The Gales of November The SS Edmund Fitzgerald sank in Lake Superior in November of 1975, amid a stormy gale, and all souls on board were lost. Here in the mid-west we refer to these as the Gales of November, a heavy wind that whips up the Great Lakes. But...
With Open Arms It is with great joy that Gathering of Leaders is moving to an open inquiry process through which creative, faithful, and hope-filled Episcopal leaders can request to join the network! Relationships, peer-learning, and diversity of thought are key to the GOL experience and this shift will serve to broaden...
The seasons turn After a long and busy summer for our family, I’m hoping to sort of slow down and breathe as we approach the season of Autumn. We live in West Michigan, and the days here are starting to cool from summer highs. The nights are downright chilly, and...
The Privilege of Responsibility I’ve been stumped on what to write for this letter, not because there is nothing to say, but because there is so much taking place within and through GOL that I don’t know where to focus. The Presiding Bishop attended his first Clergy Gathering last April,...
Our May Enews is packed with updates from our Kanuga clergy Gathering, info on upcoming Gatherings, and the Episcopal Church Foundation’s pre-Pride month work from a variety of voices in the church. Playing for the Same Team The Rev. Jane Gober attended our North Carolina Gathering at Kanuga and...
The Table is Spread Alleluia, Christ is Risen! Easter greetings to you all from my cafe office on a beautiful morning in April. As I multi-task away this morning, working on the GOL Annual Report, our Enews and my parish’s final confirmation class, I’m pondering all of the ways that...
Epic Hospitality Haley and I are in Jacksonville this week at the Episcopal Parish Network Conference. Day 1 was filled with planning, brainstorming and setting up our table. Days 2 and 3 are flying by, and so far we’re meeting old friends and making new ones, so many of...
A Vessel to be Filled Haley Bankey told me, at my first Gathering in San Antonio last fall, that we provide a vessel to be filled. The Leaders pour into that vessel all of their experience, their expertise, the amazing ideas, and the radical hope that so infiltrates who we...
As cliché as it sounds, January is the time of year that we catch our breath, re-focus our energies, and take stock of the world around us. It is also the time every year when I get to thank God for the blessings that Gathering of Leaders has brought to...
As The Gathering of Leaders Enews lands in your inbox each one of us is squaring up to celebrate the fourth Sunday of Advent. I wonder then, where this finds you. Are you in a place of hopeful anticipation, head full of glorious images of bears and cows grazing peacefully?...