When I signed up for my first Gathering of Leaders event some months ago, I thought: the mountains of North Carolina in the Fall, what’s not to love? Indeed, the waters of Lake Logan were pristine and surrounding mountains were covered with trees decked out in glittering fall foliage. It rained, which made the leaves…
“Sometimes preaching the Gospel will bring division, but if it happens because we are faithful to the Gospel, it is not a failure.” I’ve been reflecting on these words from Bishop Brown Snook’s closing remarks at the GOL in Colorado last week. The gathering’s theme of “Unity and Division in Mission” was, and is, a…
I admittedly knew very little about what to expect arriving at the Gathering of Leaders. I arrived late at night, after a full morning of preaching and presiding, and attempted to set aside the work of my congregation to be present for the conference. What I found was the breathtaking landscape of Cathedral Ridge, the…
My attendance at the Gathering of Leaders (GOL) is nothing short of a profoundly transformative experience! Not only is GOL a period of personal, spiritual, and leadership development defined by renewal, reflection, and refreshment, but is also an opportunity to reconnect with old friends and make new ones. It is deeply encouraging listening to clergy…
In August, I participated in a program called Gathering of Leaders (GoL) at the retreat center of the Episcopal Diocese of Colorado. The Cathedral Ridge is located less than an hour from Colorado Springs and about two hours from Denver, set atop one of the many hills and mountains in the Rocky Mountain State. The…
Like several of the other first-time attendees I was not entirely sure what to expect from my first Gathering. Would I find it worth the time? This was my biggest unanswered question. I knew from the attendee roster that there would be people I’d gone to seminary with and people whose names I’d read or…
I had the privilege to participate at the Gathering of Leaders at the Gray Center in Mississippi. We had a chance to share with leaders of different contexts, make friends, hear ideas, witness of ministry and personal lives. Our theme was Unity and Division in the Missionary Church. We recalled the prayer Jesus made for…
At the Gathering of Leaders in early May, I expected to come away with a bit of head knowledge about the theme. We discussed and discovered ministry around the theme; Unity and Division in the Missionary Church: Jesus prayed for his disciples that we might all be one, as he and the Father are one….
I was first invited to attend the Gathering of Leaders about 5 years ago, early in my ordained ministry. At the time, I was unable to attend for various reasons: time, money, family commitments. This time around, when I saw that GOL was taking place much closer to home, and now that my kids were…
This January, our Malibu Gathering focused on unity in light of the unhappy divisions that characterize our lives. We are members of the one Body of Christ, yet this Body bears bruises and scars reflecting our internal discord. Moreover, we swim in a deeply polarized cultural milieu which seems to believe the lie of being…