Diocesan Vitality Initiative
- Click Here for Presiding Bishop Michael Curry’s Endorsement of DVI
- Click Here to view the DVI Briefing Booklet
What is ECF’s Diocesan Vitality Initiative (DVI)?
A pilot program by ECF to partner with dioceses in identifying adaptive challenges and creating processes for renewal, redevelopment, and revitalization. DVI aims to give rise to a more expansive, inclusive vital future for The Episcopal Church.
DVI Goal
Create an adaptive, generative diocesan culture for resourcing local faith communities in effectively engaging God’s mission.
Distinguishing marks of DVI pilot dioceses:
- Faith that compels them to focus on the new thing God is doing
- The willingness to define a path beyond tweaks and technical fixes
to a culture of adaptability - The courage to disrupt systems that are no longer serving mission
- The tenacity to develop practices and structures that reimagine deploying human, financial, and physical assets to do the work of becoming Beloved Community
Dioceses commit to
- Full engagement with the DVI pilot process of Define | Disrupt | Develop
Including:
- Commitment to working with the DVI team
by signing a letter of engagement - Payment of a nominal participation fee
- Diocesan team of six (including the bishop)
working together to implement DVI - Presence and participation in virtual (Zoom) gatherings
- Full engagement with an ICF-credentialed coach who will facilitate the pilot process. The diocesan coach will be selected by the diocese from an ECF roster and sponsored (funded) through the DVI Vitality Fund
- Willingness to host one of two in-person cohort gatherings of the four participating diocesan teams, and to attend the gatherings in person
- Readiness to engage the entire diocese in addressing adaptive challenges
- Utilization of content coaches provided by ECF for
vision and systems work, etc. - Participation in a four-diocese learning cohort
- Implementing a process for incorporating adaptive strategies
into the life of the diocese - Participation in creating, improving, and evaluating the DVI process with candid and constructive feedback
- Sharing learnings with the wider church
- Pre- and post-pilot surveys and following completion of Define | Disrupt | Develop phases, quarterly follow-up accountability for one year
ECF commits to
- Full engagement with the diocese and their coach in Defining, Disrupting, and Developing diocesan systems to re-vitalize and enrich the life of the diocese
- Sponsorship (funding) of an ICF-credentialed coach for each diocese and content coaches as needed
- Partnership with each diocese by listening, being present, and collaborating to achieve the diocese’s desired outcomes
- Facilitation of the four-diocese learning cohort and two in-person gatherings during the pilot, including funding for travel to the gatherings
- Full funding of all DVI costs beyond the diocesan participation fee
through the DVI Vitality Fund
DVI Implementation
Utilize the “Four C’s” to shape the Define | Disrupt | Develop process
- Coaching – Using ICF-credentialed professionals to fuel awareness
- Context – Leveraging the unique challenges and assets of each diocese
- Collaboration – Harnessing the genius of diversity for the common good
- Cohort – Pooling wisdom and tapping others’ experiential learning
DVI Outcomes
- Imaginative re-framing of human, financial, relational,
structural, and real assets
- Revitalization shaped by each diocese’s unique location, population, culture, and history
- Diocesan structures staffed by engaged lay and clergy leaders
- Life-giving engagement with surrounding neighborhoods
and communities
- Faith communities that understand themselves as
the living Body of Christ
Haley Bankey