Episcopal Church Foundation Vital Practices

January 2021

Being Church In A Pandemic

Acknowledging the Body’s Weariness
By Lisa G. Fischbeck
What is the value in acknowledging, tending to and addressing our weariness? In Acknowledging the Body’s Weariness, Lisa Fischbeck reflects on the first eight months of the pandemic, sharing how her church community found ways to support and lift up one another during this time.
Annual Meetings Go Virtual
By Greg Syler
Is your first virtual annual meeting coming up? In Annual Meetings Go Virtual, Greg Syler lists all the ways to embrace the positives of this format and make the most of this new reality as you plan your next online annual meeting.
Called To a New Land
By Susan Elliott
How much has the pandemic altered how you worship and study and pray together? Possibly a whole lot. In Called To A New Land Susan Elliott interviews Julie Lytle who explains how being forced to rethink communications and community is a great and unexpected gift.
Editor's Letter February 2021
By Charis Bhagianathan
Our stories this month are about communities and individuals being and experiencing blessings, sharing their grief and continuing to look to hope during this time.
Editor's Letter January 2021
By Charis Bhagianathan
In this issue, we bring you lessons and experiences from across the Church on how we are exploring, adapting and even transforming our ministry in the face of this most challenging period in our lives.
Financial Interconnectedness Amidst COVID-19
By Miguel Escobar
One of the most ravaging effects of this ongoing pandemic is the exposure and creation of extreme financial vulnerability. In Financial Interconnectedness Amidst COVID-19, Miguel Escobar revisits history to reveal what it means to build meaningful relationships across the financial divide and lists practical steps for the modern Church to focus on economic justice.
Interconexión financiera en medio de la COVID-19
By Miguel Escobar
Este artículo es una adaptación de We Shall Be Changed: Questions for a Post-Pandemic Church, editado por Mark D. W. Edington y publicado por Church Publishing.
Lamentations and Learnings
By Haley Bankey
In a time of continuing loss and deep hurt, have we forgotten how to lament? In Lamentations and Learnings, Haley Bankey compiles wisdom from leaders across the church on navigating this time by lamenting in prayer and cracking ourselves open to new possibilities.
Leading In a Pandemic
By Mary Kate Rejouis
What does leadership look like in a pandemic? In Leading In a Pandemic, Mary Kate Rejouis shares her personal experience of this time as priest and mother, focusing on three ideas – freedom, transparency and humility, and how they sustained her during this period.
Lecciones de la pandemia en Navajoland
By Leon Sampson and Gerlene Gordy
Ya’ at’ eeh, todo está bien. Hoy los saludo en mi Dine’ Bizaad, en idioma navajo. Me llamo Leon Sampson. Soy un sacerdote que sirve en la Misión Episcopal Good Shepherd en Fort Defiance, Arizona.
Pandemic Learnings in Navajoland
By Leon Sampson and Gerlene Gordy
Our experience of the COVID-19 pandemic is very much dependent on where we live. In Pandemic Learnings in Navajoland, Leon Sampson and Gerlene Gordy narrate their story, sharing how life has been a struggle and a blessing for them and their community.
Pastoring In a Pandemic
By Angelo Wildgoose
Human interaction is such a significant part of our life together, particularly as the Body of Christ. In Pastoring in a Pandemic, Angelo Wildgoose shares a heartbreaking story of an old couple in his parish, the pain at not being able to offer support and comfort in community, and why grief ministry is so important.
Pitching Our Tent With God in the Pandemic
By Reagan Humber
This past year has been a lot about grief and loss. In Pitching Our Tent With God In the Pandemic, Reagan Humber shares his experience of being a pastor at House for All Sinners and Saints in Denver, Colorado, and reveals the mercy, holiness and hope he encountered in these darkest days.