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2022 Registrations Open! (June 2021 E-News)

2022 Registrations Open! (June 2021 E-News)

June 9, 2021 From the Director

(Written as the editor’s letter for the June 2021 GOL E-News. Read the full newsletter here.)

It is difficult for me to believe that 2021 is almost half way over. I see more and more congregations re-opening their doors to in-person worship, more and more people getting fully vaccinated, and more and more hope that has been hiding for far too long.

It is this renewed outpouring of hope that has me excited to share some upcoming enhancements to the Gathering of Leaders network and offerings. At our very core, GOL is a hope-filled network of individuals dedicated to the mission and growth of the Episcopal Church, and we hope these changes continue to impact the church through your ministries.

As a continuation of the work begun in 2017 planning our Racial Reconciliation and Discipleship theme, GOL will begin offering one in-person and one virtual Gathering on this theme each year. In 2022 those will be at Philadelphia and the Virtual September Gatherings.

Also, it is with gratitude that I get to share our 2022 theme with you: The Missionary Church After Christendom – The era when “everyone” knew the Christian story, the church held a position of public respect, and Sunday mornings were reserved for worship is ending. The church is losing influence, power, and the social expectations that maintained our institutions and budgets. How will we, as leaders, respond to this transition out of hope and courage rather than fear? What can we learn for this new reality from voices in the church who have modeled perseverance, maturity, faithfulness, and innovation from a place of cultural marginalization? What do we need to retain at our core; what do we need to cast off; and what do we need to adapt in order to proclaim the gospel and form disciples in this new reality?

This topic and these questions are paramount for the future of the church, and many of the clergy in our network are already wrestling with them. Our January, February, and October Gatherings will be focused on this deep discussion

2022 Gathering Schedule: 

  • Gathering at Alabama – January 24-26, 2022
  • Virtual February Gathering – February 22-23, 2022
  • Gathering at Philadelphia – June 27-29, 2022
  • Virtual September Gathering – September 20-21, 2022
  • Gathering at Oregon – October 17-19, 2022

 

Finally, plans are moving along for GOL’s pilot offerings for both a Lay Gathering and a Gathering for Bivocational Clergy to be held in 2022. We are grateful for our partnership with the Episcopal Church Foundation and the Iona School for Ministry for making these possible.

I encourage our participants and those who have been invited into the GOL network to check your calendars and book a Gathering! If you are unsure how, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me and ask for assistance. If you have not yet been invited to GOL, but are interseted in joining, please email me as well.  We welcome all innovate, hope-filled leaders to inquire.

Haley Bankey

Blessings,

Haley Bankey
Executive Director, Gathering of Leaders
haley@thegatheringofleaders.org

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A Critical Point for a Changing Church We have all been called into ministry at this time, in this world, and to our specific roles for a reason. I am dwelling uncomfortably in this liminal space and churning over the most recent parochial report data for the Episcopal Church, the havoc the pandemic is wreaking on the world, and the turmoil in our society over racial injustice and political discord. I keep hearing the phrase “We as a church are at an inflection point,” and it is so easy for me to nod my head and agree, but what does this mean? What are people saying? In mathematics, an inflection point is the point where a curve’s concavity changes, but that doesn’t easily decode what is currently happening in the Episcopal Church. In the business world, a strategic inflection point is “a time in the life of a business when its fundamentals are about to change. That change can mean an opportunity to rise to new heights. But it may just as likely signal the beginning of the end.” (A. Grove, Only the Paranoid Survive) This definition gets me closer to understanding, but hasn’t the Episcopal church been here for a while? Our numbers have been declining for some years. Why are we now “at an inflection point?” With that in mind, we are NOT at an inflection point; we are at a critical point. By definition, a critical point is a mathematical concept that expresses the church’s reality so much better than ‘inflection point.’ In math, a critical point of a continuous function is a point at which the derivative is zero or undefined. The ‘ache’ we feel as a church is that we are undefined in this time. We are in limbo. We are in the liminal space. We are all seeking an ‘answer’ but, by definition, a critical point is yet undefined. (based on image from The Stern Opportunity.) To be clear, I am not saying that we do not know our traditions, our faith, or our call to follow Jesus. What I am saying is that we do not yet have a strategy or definition for who we need to be right now and into the future. When seeking relevance in a modern world, how do we, the Episcopal Church, be the thing that bends and yet does not break? Do we need to break in order to find our undiscovered future? I repeat: We have all been called into ministry at this time, in this world, and to our specific roles for a reason. It is here where the Gathering of Leaders (GOL) network is called to play a key role, as are so many leaders in our church, both ordained and lay. GOL and its participants have always had a hope-filled vision for the future – but we have never defined what that future looks like. Instead we are building that future as we go. WE are the boots on the ground. WE are defining the future. WE are leading that future right now. This critical point where we find ourselves does not have to be an inflection point. We do not have to die faster than our numbers show; instead, we are reimagining our ministry, re-envisioning our methods, and reclaiming the Great Commission in as yet undiscovered ways! The pandemic is forcing us to be the church in ways we never imagined. We are being forced to evolve while maintaining the core of who we are, and it was for this that we were called. Finally, and most importantly, you can share your thoughts, methods, and strategies for addressing this critical point in the history of the church with others. Through GOL’s partnership with the Episcopal Church Foundation, we have a broad audience with whom we can share the creative, life-giving, and Christ-centered ways that you are impacting people daily in the name of Christ, and through which you are discovering the future we are being called to define. From my own liminal space, Haley Bankey Executive Director, Gathering of Leaders haley@thegatheringofleaders.org Notes/Ideas: Critical Point: A critical point of a continuous function f is a point at which the derivative is zero or undefined. The ‘ache’ we feel as a church is that we are undefined. We are in limbo. We are all seeking the ‘answer’ but by definition of a critical point, that answer is undefined. Inflection point in business: [A] strategic inflection point is a time in the life of a business when its fundamentals are about to change. That change can mean an opportunity to rise to new heights. But it may just as likely signal the beginning of the end .” Andrew Grove, ex-CEO of Intel from Only the Paranoid Survive The pandemic is forcing us to be the church when we can’t come together for Eucharist the way we always want to. We are being forced to evolve. GOL is built on a hope-filled future – but we have never defined what that future looks like. Instead we’re building that future as we go. YOU are the boots on the ground. YOU are creating the future. Seeking relevance in a modern world! “How do we be the thing that bends??? “When seeking relevance in a modern world, how do we the church be the things that bends? “(from Lilly Conversation) Scripture: Attribution: https://www.episcopalnewsservice.org/2020/10/16/2019-parochial-reports-show-continued-decline-and-a-dire-future-for-the-episcopal-church/ Photo Credits: https://brilliant.org/wiki/critical-point/ https://brilliant.org/wiki/inflection-points/ http://sternoppy.com/2013/10/higher-education-at-a-strategic-inflection-point/ When approaching ministry in under resourced communities and seeking relevance in a modern world, how do we the church be the things that bends?

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Gathering of leaders is committed to connecting young, creative, proven clergy-leaders in the Episcopal church. Through our focus on peer learning we are dedicated to church growth in both numbers and spiritual growth. Our clergy participants are both local and national leaders who connect and collaborate through our Gatherings and tools.

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haley@thegatheringofleaders.org

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