very different than they were a decade ago. Which means that we have to think more inclusively in terms of where and how we are to be the Church and do the work of the Church (as well as church work.) The Jesus in America study and the Surgeon General’s report alone tell us that. As a newly appointed Co-Executive Director of an Episcopal Camp & Conference Center, I have begun to wonder if perhaps Camps are also uniquely positioned to engage both the church and our communities in a similar manner, connecting folks - to God, each other, and the great outdoors as a relational, spiritual and formational experience. With intentionality of vision and purpose, rooted in a theological understanding of God that is deeply relational, I believe Camps can become a new kind of Christian community, one centered around shared identity and purpose that is different from a secular camp, - an identity and way of being that is rooted in the love of Jesus and embodied in the ministries of practices and place. This workshop would focus on the findings of my research on this topic and would explore how Camps are an essential part of the emerging new life of the Church.
Beyond the Pew: Creating Space for Multi-Modal, Intergenerational Worship - Mary Groeninger, St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, Ely, MN, Wednesday, 10:45-11:30
What if having a church that truly welcomes people of all ages to our Sunday morning services means radically reinventing what our worship spaces and liturgical practices look like? Mary will share what happened to her church when they left pews, sermons, and Sunday school behind, and figured out creative, multi-modal, intergenerational ways to worship together. She'll share what challenged the community and what brought us joy. There will be lots of time for questions and sharing your experiences.
Is Effective Liturgy Even Possible in Contemporary Society? And if so, what's it need to look like? - Don Phillips, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Wednesday, 11:45-12:30
Especially in the last few decades (as a culture of largely-secular postmodernism has taken hold in the west) the Church has continued to (desperately) try and figure out how to attract people to worship in ways that are meaningful. But some 60 years ago a German RC theologian was already challenging us with this question: ""Is not the liturgical act and, with it, all that goes under the name of ‘liturgy’ so bound up with historical background – antique or medieval or baroque—that it would be more honest to give it up all together?"
In a guided discussion we'll explore this challenge, learn a little about what needs to happen for the worshiper, and share ideas and experiences that help make it happen.
Our Churchland: Ministry & Community - Brian Sellers-Peterson, Faithful Agrarian & Good News Gardens, Wednesday, 11:45-12:30
We will explore how the churchland we are called to steward can be a vital and transformational part of our ministry and community engagement. We will share how we encounter and live in community with the whole of creation on our churchland, with our neighbors, watershed, and beyond. Issues around land acknowledgement and reparation will a part of our conversation. Bring your stories!
Seeking Transformation Through God-Given Gifts - Jenny Grant, Episcopal Relief & Development, Wednesday, 11:45-12:30
Asset Based Community Development (ABCD) is the methodology used by Episcopal Relief & Development globally in both development and disaster response work. It invites community transformation by asking what has God given us instead of asking what do we need. In this workshop, we will look at what it means to discern and honor the God-given gifts that move us closer to a world that God intended for us all. It will also be an introduction to ABCD and provide resources for how you and your community can go deeper.
Spirituality of Hozhó: The Beauty Way - Cornelia Eaton, Episcopal Church in Navajoland, Wednesday, 11:45-12:30
Diné (Navajo) Episcopalians have a unique relationship with Christ rooted in their shared walk along the sacred path in the teachings of the Diné spirituality and Christian spirituality as one common faith. The essence of Hozhó is to live in harmony in creation with Jesus as the center of our sacred circle. Our hope will focus on how God, through the lens of the Diné spirituality, brings us into relationship in a world that is in the need of harmony.
Spiritual Tools for Vestries and Leaders - Rebecca Hall, Iona Collaborative, Wednesday, 3:30-4:15
The rapid pace of change in the religious landscape makes discernment an ever-more important spiritual practice for church leaders. How do we listen for God's call together? What is our next faithful step? Why are we so exhausted? Discernment is something we usually do alone, for our own spiritual journey. The Iona Collaborative has developed some tools for vestries or other leadership teams that help guide groups through a conversational process of discerning how to be faithful together.
Sacred Fusion - Anthony Francis, Baltimore’s Coalition for Positive Change, Wednesday, 3:30-4:15
Sacred Fusion: We fuse the healing powers of the arts to pray, reflect, and cultivate spiritual relationships while integrating culture as a bridge to connect faith-based organizations to the communities where they serve. Our message of hope, solidarity, and empowerment is for any faith or anyone who believes in the strength of unity.
Small Church Vitality - Rick Swenson, Episcopal Diocese of Minnesota, Wednesday, 3:30-4:15
The reality of rural America and our Churches; rethinking Church growth and the historic place of the Church in rural communities; imagining uses of our Church buildings, the Church is not just a building; getting out of our denominational “silos.”
Exploring the Two-Loop Theory of Change - Ellen Bruckner, Wednesday, 3:30-4:15
Living Systems have a life cycle meaning they are constantly and naturally moving from birth toward death. Over 20 years ago Margaret Wheatley and Deborah Frieze of the Berkana Institute developed a model/map of how change works in living systems. The map invites us to reflect on where our organization/church is in its life cycle and what kind of leadership is most useful in this particular part.
In living systems, change doesn’t happen in a linear or predictable way. As they emerge, new forms are born within and are often nourished in the old forms. Leaders need to find ways to recognize and honor the resources of the legacy system which will then support the emergence of the new - all the while navigating the emotional terrain of loss, grief, disappointment, creativity, and excitement happening each moment in that living system.
The two-loop model helps to understand a non-linear theory of change and helps assess where strengths lie and what connections and capacities need to be developed to work with emergence.
This will be a participatory workshop exploring the two-loop theory of change. Folks should come ready to dig into some deep questions as well as actively assess where they are in their systems at this moment.
Thinking Theologically About Church Decline - Regina Walton, Harvard Divinity School, Wednesday, 3:30-4:15
We have lots of data about church decline, what some are calling the “Great Dechurching.” What we do not have are robust conversations happening at all levels of the Church that engage both this data and the resources of the Christian theological tradition to think about our future. Instead, we tend to use images, metaphors, and concepts from the business world, the marketplace, or sociology, without seeing these demographic changes through the lens of Christian faith. A lack of robust dialogue or a functional “decline denial” leaves our communities vulnerable and unprepared for the coming membership collapse of the next ten years.
This workshop has a dual focus: to explore what exactly members of our churches and worshipping communities need to know about the Great Dechurching broadly and in their own regions, aside from their personal experience of church decline; and to begin crafting the language we need out of the baptismal covenant we share. I will present one theological approach to this phenomenon that I have been working on, called Remnant Ecclesiology. Then we will open it up: what images, metaphors, stories, and concepts from our faith tradition and the natural world speak to us in this moment? In ten years, what conversations will we wish we had had this year? What language do we need to have them now?
Five Loaves, Two Fish, Twelve Volunteers - Elizabeth Mae Magill, Small Church Collaborative, Wednesday, 4:30-5:15
Mission from a baptismal ministry perspective. Small churches can have big relational direct service ministries by inviting the people in need to be volunteers. Hear stories from from churches that have changed themselves and their guests by imagining that everyone has something to offer.
Faith Filled-Families - Donna Sweeting, Virginia Theological Seminary, Wednesday, 4:30-5:15
Join us for an insightful workshop focused on empowering families to become the primary faith formation leaders of their children. In this session, we will introduce the concept of Faith-Filled Families, (a Virginia Theological Seminary Initiative funded by Lilly Endowment Inc.) and explore practical strategies to support parents in nurturing their children's spiritual growth.
Discover what parents are saying about their needs and desires in this crucial role, and learn how to curate and recommend resources that align with these needs without adding stress. Through interactive discussions and hands-on activities, participants will gain valuable insights and tools to guide families in creating a nurturing and faith-enriching environment at home.
This workshop aims to equip attendees with the knowledge and confidence to empower parents, ensuring that they feel supported and capable in leading their children's spiritual journey.
The Beloved Community Lens - Eric McIntosh, Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh, Wednesday, 4:30
I invite you to explore with me how Jesus shapes Beloved Community thinking. How might his love ethic change how we see him, hear him? What else could the parables teach us? What does Beloved Community insist we consider when we engage the scriptures seeking understanding toward shaping and decolonizing our faith and how we live in community?
Extraordinary Boards - Dina van Klaveren, Episcopal Diocese of Maryland, Wednesday, 4:30-5:15
Many non-profit boards and similar governance structures oversee critical areas of mission and ministry alongside our faith communities. This workshop focuses on creating an atmosphere where boards excel at their vocation together for the good of the world. Using the group needs model as a tool, we will share practices to enhance a collaborative and rewarding atmosphere as well as ministry effectiveness.