Join ECF for Collaborative Conversations
Where could you go to find stimulating conversations with other Episcopalians about congregational life and leadership? Right there on your own computer or phone, in a Zoom room, the fourth Thursday of each month at 2 pm ET.
ECF is convening monthly “Collaborative Conversations” around your questions – and perhaps some you’ve not thought of. Questions like:
- What about Episcopal worship needs to be re-tooled or reframed to be more inclusive?
- How can we create more safe spaces for risk-taking, experimenting, and failing fast?
- How can we help newcomers to our faith communities feel known, liked, and trusted?
Participants in each month’s conversation choose a sub-topic they’d like to explore in a small group of three to five participants. After about a half hour of conversation, the small groups return to the main room, bringing a “harvest” of thoughts and wonderings from their time together. For the final minutes of the gathering, the whole group, looking at the big picture, explores “What is the Spirit saying to God’s people?” in this moment and “What will you take home with you from this conversation?”
The follow-up to the conversations includes a digest of the insights learned during the call. Insights such as:
- How can we create a scenario where change is more the norm than the exception?
- Church can work as a "laboratory" where experiments and failures are opportunities to learn, rather than just focusing on traditional measures of success.
- What if congregations who struggle to have a full-time priest took up a "priest in residence" model to empower more lay involvement in the life of the church?
- As Anglicans, we are sometimes really good at remembering our past, but not as good as making it our own. But one of the beautiful things about our rich Anglican tradition is that we can – and sometimes should – adapt it! Yes, “Christ has died.” AND “Christ IS risen. Christ WILL come again.”
More than 100 participants from across the church receive a “Collaborative Conversations” reminder each month, and attendance has ranged between 20 and 40 attendees. If you’d like to join upcoming Collaborative Conversations, click here!
If you have questions or would like further information, please reach out to Demi Prentiss, ECF Program Director for Research and Development, at [email protected].