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…
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 my life. GOL is so…
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? Are the desert roses blooming…
Good News Proclaimed Gathering of Leaders’ Participants are currently engaging in conversation around our annual theme of “The Missionary Church After Christendom,” and as I read through the e-news below I see the Good News that these conversations are proclaiming. Last month at the Oregon Gathering we were challenged by many peer-presentations, and highlighted below…
“Then the people stood at a distance, while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was.” – Exodus 20:21 I’ve been reflecting on this verse for many months now ever since I listened to Jemonde Taylor’s Theological Reflection at the Philadelphia Gathering. I find such profound comfort in the image of Moses getting…
(Written as the Curator’s letter for the August 2022 GOL E-News. Read the full newsletter here.) Throwing Open the Doors When my alarm went off this morning, I noted it was just a little darker outside that I’ve grown used to. In my town we celebrate the United States Coast Guard with a week long…
(Written as the editor’s letter for the July 2022 GOL E-News. Read the full newsletter here.) What a joy it was to host the most recent Gathering at Philadelphia. This was our first in-person Gathering since last October, and GOL’s first time enjoying the serenity at Pendle Hill retreat center. We also welcomed 15 new Participants to the…
(Written as the editor’s letter for the May 2022 GOL E-News. Read the full newsletter here.) May [mey]: The month when everyone tries to fit in just one more event to celebrate the end of the school year. We’re in the home stretch of the school year and for many of you that also means…
(Written as the editor’s letter for the April 2022 GOL E-News. Read the full newsletter here.) This is the time of year when my calender eases up, meetings don’t get booked, I have silence during the workday, and I get to mark tasks off my ever growing ‘to do’ list…. Then I see memes like…
(Written as the editor’s letter for the March 2022 GOL E-News. Read the full newsletter here.) I’m totally late to the game, but I finally began listening to Bishop Rob Wright’s podcast named For People (Listen here). I started with the pilot episode, as one should, and didn’t realize that it was posted exactly two…