The Gathering of Leaders Resource Library
Our resources are carefully curated from our GOL participants and illustrate the creative and innovative leadership of our networks. For GOL participants we offer a fulsome resource library nestled into our Mighty Networks platform. Participants can locate that library here. We also have a GOL curated set of resources on the Episcopal Church Foundation’s Vital Practices page. Find out more here.
Upcoming Virtual Events
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GOLers are creative, hope-filled, and mission driven leaders from around the Episcopal Church. They are constantly trying new methods and ministries, and GOL regularly shares their work through Virtual Events available to the public.
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Recommended Reading
In Rage Praying, Rev. Elizabeth Ashman Riley invites readers to transform frustrations and daily annoyances into an honest dialogue with a higher power. This bold collection of prayers offers a spiritual outlet for everything from social injustices to petty annoyances. With Riley’s unapologetic approach, discover the power of a spiritual practice that embraces your real, messy feelings—no guilt required. Rage Prayers teaches you to channel inner turmoil into a raw and liberating communion with the divine.
Two pastors, Samantha Vincent-Alexander and Elizabeth Felicetti, share darkly humorous prayers born from their experiences with serious illness. Nearly losing her life to a leg infection, and enduring aggressive treatments for recurring cancer, they learned that traditional prayers often fall short. Their candid, wry prayers cover everything from hospital annoyances to frustrations with well-meaning friends. This unconventional prayerbook invites readers to bring their raw emotions—doubt, anger, and grief—to God, fostering a more honest and intimate spiritual connection in times of suffering.
Warde explores the way our culture promotes alcohol consumption and shows how we can choose to change our perception of alcohol in our spiritual communities. She names not only the challenges of sobriety and spirituality but also the tremendous gifts and blessings that come through quitting drinking or being more mindful about alcohol use.
As most mainline Christian denominations struggle with declining numbers, the Church of England in the Diocese of London is bucking the trend. In one of the most diverse, multi-faith, urban, and pluralistic cities in the world, London churches are growing and thriving against the odds, proclaiming the gospel afresh, and meeting the needs of their communities in creative, innovative, and life-changing ways. Based on more than six years of study, Jason A. Fout offers lessons from London, a road map to growth and revitalization for American churches–big and small, historic and newly started, evangelical and Anglo-Catholic.
Online Learning
Written as part of her work at the Episcopal Church Foundation, Demi Prentiss put together this course on working with congregations around change. Every congregation and community of faith faces the need to change. This lesson will introduce you to the Beckhard Change Model and help you apply it to your own congregation’s needed changes.
Created during the early days of the pandemic, Allison Liles offers her expertise in how to teach children about Christianity and about praying and worshipping with them at home. This 45 minute online course is still relevant for any parent or caregiver who want help bringing Christian education and prayer into their daily lives.
Christians offer everything to Jesus – including our sexuality – but how do we do that?
While sexuality is a popular topic in cultural conversation, Jesus didn’t seem to talk a lot about it, which makes developing a Christian ethic that much more challenging. Author and teacher Heidi Carter is up to that challenge, and she offers insight in four video presentations.
Based on the model of community and growth of the hive of the honey bee (an ancient metaphor for the church), The Hive is a wellness and spirituality website that supports progressive Christian and spiritual people to grow in their faith and wellness to help them in their efforts to change the world. Hillary Raining created this resource and community which includes many online courses.
Podcasts
Seeking to shift the narrative about church size, Small Churches, Big Impact promotes the power and vitality of small congregations. Rebekah Bokros Hatch, Allison Sandlin Liles, Leyla King, and Stacy Williams-Duncan share successes, struggles, questions, and resources through their podcast. And what they’ve found is that no matter the impact you think you’re making, small churches make big impacts, with God walking right alongside us.
Hosted by Jennifer Baskerville-Burrows, Jerusalem Greer, and Brian Sellers-Peterson, this podcast produced by The Episcopal Church celebrates God’s creation by highlighting agrarian ministries from around the Church.
Tamara Plummer explores the spiritual questions and answers that lead to more questions. She invites us all to understand that believing in God and responding to God’s call is a lifelong process. We are continually invited to explore what gifts and skills we have to support our communities in bringing God’s Kingdom to earth. In the process of making us more whole, more reconciled, more loved and more loving.
Programs and Ministries
Founded by Mary Parmer, Invite Welcome Connect is a ministry of transformation that equips and empowers individuals and congregations to cultivate intentional practices of evangelism, hospitality, and belonging. Rooted in the Gospel directive to “Go and make disciples of all nations” this ministry provides a practical theological framework and comprehensive process for engaging communities of faith to move from a maintenance culture to a gospel driven mission culture.
“Ashes to Go” is about bringing spirit, belief, and belonging out from behind church doors, and into the places where we go every day. It’s a simple event with deep meaning, drawing on centuries of tradition and worship to provide a contemporary moment of grace. Emily Mellott used the GOL network to spread the word about Ashes to Go and helped it go viral!
How2charist is much more than a tool for formation and evangelism. Callie Swanlund used the foundation of an instructed eucharist—in which the history of the eucharistic rite and the symbolism of the service are explained in narrative form—to make a more seamless liturgy that was stimulating and enlightening. Taking inspiration from VH1’s Pop-Up Video series, the How2charist was born. All videos and study guides are free for use.
Formation Resources
Created by Kyle Oliver, these unique card decks hold vibrant images of worship, teach the different parts of our liturgies, and allow for learners of all ages to play! Card packs include Holy Eucharist, Baptism, and Confirmation.
Tell Me the Truth About Racism is a story that frames racism through the lens of Christian faith. Jen Holt Enriquez (co-creator), built the foundation of this work in Lent 2021 to teach to children (as young as 5) at churches in the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago. The method invites people of all ages into powerful wondering about the legacy of racism in our lives, but it holds a special gift for our youngest Christian disciples. The approach defines racism as “The lie in our world that some people are better than others based on the color of their skin.” It is only because of the Truth we know from God, that all people are equally children of God, that we can clearly frame racism as a lie about our identity.
In Living Stories, the conventional sermon is transformed into a dynamic group exploration. Using figurines and felt boards, the storyteller narrates the scripture of the day and then invites everyone to dive deeper with wondering questions. This interactive format turns our service into a lively intergenerational dialogue, where every person—children and adults alike—is a crucial part of creating the sermon together.