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. 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. In this newsletter you will find several ways to explore this calling with your fellow GOLers. For example, you can register for one of our Adaptive Conversations sessions to wrestle with some of your current challenges in ministry with fellow colleagues who are also dedicated to defining this new vision. You can register to attend webinars on Mapping Systemic Racism and Grief in the Holidays that will inform your ministry now and in the future. You can take part in a feasibility survey that could impact the entire church and our data management system. You can also register to attend a 2021 Virtual or in person Gathering on Formation for the Missionary Church in a Changing World. 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 our 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 |
