The Episcopal Church Foundation (ECF) regularly offers free leadership training webinars to support lay and clergy leaders in our ministries. Look over the topics below, and take advantage of those that would be most helpful to you.
This information is reprinted from the ECF website, except that start times have been adjusted to reflect Central Standard Time here in Fort Worth.
- Spiritual Resources Online (January 13, 2015 6:00 PM)
Motivated by busy schedules, declining participation in institutional life, and changing patterns of individual religious practice, congregations have an increasingly rich opportunity to support the faith lives of members outside of church. Thankfully, digital media can help leaders reach people in the most important domain of faith formation: the home. This workshop will introduce participants to using, finding, and sharing digital resources that offer multisensory and interactive experiences of prayer and faith learning. Jump-start your role as spiritual curator by learning about cream-of-the-crop resources from a minister whose job it is to stay current with the best the Web has to offer. Presented by Kyle Matthew Oliver, Digital Missioner and Learning Lab Coordinator in the Center for the Ministry of Teaching at Virginia Theological Seminary. Please note that this webinar begins at 7:00 PM Eastern time (6:00 PM Central).
Click here to register. - Vestry Orientation (January 15, 2015 6:00 PM)
This web conference will help you understand roles, responsibilities, and best practices for vestries. You will learn how to move your vestry from a focus on day-to-day management or crisis response to a more effective form of leadership. Designed for clergy, wardens, and vestry members, this webinar will explore the role of the vestry in selecting new leadership, orienting new members, planning and evaluation, and supporting staff and volunteers. Presented by Donald V. Romanik, President of the Episcopal Church Foundation. Please note that this webinar begins at 7:00 PM Eastern time (6:00 PM Central).
Click here to register. - The Leader’s Heart (January 27, 2015 6:00 PM)
Research derived from a range of congregations, denominational and non-denominational, has indicated that a key factor contributing to the vitality of congregations has to do with the leader’s heart, with the characteristics of those who lead congregations, both clergy and laity. This webinar will discuss this research, which originated in a non-denominational mega-church (Willow Creek in suburban Chicago). In the course of our discussion, we will seek to translate this research to the Episcopal Church, to derive lessons for clergy, vestries and other lay leaders. We will seek to anchor these learnings in scripture, and share insights about how leaders can be sustained and nourished in the ministry they carry out. Presented by The Rev. Jay Sidebotham, Director of Renewal Works. Please note that this webinar begins at 7:00 PM Eastern time (6:00 PM Central).
Click here to register. - Transformation by Capital Campaign (January 28, 2015 6:00 PM)
Whether you are considering embarking on a capital campaign, fearing that you need to conduct one, ignoring the need for one, or recovering from mistakes made in a past campaign, you should come hear the surprising good news – A capital campaign done right, has significant transformational effects on a church community. Fear not! The Episcopal Church Foundation (ECF) will share the secrets of conducting a capital campaign successfully, and how the process can have long lasting positive influences on stewardship, lay leadership, and focused vision. (Led by Leslie Pendleton, Associate Program Director and Capital Campaign Consultant) Please note that this webinar begins at 7:00 PM Eastern time (6:00 PM Central).
Click here to register. - Why Endowment Structure Matters (January 29, 2015 6:00 PM)
Getting the structure of your endowment right is often the key to its success. If you want to encourage legacy gifts to your endowment, you need to be able to explain how the money will be used, invested and spent, and who is in charge of making those decisions. ECF has developed a set of sample endowment policies that have been used in hundreds of Episcopal entities to establish and/or refine endowment structure. This webinar will highlight principles and best practices for an effective and growing endowment. Presented by Ken Quigley, ECF Program Director. Please note that this webinar begins at 7:00 PM Eastern time (6:00 PM Central).
Click here to register. - Vestry Orientation (February 10, 2015 6:00 PM)
This web conference will help you understand roles, responsibilities, and best practices for vestries. You will learn how to move your vestry from a focus on day-to-day management or crisis response to a more effective form of leadership. Designed for clergy, wardens, and vestry members, this webinar will explore the role of the vestry in selecting new leadership, orienting new members, planning and evaluation, and supporting staff and volunteers. Presented by Miguel Escobar and Brendon Hunter, ECF Leadership Resources staff. Please note that this webinar begins at 7:00 PM Eastern time (6:00 PM Central).
Click here to register. - Year Round Stewardship (February 11, 2015 6:30 PM)
Talking About Money When You’re Not Asking for It: We hear it all the time: You need to be doing year round stewardship! But how do we engage the topic of money in a way that is fun, engaging and deeply spiritual? How do we offer stewardship formation in a way that encourages giving as a spiritual practice so that the annual campaign is a time of harvest and celebration, not an annual beg-a-thon that everyone dreads? In this webinar focusing on the intersection of personal financial wellness and personal stewardship, you will learn how to engage discussion and reflection as a way to develop an individual theology of stewardship. Practical budgeting and saving skills for your parish and community included. (Led by guest presenter Chris Harris, St. Paul’s Cathedral, San Diego, CA.) Please note that this webinar begins at 7:30 PM Eastern time (6:30 PM Central).
Click here to register. - Caring for Clergy and Congregations (February 12, 2015 6:00 PM)
The Network of Episcopal Clergy Associations (NECA) has partnered with ECF to offer a panel presentation on the difficult topic of clergy calls that end badly, not in celebration but in heartache. Panelists include: Bonnie Anderson, Dennis Fontinos, Scott Petersen, Donald Romanik. Congregations will sometimes call a clergy person and realize, for a wide variety of reasons, that it is not a good fit. Oftentimes, such calls end in silence and shame for both the clergy person and congregation alike. In this webinar, we will explore the call for greater training around conflict for church leaders, ways to care for clergy and congregations who go through these experiences, and the opportunity for clergy and the congregations to give back to the wider Church through this experience. Please note that this webinar begins at 7:00 PM Eastern time (6:00 PM Central).
Click here to register. - Orientación de la junta parroquial (March 3, 2015 6:00 PM)
Este webinar le ayudará a entender los papeles, responsabilidades, y las mejores prácticas para la junta parroquial. Usted aprenderá a lograr cambiar el enfoque de las cuestiones de día a día de los miembros de la junta parroquial, hacia un estilo de liderazgo más eficaz. Diseñado para los clérigos, guardianes y miembros de la Junta Parroquial, este webinar explorará el papel de la junta parroquial en la selección de un nuevo liderazgo, la orientación de los nuevos miembros, la planificación y evaluación, y el apoyo a los empleados y voluntarios. Presentado por el Rev. Juan Ángel Monge, Asesor de ECF.
Click here to register. - Global Warming and Global Ministry (March 5, 2015 6:00 PM)
In the year 2000 a Nobel Prize winning atmospheric chemist, Paul Crutzen, and a leading biologist, Eugene Stoermer, made a startling proposal. With the proliferation of the steam engine during the industrial revolution, human influence on Earth’s systems (climate, biodiversity, topsoil, etc.) had reached such an extent that the period of Earth’s history since the last ice age-the Holocene-had given way to “the Anthropocene,” the age of the human. For the Episcopal Church, what are the theological implications of ‘The Age of the Human’? What forms of our life-together as a global Anglican communion are already well adapted to an age of planetary uncertainty, instability, and risk? And to what new forms of ministry and mission are we being called? This presentation and discussion will be led by ECF Fellow, Rev. P. Joshua Griffin, doctoral candidate in anthropology at the University of Washington and priest associate at St. David of Wales, Portland, OR. Griff brings a unique perspective through his field work with Kivalina Episcopal Church (Diocese of Alaska), a village of 400 persons which is one orvif a dozen culturally distinct Native communities in the region now facing an existential threat from the impacts of global warming. Please note that this webinar begins at 7:00 PM Eastern time (6:00 PM Central).
Click here to register. - In-Depth Webinar on Team Discernment (March 26, 2015 6:00 PM)
This in-depth webinar will explore how team discernment practices can help your congregation be more open and responsive to God’s call to mission and ministry. The webinar will provide an overview of three team discernment practices and will focus on how they can be implemented in a variety of congregational settings. Because we hope to go into greater depth on this topic during the webinar, participants will be asked to take a 45-minute online course prior to attending the webinar on March 26th. This short online course will be available on February 1st and will introduce participants to the main concepts of team discernment so that the March 26th webinar can primarily focus on implementation within your congregational setting. Please be in touch with Rosa Lindahl at rlindahl@episcopalfoundation.org for more information. Please note that this webinar begins at 7:00 PM Eastern time (6:00 PM Central).
Click here to register.
If the times of these webinars don’t fit your schedule, you can visit the webinar archive to watch previously aired webinars at any time.
ECF is a lay-led organization that serves episcopal congregations and communities by offering resources to support lay and clergy leaders in their ministries. A few examples are the web resource “Vital Practices” and the publication “Vestry Papers,” which you may have received in your role as a diocesan leader. If you don’t currently receive notices directly in your inbox and would like to, you can subscribe on the Vital Practices site.