Go In Peace. Go In Hope. Go In Love

We invite you to join us for our 187th Diocesan Convention, “Go in peace. Go in hope. Go in love,” November 12–14, 2026. Together, we will gather to pray, to listen, and to discern how God is calling us to go forth in this season of our common life.

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you.” – Matthew 28:19–20

Dear Siblings in Christ,

At the heart of our life in Christ is a sending. The risen Jesus gathers his disciples, breathes peace upon them, and then gives them a charge: Go. Not remain. Not wait. But go! Go into the world God so loves.

Jesus’ command was a gift to his disciples then and it is a gift to us now. For in going, we discover again and again that we do not go alone. Jesus, the One who sends us is the One who promises, “I am with you always.” We are a people sent. We are formed by peace, sustained by hope, and rooted in love so that we may embody the Good News we proclaim.

In the waters of Holy Baptism, we are claimed and commissioned for this very purpose. Week by week, we are gathered around Word and Sacrament, nourished and renewed, so that we might be sent out again into the world, into our neighborhoods, our workplaces, our communities, bearing the presence of Christ.

To go in peace is to carry Christ’s reconciling presence into places of division.

To go in hope is to trust that God is at work even where the path ahead is uncertain.

To go in love is to reflect the boundless compassion of God in all that we do.

As the people of the Episcopal Diocese of Missouri, we are learning what it means to take this call seriously, to be a Church that does not simply gather, but is sent; not simply inwardly focused, but outwardly engaged in God’s mission of healing and restoration.

This year, I invite you to join me for our 187th Diocesan Convention, “Go in peace. Go in hope. Go in love,” November 12–14, 2026. Together, we will gather to pray, to listen, and to discern how God is calling us to go forth in this season of our common life.

Our Convention will once again include both virtual business sessions and opportunities for in-person gathering. Delegates are expected to participate in both, and I warmly invite the entire diocesan household to join in the in-person events as we celebrate the many ways you are already living out this call to go.

There will be space to share stories of where you have seen God at work, to listen deeply to one another, and to be encouraged and equipped for the work ahead. In all of this, we trust that the Holy Spirit is guiding us, sending us ever outward, ever deeper into God’s mission.

Please watch the Diocesan website, the Proclaim newsletter, and parish communications for updates regarding resolutions, nominations, and other important details.

I look forward to being with you as we gather, ready once more to hear Christ’s call and to respond with courage and faith: to go into the world in his name.

Go in peace. Go in hope. Go in love.

Yours in Christ,

The Rt. Rev. Deon K. Johnson

XI Bishop of The Episcopal Diocese of Missouri