Two Zoom information sessions are scheduled this month to introduce lay leaders in congregations that do not have full-time clergy to Communities of Spiritual Vitality, an initiative that seeks to offer them enhanced opportunities for spiritual growth and is backed by a $1.168 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc.
The sessions, which are also open to lay leaders from the Diocese of Massachusetts, will take place Thursday, June 20 at 6:00 p.m. and Saturday, June 29 at 9:30 a. m.
To learn more about this opportunity and get the link for these sessions, please contact the Rev. adwoa Wilson, program director and the Rev. Darcey Mercier, program manager.
The Communities program will begin in earnest with an in-person retreat led by Wilson on August 29-31 at St. Methodios Retreat Center, 329 Camp Merrimac Road in Contoocook, New Hampshire.
Describing the initiative, Wilson writes:
The Communities are an initiative of gratitude, hope, and joy offered as a source of renewal. Over the course of a year, Communities participants will gather through twice-monthly zoom meetings and three in-person retreats. They will develop relationships of support, fellowship, and trust with peers; have regular group spiritual direction and companionship by a clergy facilitator in small groups; explore various spiritual practices to deepen and renew their spiritual lives; take time apart for themselves and God, rediscovering the love that drew them into the service they give.
“We know that congregations flourish when their leaders are grounded in Christian spiritual practice,” Bishops Shannon said in a release announcing receipt of the Lilly Endowment Inc. grant. “Especially in the post-pandemic landscape, we know that opportunities for spiritual growth in community can help our leaders face the future with courage and faith in God’s transformative love.”
Communities will incorporate practices that have contributed to the continued growth of the Green Mountain Online Abbey, which Wilson serves as vicar for discipleship and formation, and the development of congregational networks in the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts.
