New Episcopal Community Cohorts
One of the most sustaining things you can do for your ministry and for yourself is engage with, support and learn from other leaders. Church planting is always challenging, and in this post-Covid moment where much of what we knew about the church feels shaken, it might seem nearly impossible. Yet many Episcopal leaders are starting to see and forge new paths forward – using both new wineskins and ancient traditions to reach their neighbors with the Good News of Jesus.
In 2023, the Office of Church Planting and Redevelopment will launch a pilot series of church planting cohorts. These are designed to connect innovative leaders on the ground, recruit new leaders for future church plants, and help nurture new faith communities toward growth and resilience. Additional cohort opportunities will be added and publicized as the year progresses.
Each of our pilot cohorts will be facilitated by an experienced mentor with experience in the specific interest area. The cost of participation is split between the Office of Church Planting and Redevelopment and the participant. Each cohort will have the opportunity to discuss whether they would like to meet once in person.
As space is limited, we ask that participants demonstrate an active interest in starting a new faith community, and that they commit to full engagement with the cohort experience. “Active interest” means that you are currently discerning or are already leading a new community.
Cohorts starting in late winter, 2023
Click the links below to see more information about each cohort and to register.
Co-Laboratory for New Episcopal Communities
A cohort designed to support you as you move from vision to praxis in your idea for a new faith community.
Facilitated by The Rev. Katie Nakamura Rengers and The Rev. Joseph Kovitch
Gardening and Agrarian Faith Communities Cohort
This cohort brings together leaders who are visioning (and/or actively involved in) new faith communities gathered around gardens, farms, wilderness, and other land-based settings.
Facilitated by Brian Sellers-Peterson
Decolonizing Church Planting Cohort
A cohort of leaders who are working to understand and deconstruct oppressive, colonial church planting mindsets and discover a new missional theology that nurtures faith, imagination, creativity and healthy community.
Facilitated by Erendira Jimenez
New Monastic Communities Cohort
A cohort for leaders who are considering new monastic approaches to building a New Episcopal Community, along with culturally appropriate and modern understandings of who the church could be and become in their given context.
Facilitated by The Rev. Jonathan Myers
Starting New Faith Communities with Unhoused and Marginalized People Cohort
A cohort for leaders who are experiencing the joy, exhaustion, gifts and challenges of planting a new faith and/or worshiping community with unhoused people and others in a marginalized context.
Facilitated by The Rev. Rosie Veal Eby
The “Pre-Adolescent Years” Cohort
A cohort for leaders whose church plant is in years 7-10(ish). This season tends to be a time when rhythms, attitudes and leadership start to shift and decisions need to be about the next phase of the community’s life together.
