November 2019
Embracing Change

Editor's Letter December 2019

Dear Friends,

We all encounter change in our lives and ministries. And there is no doubt that our response to change will directly impact our future, and the future of our Church. So how do we become better at evolving? How do we come to desire transformation? How do we invite and embrace necessary change? In this issue, we bring you experiences and experiments from across our Church on being open to the exciting and wonderful possibilities change offers us as a community.

What does it mean to be a diocese that is both changing and changed? In Change: It’s All Connected, Bishop Jennifer Baskerville-Burrows shares the ways the Diocese of Indianapolis is committed to being a community of practice, always open to change and learning, and explains the value of “healthy entanglement” in that context. This article is available in English and Spanish.

How does one cultivate a mentality of change? In Embracing Change, Morris Thompson narrates the experience of the Church of the Mediator in Meridian, Mississippi and their journey of reimagining what it means to be a neighbor with their community.

When two congregations partner to share a rector, there is bound to be a period of change and adjustment. In Thanks to Thursdays, Kelly Sundberg Seaman lists specific practices that aided the process, and explains how ECF’s Congregational Leadership Initiative can help your congregation as it did theirs.

Why is change so difficult? In Only Change Begets Change, Melissa Rau asks some hard questions about our anxiety around change and suggests approaches to create a healthy framework for change that focuses on innovation, collaboration and creativity.

2019 has been a very eventful year for the Episcopal Church Foundation (ECF). We celebrated 70 years of service to the Episcopal Church this year and on the occasion of our 70th anniversary, Presiding Bishop Michael Curry described ECF as a 'ministering angel' in this video. Read all our highlights from the year here, and learn how with each new partnership and project, we live into our values of discipleship, transformation and partnership intentionally.

To learn more about ECF and our programs, please visit our website.

The ECF Vital Practices team would like to wish you and your family peace, joy and love this Christmas season.

Faithfully,

Charis Bhagianathan
Editor, ECFVP

This article is part of the November 2019 Vestry Papers issue on Embracing Change