TENDING OUR SOIL
The Tending Our Soil thriving congregations initiative seeks to cultivate the changed soil of our congregations so that God’s love might grow in our time and place.
Email the Rev. Jenifer Gamber if you are interested in exploring this initiative for your congregation in 2022.
3 Year Journey
We welcomed 12 congregations in September 2021into a three-year peer journey of learning and practicing to draw people to Jesus and embody his love for the world. We are now accepting applications for 12 more congregations to begin in June 2022. We will add 12 more congregations in June 2023.
5 Key Practices
Accompanied by trained coaches, congregational leaders will be guided by five key practices of
- listening to God, each other, and your neighbors.
- reconnecting with core spiritual practices, theological commitments, and Episcopal identity
- discerning what God is up to and our call to join God on mission
- cultivating new and refreshed ministries and equipping leaders
- celebrating new learnings and successes
Through the process, congregations will build capacities for adaptive leadership through action and reflection for lasting impact.
Cultivate Relationships + Build Skills + Launch Ministries
Leaders, lay and ordained, will cultivate relationships marked by vulnerability, honesty, accountability, and partnership as they build skills and capacities to adapt to changing contexts. Congregations will learn together about themselves, their neighborhoods, and God’s will for them in this time and place as they experiment with innovative ways to fulfill a shared mission to “engage in a changing world with an enduring faith in Jesus Christ so that more people may know God’s love.”
Together, we will strengthen the culture of learning, creativity, and partnership in the Diocese and be transformed to thrive for years to come.
Applications due March 1, 2022. Please know that if this isn’t the right time for your congregation to engage in this dynamic process, we understand. An additional cohort of congregations will have the opportunity to participate beginning September 2023.
Interested in serving as a coach for Tending Our Soil?
The Tending Our Soil project is seeking four coaches to accompany congregations in the Tending Our Soil thriving congregations initiative. These are paid positions. In addition, EDOW will pay for every coach to receive 60-hour International Coaching Federation-certified training that can be applied to ICF coach certification. If you have at least three years of experience in a congregational leadership position, lay or ordained, and are interested in learning more, click the link below to read about the position. Applicants are strongly encouraged to attend a coaching open house.
Applications for the 2022 cohort of coaches is now open.
Four more coaches will be hired and trained in 2023.
For questions about participating in the Tending Our Soil initiative or about coaching, please contact the Rev. Jenifer Gamber. Jenifer is available to give presentations to your vestry.
