Episcopal Church Foundation Vital Practices

November 2019

Embracing Change

Cambio: todo está conectado
By Jennifer Baskerville-Burrows
He llegado a comprender que el rol de un obispo es mayormente mantener a una diócesis sanamente entrelazada.
Change: It’s All Connected
By Jennifer Baskerville-Burrows
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.
Conflict and Change
By Luisa Bonillas
Change can be deeply painful, especially when it affects our emotional and spiritual wellbeing. In Conflict and Change, Luisa Bonillas describes the impact of difficult change in her church and what she learned from the experience.
Conflicto y cambio
By Luisa Bonillas
Cuando nuestra hija que solo hablaba español cumplió tres años de edad, decidimos dejar nuestra comunidad episcopal anglohablante en un suburbio de Phoenix por una feligresía episcopal hispanohablante en el centro de Phoenix.
Editor's Letter November 2019
By Charis Bhagianathan
In this issue, we bring you stories and ideas for tackling difficult change with positive results.
Editor's Letter December 2019
By Charis Bhagianathan
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.
Embracing Change
By Morris Thompson
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.
Only Change Begets Change
By Melissa Rau
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.
Satisfied Churches Don’t Change
By Alissa Newton
Can satisfaction be an impediment to positive change? In Satisfied Churches Don’t Change, Alissa Newton narrates a personal story of how dissatisfaction becomes a powerful way to move change forward.
Shepherding Change
By Adriane Bilous
In Shepherding Change, Adriane Bilous offers real stories of change, shared by participants in ECF’s Congregational Leadership Initiative program, that provide practical advice on how to tackle difficult changes in ministry.
Thanks to Thursdays
By Kelly Sundberg Seaman
When two congregations partner to share a rector, there is bound to be a period of change and adjustment. In Thanks to Thursday, 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 Budget?
By Diane Jardine Bruce
How does change affect finances and budgeting? In Why Budget?, Bishop Diane Jardine Bruce shares two budgeting techniques to help craft budgets that are mission-aligned, but also flexible enough to accommodate changing circumstances.