GOL in the New Reality Our theme for this year’s Gatherings is “Mission in the New Reality” and just like life in the church, life at GOL continues to be flexible and nimble. The concept of dynamic stability came up at this past week’s Annual Board Meeting and I haven’t been able to get it…
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 I’ve been working to reimagine what else fresh winds…
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 voices connected to the network. With the…
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 leaves on the trees…
David Hoover attended our Lay Gathering Chicago in the Spring of 2023 and offers this excellent reflection on his experience: A priest friend invited me. I had never heard of the Gathering of Leaders. She said this was something that I would love and was eligible for since lay people were now also gathering. I…
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 ECF Partnership continues to…
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 offered a beautiful reflection to…
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 resurrection is happening around us….
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 you have stopped by to…
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 are. Our shared knowledge grows…