Episcopal Church Foundation Vestry Papers - for leading congregations

Ever wish you could see into the future? Curious about what the Episcopal Church will look like in a decade – or two or three? In this brief video, the Rev. Lorenzo Lebrija, Executive Director of TryTank Experimental Lab and Chief Innovation Officer at Virginia Theological Seminary, offers insights that can help us spot clues to the future that are present today. He explains drivers of change and signals of change and encourages us to be on the lookout for them. Seeing the future today can help us find positive ways to work creatively with the changes that are coming, to see new possibilities for growth and grounds for hope for the Episcopal Church in the world.

The Rev. Lorenzo Lebrija, is a known expert in the innovation field and the chief innovation officer of Virginia Theological Seminary (VTS), as well as executive director of TryTank Experimental Lab, a joint project of VTS and the General Theological Seminary (GTS). He has a Master of Divinity degree from GTS and is currently completing the doctoral program at VTS.

Lorenzo was the Chief Development Officer for the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles prior to launching TryTank. Before entering seminary, he was president and CEO of Seraphic Fire & Firebird Chamber Orchestra, Miami's professional choral and orchestral ensemble, and also Miami Program Director for the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. He is a certified Foresight Practitioner from the Institute for the Future in Palo Alto, California, and has a certificate in Design Thinking from IDEO, also in Palo Alto.

Resources:

• Clinging to Old Paradigms Can Be Fatal by Ken Howard, an ECF Vital Practices blog, April 13, 2020
• Bearing gifts, hosting parties by Richelle Thompson, an ECF Vital Practices blog, January 11, 2017
• New Leadership for a Changing Church by Donald V. Romanik, Vestry Papers, January 2017
• Through All Kinds of Weather an ECF Vital Practices webinar presented by Anne Vickers, May 23, 2019