in Vital Posts and filtered by Conflict, Mission, Advocacy + 1 other(s)
By Lisa G. Fischbeck
Lisa Fischbeck’s church acquired five acres of land that had once belonged to someone who took good care of it. On talking to people and doing research, they learned that restoring native plants restores the health and function of the local ecosystem. So they cast a vision.
By Jerry Campbell
Jerry Campbell writes about St. Mark’s Episcopal Church and how it will be able to open a new parish center. St. Mark’s story is comprised of four pieces, with the capital campaign facilitated by ECF being the final piece of the puzzle.
By Alan Yarborough
Alan Yarborough asks whether the Episcopal Church has what it takes to heal the political divide in this country. He posits that the Church has the space, staff, systems and stuff required to do so.
By Annette Buchanan
Obviously, whatever we think we cannot live without is where we should spend our time and treasure. Experience shows that problems arise when these areas are not nurtured.
By Lisa G. Fischbeck
Truth be told, it’s possible to participate in the Sunday morning exchange of greetings and coffee hour fellowship, even the occasional potluck suppers, without ever going deep enough into a conversation with someone to know if they are struggling to give care to a family member or have declined into dementia themselves.
By Lisa G. Fischbeck
After ten years of being a nomadic church, renting space from Sunday by Sunday, we finally had land. We wanted to do something to celebrate, to claim the land, to ask God’s blessing on it, on us. So we “beat the bounds.”
By Janet Lombardo
Communities often get tied up by their buildings, unwilling to see that new life can be had when we free ourselves from their constraints.
By Sarah Townsend Leach
I had just attended my first service with a six-week old baby, and I would see things with new eyes from now on in every church I visited thereafter.
By Richelle Thompson
When I store the decorations for another year, I’m always faced with a dilemma: What should I do with the Christmas cards? It’s the one time of year that folks send a snail mail card, and even if most have a simple signature, they are still a tangible connection to a longtime friend, a faraway relative, neighbors, and fellow parishioners.
By Alan Bentrup
A clear vision of God’s mission is the heartbeat of a congregation’s movement as a community.