Annual Diocesan Convention

Friday, October 14, 2022 Schedule

1:30-3:00 pm   “Evangelism 101” – Ms. Jerusalem Greer. Evangelism 101 is a not-so-basic training designed to introduce a fresh, humble, effective and Episcopal approach to the spiritual practice of evangelism.

In our baptismal covenant, Episcopalians promise to proclaim the Good News of God in Christ through word and action, with God’s help. But what does this mean in a world that often sees Christianity through a clouded lens? How can we share Good News in ways that feel authentic and just? You are invited to join Jerusalem Greer, staff officer for evangelism in the office of Presiding Bishop Michael Curry, to explore these questions during the Evangelism 101 workshop.

Evangelism 101 is a not-so-basic contextualized training designed to inspire a fresh, humble, effective, and Episcopal approach to the spiritual practice of evangelism.

The workshop includes a Participant Guide, and handouts consisting of resources for understanding the Jesus Movement, redefining evangelism, celebrating revival, sharing our stories, walking the neighborhood, improving hospitality, and more.

3:00-3:30 pm   Break

3:30-5:00 pm   Workshops 1, 2 and 3

Afternoon Workshop Options

Workshop #1
“In the stories of all people…” The Art and Practice of Storytelling as Evangelism
In the practice of Episcopal Evangelism, we recognize that God is at work in each of our lives and in the lives of all we encounter on our journey. Join Jeremy Tackett, The Episcopal Church’s Senior Manager for Creative Services and Digital Evangelist, for an exploration of how we seek, name, and celebrate that presence. We’ll focus on how to tell our own stories of faith and create open, safe space for others to do the same.

Workshop #2
Experiments in Evangelism in Our Diocese: Getting Started Where You Are, The Rev. Jennifer Mattson and a clergy panel including The Rev. Dr. Amy Welin, The Rev. Kyle Murphy, The Rev. Dr. Richard (Rick) Bauer, The Rev. Grant Ambrose

Workshop #3
Growing a Good News Garden, The Rev. Bradley Mattson

The mission of the Good News Gardens movement is to partner with people in creation care that feeds body, mind, and spirit. Good News Gardens is a church-wide movement of individuals, congregations, schools, colleges, seminaries, monasteries, camps and conference centers involved in a variety of food and creation care ministries – gardening, farming, beekeeping, composting, gleaning, feeding, food justice advocacy. In this session I focus on sharing the good news of the Gospel by using an integrated approach to creation care and green space use in parish ministry. We’ll have fun discussing ideas for how other parishes can use their green space, touching on the following areas

• Land stewardship
• Garden Tips
• Recipes (did you know that you can make your own herbes de Provence?)
• Church School/VBS projects

We’ll be giving out some live native plants, seeds, and birdhouses made by the children of Hope Church.

5:30-6:45 pm   Dinner

7:00-8:00 pm   Jerusalem Greer, “Community, Loneliness, and Homecoming” According to a study by Cigna, loneliness and lack of meaningful connection are one of the fastest-growing health concerns in our country. This concern stretches across all our congregations. For many of our church members, finding meaningful relational connections amid a busy modern life can be overwhelming. When you compound that reality with the effects of a multi-year global pandemic, churches, communities, and families will likely be experiencing what we call “a crisis of loneliness”. This crisis knows no age barrier – it is true for families, young adults, and our oldest parishioners alike.  So what can we – or should -we, as the Body of Christ, do about this?  Join Jerusalem Greer, staff officer for evangelism, and member of the Way of Love creation team, to explore the 59 One Anothers of the New Testament and how they can help us eradicate aloneness and create authentic communities centered on Jesus and his way of love.