Teams from 11 congregations in the Diocese of Missouri gathered July 14-15 at Mercy Retreat Center in St. Louis with Bishop Deon Johnson, Canon Whitney Rice, and the Shepherds team for the Requiem or Renaissance Retreat. The retreat was the culmination of the Requiem or Renaissance gatherings that began in January of 2022 with the purpose of supporting congregations in discernment and skills building, finding out what in their common life is leading to a holy ending (Requiem), and what is leading to new beginnings (Renaissance). Each congregational team had the opportunity to sit down at the retreat with Bishop Deon and Canon Whitney to share the fruits of their discernment, their sense of what God is calling them to do and be, and what support they need from the diocesan household to make it happen.
The retreat began with an opening Eucharist on Friday afternoon, and was followed Friday evening with a storytelling and testimony hour. Team after team stood up and shared with the group the amazing ways in which they are seeing and discovering how God is at work outside the walls of their church, and how energizing it is to join the work God is doing in their communities. Almost every team expressed how skeptical they were of the program when it began, but then how valuable the learning, discernment, and fellowship with other congregations has been to them.
On Saturday, when the teams weren’t meeting with the bishop, they learned about what it takes to create sustainable change. Each congregation is at a different point in discovering and carrying out their sense of call, and so they divided into three tracks: Listen, Learn, and Launch. Each track was tailored to support them in the particular work they’re doing in this moment.
Bishop Deon and Canon Whitney were incredibly impressed with the work the congregations have done throughout the program, and meeting with them one after another showed the whole of the Diocese moving forward and making progress together. The collaborative nature of the program, with the leadership of the Shepherds’ team and the focus on self-determination, has been the key ingredient to that progress.
St. Mark’s Church, Portland, is hosting the Celebration of Joy, a revival-like event in September, as their Renaissance project. Celebration of Joy will be the last Requiem or Renaissance event for Cohorts 1 and 2 of the program, and work is being done now to develop the follow-up support to the participating congregations as they live into their discoveries. More information will be forthcoming about Cohorts 3 and 4 forming, so consider whether your congregation could use structure and support for dreaming big and finding new pathways toward Requiem, Renaissance, and resurrection.