ECF Partners with the Diocese of Chicago for Lay Leader Summit
An invitation to the 2025 Diocese of Chicago Lay Leader Summit took Demi Prentiss and Jacob Sierra to St. Andrew’s Downers Grove, IL, to present a March 1 workshop on being a better vestry member. More than 50 lay leaders came from as far away as Peoria, IL (a 2.5-hour drive) for the three workshops presented, including ECF’s “Called as Missional Guardians – Becoming the Vestry member Your Faith Community Needs.”
Any faith community’s Vestry must safeguard the congregation’s safety, health, vision, and unity. Vestry members must be guardians of four significant aspects of a faith community’s life: the assets, the flock, the guardrails, and the bridges. Take a look at the ECF workshop handout. Attendees at the ECF workshop chose one of the four aspects to explore within a small group and then came together to discern “What is the Spirit saying to us as God’s people” in this discussion, and “What are we taking home to our community?”
Some of the takeaways that participants named:
- We’re not alone.
- Be active, not passive!
- Tradition doesn’t mean you can’t change.
- Community is inside and outside.
- We are stronger together.
Take the discussion to your own Vestry or congregational leadership team! Read and download the handout here. Interested in resources for your Vestry or congregational leadership team? Learn about ECF’s Vestry Resource Guide and Finance Resource Guide on our website. Our Vital Practices site also has resources relating to Vestry, Vision & Planning for your congregation, Mission, and so much more! Click here to explore our ministry topics.
If you have additional requests for leadership resources, please get in touch with Demi Prentiss at [email protected] or Jacob Sierra at [email protected].