Spring Training 2022

Details

Spring Training 2022 – Featuring a Conversation with the Bishops of Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont

Saturday, May 14  9 am -12 pm  Online via Zoom

Join us for a morning of conversation, prayer, and learning. Participants can attend two workshops of their choice, as well as engage in a conversation between our own Bishop Brown, Bishop MacVean-Brown of Vermont, and Bishop Hirschfeld of New Hampshire.

Read about the topics and workshops being offered below. You’ll be able to choose two on May 14 during the meeting.

Register here

Workshop Descriptions

Workshops will not be recorded. Download documents presented during workshops when the event concludes here.

Parish Resources

• Creative Church Fundraising – The Rev. Sara Gavit and St. Anne’s, Calais:  The folks of St. Anne’s in Calais are trying new, creative ways of fundraising. We have modified traditional events and opportunities to fit the realities of our community today. We would love to share what we learned over the past couple years. We will also invite you to share your ideas and stories. What worked well for you and what challenges did your church face? Please join Rev. Sara Gavit and the St. Anne’s Fundraising Committee for a fun, informative discussion. 
• Welcoming Children (Back) into the Pews – The Rev. Cn. Sara D’Angio White:  These last two years have left an indelible mark on children and families with young children. What does it look like to be a welcoming space for children who have been socialized in a radically different way from the generations above them? What does it look like to support the adults in their lives? We’ll look at the research, consider the mandate to “welcome the little children,” and wonder together how we can support all generations in our worship spaces.

Social Justice

• Earthkeeping in the Parish: How You and Your Congregation Can Respond to Bishop Brown’s Earth Day Proclamation – Diocesan Creation Care Team and the Rev. Jenny Reece:  This workshop offers the parishes of the Diocese of Maine help in understanding and implementing Bishop Brown’s Earth Day announcement that acknowledges the crisis of climate change. In it he calls for every parish to take leadership in our local communities as we and our neighbors grapple with the results of human carelessness in our relationship with God’s good creation. Set in creation as stewards to “till and keep” it, we must not only acknowledge where we have fallen short of this, but must also take action to right what is wrong.  This workshop will equip leaders and members of the parishes with creative resources and ideas to help our churches be rooted in creation-centered worship, education, advocacy, and transformation. Come and find out how to be your parish’s Earth Keeper! Rev. Dr. Jenny Reece is a retired priest in the Diocese of Maine and Chair of the Creation Care Team. 
• Diocesan Resolutions and Our Relationship with the Wabanaki People –Committee on Indian Relations:  Interested in learning more about recent and forth-coming Diocesan resolutions regarding our support for our Wabanaki tribal neighbors? Matt Dunlap, chair of the Committee on Indian Relations (CIR), John Maddaus, chair of CIR’s Legislative Committee, and Ben Cooke, sponsor of the resolution on territorial acknowledgements, will share where we stand on 2021 Convention Resolutions 1 (tribal sovereignty) and 3 (territorial acknowledgements) and preview a 2022 Convention Resolution on Indigenous residential schools. We have a 30-year history of building relationships with our Wabanaki neighbors, as reflected in several earlier resolutions as well. Join us to discuss where we have been, where we are now, and where we may be going.

Living Out Our Faith

• Building Bridges: A Deacon’s Ministry, Bringing People Together –Heather Sylvester and The Rev. Kris Conley:  Join us to learn about and explore the ministry of the deacon, and to consider your own role in the Church. Deacons are architects of bridges between the church and the world. We use our “four senses” of eyes, ears, mind and heart to do this work. We look forward to sharing with you our experiences, and to hearing about yours. This workshop will be facilitated by The Rev. Kris Conley, a deacon serving at St. David’s in Kennebunk, and Heather Sylvester, who is currently in the process for ordination to the vocational diaconate.
• The Ministry of Planned Giving – Cn. Terry Reimer:  This workshop serves as an introduction to planned giving, within the wider framework of stewardship. We will discuss the biblical concept of stewardship as it relates to God’s bounty.  We will also introduce the variety of ways in which gifts can be made to the church from accumulated personal or family resources.  Lastly, we will provide resources available to us through the Episcopal Church Foundation and The Episcopal Network for Stewardship (TENS). This workshop will be led by Canon Terry Reimer, the Diocese of Maine’s Canon for Finance and Stewardship.

Register here