episcopal identity Recently there have been two documents produced that attempt to identify how we see ourselves as a church and what our priorities are as we move forward as a body. We highly recommend you take a look at both. The first is a report titled Around One Table written by the Rev. Dr. David T. Gortner and others and sponsored by CREDO and the College of Bishops. Around One Table is based on a study called the Episcopal Identity Project and explores a variety of Episcopalian’s perceptions of the “organiziational identity” of the Church. The study is based on 75 in-person interviews and 2,569 surveys including lay persons, bishops, and clergy. The report identifies 23 themes within the interviews and then uses the surveys to stratify them into Core, Secondary, Tertiary and Stand Alone identity categories according to perceived accuracy and importance. The executive summary of Around One Table is available here. The second document we commend to you is the Strategic Planning Survey Report from the Strategic Planning Committee of the Executive Council. This document compiles survey data collected over this past summer, in large part during General Convention. It begins with a ranking of the importance of various areas of concern for the Church. Note that ministry to youth and young adults tops out the list! The report then goes on to outline findings with regard to the five priorities set by General Convention 2009. Pages 13-18 give percentage breakdowns for the importance of each ministry area as ranked by laity and clergy. Then pages 21 and on offer a variety of voices speaking directly or indirectly to the 5 priorities set by General Convention. The portrait these documents paint of our church is, of course, incomplete. It does not reflect the incredible diversity of our beliefs and practices, but we do invite you to take these documents as a starting place for conversation with the young adults you work with. What can we learn from them about who we are and how we are called to be Christ's body in the world? |
