In this new season of ministry under the leadership of Bishop Julia E. Whitworth, a vision discernment process for our diocese is underway.
In partnership with Ministry Architects, a series of small-group Listening Sessions took place March 15-26 in locations all around our diocese--32 in-person sessions, including two with Spanish-language translation, and four more on Zoom. We are grateful to the many lay and ordained people who participated in these sessions, sharing their perspectives and their yearnings and desires for our diocese.
Our Ministry Architects consultants have now distilled what they heard during the Listening Sessions into a report that lifts up common themes. The report will be available soon!
As the next step in the process, Bishop Whitworth will gather a broadly representative group of about 55 lay and ordained leaders from around the diocese for a day-long Visioning Summit to help craft a renewed diocesan mission, vision, and values statement based on what was heard during the Listening Sessions. It will then be further refined, with the help of our consultants, for presentation to Diocesan Council and the wider diocese later in the year.