B17 Quick and Dirty Parish LGBTQ+ Inclusion Self-Assessment
 
Sure, Episcopal churches are "LGBTQ+ affirming"...but is your parish really *inclusive*? The AuSable Inclusion Center offers full-service consultation services to help parishes move towards being truly LGBTQ+ inclusive. For parish leaders wanting to "dip their toes" into the process or have a more "self-guided" experience, this workshop will provide an opportunity to take a self-assessment (and receive an extra, blank copy to take back to your parish) along with a "next steps" guide for further discernment. This assessment helps to reveal areas for improvement, especially easy-to-miss practical matters that can make a big difference for LGBTQ+ people in your midst.
 
Presenter
Beck Leclaire, AuSable Inclusion Center, Diocese of the Great Lakes

Rooted in scripture, this workshop invites participants to explore what women’s ministry can look like in today’s Church. Through personal testimony and lived experience, Lisa Bortner, President of the National Episcopal Church Women Board, shares how God’s love—and the steadfast support of faithful women—carried her through profound loss, spiritual trial, and renewal. Together, we will reflect on the essential role of women’s ministries as places of authentic community, Christ-centered support, and transformative love. Women’s ministry is not a social club—it is a sacred space where women can safely talk about faith, life’s complexities, and God’s sustaining grace. This workshop will also highlight the many ways the National ECW supports local ministries, including leadership development, speaker resources, grants, scholarships, and guidance for starting or revitalizing women’s ministries. Participants will leave encouraged, connected, and equipped to imagine how God may be calling them to serve, lead, and strengthen the community of women in their own congregations. Come discover why women’s ministries matter—and how the National ECW can walk with you in building a vibrant, faithful, and hope-filled future.
 
Presenter
Lisa Bortner, National Episcopal Church Women

The Church Buildings for Collaborative Partnerships program (CBCP) empowers Indiana Episcopal congregations of all sizes to thrive as centers of ministry, community and faith through collaborative uses of their property.
 
This Workshop will:
 
- Provide an overview of CBCP “Tool Kits” designed to inspire and equip congregations to search for and create community partnerships with those who align with the church’s mission and values. Practical tips and practices will be shared.
- Share success stories from Indiana Episcopal churches and invite Workshop participants to share their property stewardship experiences.
- Lead Workshop participants in exploring the spiritual vocation of their buildings and grounds, highlighting how their property is called to support the people of the church (such as:  worship, Christian formation, fellowship) and their neighbors (such as:  service, fellowship, sharing the love and message of Christ).
 
Participants will begin to draft a “property mission statement” for their church.
 
Presenters
Linda Buskirk, Church Buildings for Collaborative Partnerships Director, Indianapolis and Northern Indiana
Michelle Walker, Episcopal Diocese of Northern Indiana
Emily Sajdak, Partners for Sacred Places

Come share ideas with creation care leaders from across Province V about how we can support our parishes and worshiping communities as they integrate creation care and environmental justice into their worship practices, community outreach, and public witness.
 
Together we will pray and reflect how the spirit is already moving in our local contexts, and talk with leaders in the Dioceses of Chicago, Great Lakes, and Michigan about new and growing programs in each diocese to support local faith communities.
 
Creation care, like all justice work, is rooted in community. As we reflect on opportunities in our individual parishes, we will build connections with one another based upon our shared concerns, so that we come away with an understanding of how we can work together between parishes and across dioceses.
 
Presenters
David Laurance, Diocese of Michigan
Dean Aponte-Safe, Diocese of Michigan
Jess Kidder, Diocese of the Great Lakes
Jan Strait, Diocese of the Great Lakes
Richard Benson, Diocese of Chicago

The Church Home of the Diocese of Chicago has developed a six session program that facilitates reflection and acknowledgement of the gifts of life through simply living your life. This program invites participants to reflect on their own experiences of the aging process and to seek and acknowledge the presence of God in this time of their lives. The sessions encourage self-reflection through group reading of scripture, poetry, and essays, along with the opportunity to share thoughts and stories. The topics are Identity, Connection, Purpose, Loss, Change, and Joy. Each session builds upon the previous and at the end of the sessions, the formation of a community of friends has begun.
 
Presenter
Peggy Taylor

Micro congregations might feel limited in their efforts to engage in Mission, but there are strategies that can help you to make a big impact on your community. With stories of tiny congregations that have done this, we will discuss how to go where people are, how to invite others to leadership, and how to find organizations to collaborate with for mission. We will include practice in how to engage your neighbors. Youth interested in how to make more connections outside the church are encouraged to join us.
 
 
Presenter
Elizabeth Mae Magill, Coordinator for Community Life, Episcopal Divinity School
 
Elizabeth Mae Magill (Liz) is Coordinator for Community Life at Episcopal Divinity School and the author of Five Loaves, Two Fish, Twelve Volunteers: Growing a Relational Food Ministry (Upper Room 2020) and When Did We See You? A seven week exploration of Poverty & Wealth (Upper Room 2026). She also writes a free Newsletter for churches to take a stand in our times: Act! Be Church Now. Subscribe at ElizabethMaeMagill.com

Many Episcopalians feel resistance to evangelism—often because we’ve seen it weaponized in other forms of Christianity. But we don’t get off the hook simply because others have done it poorly: sharing the Good News is an essential part of faithful discipleship, not an optional sales pitch or a church-growth strategy.
This workshop reframes evangelism as a spiritual practice: prayerful, relational, and rooted in love of neighbor. Following the Gospel’s simple invitation—“come and see”—we’ll explore incarnational, invitational evangelism that avoids coercion, argument, and “bullhorn guy” tactics, and instead invites people, through word and deed, into the abundant life we’ve found in Christ.
You’ll leave with a clear Episcopal “why" for evangelism, plus a few quick, practical ways to begin—reflection on your story in God's story, honest language, better questions, simple invitations, and small habits you can start this week.
 
Presenter
Chris Corbin, Trinity Episcopal Church, Oshkosh, WI

Pt. 1 Native Boarding Schools in the U.S. and The Episcopal Church: an update on the work of the Truth, Justice, and Healing Commission on Native Boarding Schools
 
A panel consisting of members of the Commission, whose work was mandated in 2022 by the Executive Council and by resolution of General Convention, will present their findings to date. The Commission and its consultants have documented ways in which The Episcopal Church played a key role in the development and running of Native Boarding Schools at many levels including diocesan clergy and lay leadership, influential members, its auxiliary organizations, and its partnership with the federal government.
 
Presenters
Leora Tadgerson, Director of Reparations and Justice, Northern Michigan
Veronica Pasfield  
Brian Wilbert (Ohio)

Roots & Wings is a grant focused on the Episcopal expression of intergenerational worship. Our team conducted a literature review identified five core characteristics, or “hallmarks,” of intergenerational worship. In this workshop, we will explore each of the five hallmarks: intentionality, relationality, dignified reciprocity, flexibility, and empowerment. After offering an overview of each hallmark, participants will be invited to brainstorm practical ideas for increasing that hallmark in intergenerational worship. This workshop would welcome middle and high school youth!
 
Presenters
Sarah Bentley Allred, Roots & Wings: Intergenerational Formation Collaborative Lifelong Learning at Virginia Theological Seminary

Need a way to think clearly and calmly about leadership and congregational life? This workshop will present a brief overview of the eight concepts of Bowen Family Systems Theory with an opportunity to think through three scenarios from work and life using the concepts. Participants will join with others for a snapshot in time to consider the application of systems thinking in family, work or ministry environments and begin to imagine how they can work on their own maturity as well as the maturity of the organizations in which they are involved. A brief introduction to the family diagram will also be included. This workshop is but a taste of other resources available through Healthy Congregations, Inc. Clergy and lay persons are encouraged to attend.
 
Presenter
Elizabeth Hoster, Healthy Congregations, Inc.