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  • ¿Abarca mucho pero aprieta poco su junta parroquial? ✓
    ¿Intenta su junta parroquial hacer todo a la vez en reuniones mensuales en las que todo lo que enfrenta la iglesia se saca a relucir y discute? ¿Se improvisan casi todas las ideas? ¿O se presentan como comentarios considerados respaldados por bu…
  • Handcuffed by governance? ✓
    Do you believe the Episcopal Church's system of governance helps or hinders your congregation's ability to carry out God's Mission? During her remarks at the Executive Council's first plenary session, Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori chal…
  • Consensus: A Countercultural Activity
    Many are saying that we are living through one of the most polarized periods in U.S. history. They point out that we, as a nation, are now divided into extremes: left and right, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican. What's more, the long-held pra…
  • Open Source Your Church
    Editor’s Note: Guest blogger Chris Yaw’s passion is healthy churches. His ChurchNext ministry puts the spotlight on a diversity of ministries that are flourishing. He records and shares interviews with faith leaders so others can learn from the…
  • May Editor's Letter
    I like to know how things work. From an early age, I learned if I had a basic understanding of this, I made better decisions. This practice led me to my first – and only – computer-programming course. It was in the early 80s, computers were…
  • Who Should be at the Table?
    There are many tables within an Episcopal Church. There is, of course, the altar. This table is at the center of our liturgical life and serves as a reminder of the table around which Jesus and his disciples shared a final meal. But in most chu…
  • Conversación a imagen de Cristo
    This article is also available in English here. Todos hemos estado en una de esas reuniones: una reunión interminable en la que la gente dice lo mismo que dijeron otros, en que algunos hablan con el único propósito de oírse hablar o en la…
  • Gathering Around Ministry, Not Minister
    Over the past several years, the Episcopal Church Foundation (ECF) has been advocating for a new type of local congregation - one that serves as a transformational faith community. Its primary purpose is to inspire and empower members to become act…
  • Editor’s Letter - February 2012
    Greetings. One of the joys of my role as editor of ECF Vital Practices is the discovery of resources to share through this website. Each day I comb through email messages, online publications, Facebook, as well as a variety of websites and prin…
  • Editor's Letter: Real Basics for Vestries
    Happy New Year! If, as Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori says, “Mission is the heartbeat of the Church," then the vestry is the life-giving oxygen that keeps the heartbeat on a steady course. Our focus for this month and next is Re…
  • Well Done, Good and Faithful Servant
    In this season of gratitude and abundance, I am particularly thankful for the breadth and depth of ministry and leadership among the laity of our congregations. I mention this not only in the spirit of thanksgiving, but mindful that many of our con…
  • Open it Up, Share it Wide
    Last week I received a fairly straight forward question from a lay leader regarding vestry nominations. In addition to answering Andrea’s question, it opened the door to share a great example I just learned from the rector of St. Paul’s in Murf…
  • Vestry: Cast of Characters
    Prudent rectors and nominating committees already are scouting the congregation for new blood. Often annual meetings aren’t until January, but now is the time for recruitment. Outgoing vestry members and/or the nominating committee need to ha…
  • Teach the vestry to teach
    “Teach the vestry to teach,” says Bishop Claude Payne (retired from the Diocese of Texas). Two years after hearing Bishop Payne convey this idea at a clergy gathering, it’s still sticking with me. Especially today, as I reflect on the web…
  • Vestry Selection
    While most congregations elect vestry members in the new year, it’s not too early to be thinking about who will serve next. And not just thinking, but praying and discerning.      I remember one annual meeting, midway through the agenda, whe…
  • Dreaming, Google, and the Church
    What’s your dream? I spent the past 2 ½ days dreaming with the board of Forward Movement, an organization dedicated to reinvigorating the church. We did board things like approve the financial report and talk about policies, but we also sp…
  • What Makes Community?
    “Negotiating limited resources creates community,” says Don Bisson, a Marist brother and widely respected leader on the interrelationship of spirituality and psychology. When I heard this claim last week from Sr. Carol Bernice, reporting on…
  • Domain over your Domain
    A domain name is pretty much like a tattoo. Once you get one, you better plan on keeping it for life.  Otherwise, prepare yourself for some pain. I speak from experience. Several years ago, I received an email asking why the diocesan yout…
  • Stewardship: Glass half-full
    The list of expenses was long. Over the past year, this Appalachian church installed a new boiler system, purchased an industrial stove and oven, and dug up half the parking lot to repair the water and sewer pipes. Bids are out for a new roof…
  • Editor's Letter: Caring for Each Other
    Our congregational life is a common life, complete with the joys and challenges that come from being in relationship. As congregational leaders, our role involves managing the sometimes ‘sticky wickets’ of relationship that hamper our work of b…
  • Backbreaking Meetings
    So far this week: eight meetings in three days. Whether I like it or not, meetings form the backbone of my day, vertebrae linking ideas, people, and action. Yet one-third of all meetings are considered unnecessary by the people who attend them.…
  • Insights from Improv
    Last Saturday I went to a birthday party for a friend. After the food, socializing, and a round of charades, a young adult taught us improv comedy games. Most of us had never done improv before, but Patrick guided us in a firm and fun-loving manner…
  • No More Parking Lot Conversations
    I have the privilege of working with congregations and their leaders as a bishop’s staff member involved in congregational development. One of the persistent behaviors I witness among vestry members is their reluctance to speak up about lingering c…
  • "Be Not Afraid" - Is Our Role Business or Faith?
    Jesus said to us “be not afraid” and yet we are afraid. We, in religious communities, are afraid that we will run out of money, run out of people, run out of energy. If our focus was on formation, not on maintaining the status quo, I believe we…
  • The Balance Between Crazy and Amazing
    My diocese is not known to have many money problems.    But when a committee started drafting the 2011 budget, they realized we were facing a shortfall. Like every church organization, we’ve tightened our belts, frozen salaries, and made toug…
  • Is your vestry 'committee of the whole,' leaving a hole?
    Click here for a Spanish translation of this blog post.  Does your vestry try to do it all in monthly slugfests where every issue the church faces is pulled out on the carpet and discussed? Does most of the thinking come off the top of the head?…