Monthly Archives: April 2021

Monday Matters (April 26, 2021)

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Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.
-Psalm 29

A Prayer for Church Musicians and Artists:
O God, whom saints and angels delight to worship in heaven: Be ever present with your servants who seek through art and music to perfect the praises offered by your people on earth; and grant to them even now glimpses of your beauty, and make them worthy at length to behold it unveiled forevermore; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Final stanza of hymn:  Fairest Lord Jesus
All fairest beauty,
Heavenly and earthly,
Wondrously, Jesus, is found in Thee;
None can be nearer,
Fairer, or dearer,
Than Thou my Savior art to me.

First two stanzas of hymn: For the beauty of the earth
For the beauty of the earth, For the beauty of the skies, For the Love which from our birth over and around us lies: Christ, our God, to Thee we raise,
This our Sacrifice of Praise.
For the beauty of each hour, Of the day and of the night, Hill and vale, and tree and flower, Sun and moon and stars of light: Christ, our God, to Thee we raise, This our Sacrifice of Praise.

Beauty

I like my routines. Truth be told, I’m a little nutty about them. Family can attest. I wake up same time every morning. Set my phone for duration of morning devotions. Then a certain amount of time for exercise. Then a walk for another fixed period of time, no more, no less, timed exactly for the top of the hour newscast, which I watch for a prescribed amount of time. Then on to tasks of day, with both a full and an abridged to-do list, ready for things to be crossed off. I sometimes add things to the list that I’ve already done so I can cross them off. Nutty. Even and especially in COVID, it has been important for me to observe rituals, rigidly keeping this rhythm.

Unless, as happened last week, I’m on my fixed period of walking along the shore and up ahead, in the early morning light, I see a crowd gathered. As I near this group, I see that they are focused on about half a dozen dolphins, literally about six feet from water’s edge, as close to the shore as I’ve ever seen. It is simply beautiful. I stand and watch. I walk back and forth with the dolphins, joined by some other folks. Not much else mattered in those moments. Time kind of stopped. Well constructed morning routine became irrelevant. Beauty and grace interrupted daily ritual.

The church where I serve these days is observing the Easter season by focusing on the beauty of holiness. Members of the congregation engaged with creative activity (music, art, poetry, architecture, liturgy) share how those explorations bring them in closer touch with God. After a year of COVID, amidst seasons of violence, it feels meet and right to focus on the lovely and loving ways God’s holy presence can still shine through. Of course, we add to those artistic endeavors the celebration of the beauty of creation. We just observed Earth Day, which tells us that we are surrounded by the results of the divine intention to create beauty. As the psalmist says, the earth is filled with God’s love.

I noted recently that Christ Church Cranbrook includes “Sharing Beauty” in its 4-fold vision statement. That comes from Strategic Planning conversations where a team identified the unique ability for art and music to mediate differences and distances (such as urban Detroit and suburban Bloomfield Hills), but also culture, race, as well as its unique power to speak the gospel. (Check out the Cranbrook Project, the programmatic arm of that vision, as well as partnerships with the arts community of Detroit. The Cranbrook Project – CCC

The goals of the Cranbrook Project are to:

  • Enhance cooperation between different religious, ethnic, racial and economic communities in Metropolitan Detroit;
  • Encourage collaboration between activists, artists, academics, and members of the interfaith community in Southeastern Michigan;
  • Foster greater social engagement and responsibility through Jazz, Contemporary Art, and the Environment;
  • Support Christ Church Cranbrook as a beacon for community engagement, leadership, and care for the wider community.

And all of it has to do with beauty.

Undergirding all of this is the beauty of God’s love. Grace, a rich word, suggests unmerited favor. It also suggests beauty. Isaiah puts it this way: How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of the messenger who announces peace, who brings good news, who announces salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.” (Isa. 52:7) So we gather, even in COVID-tide, called by the refrain throughout the psalms which invites us to worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.

Newsflash: There is much in our world that is not beautiful. Our reflection on beauty does not deny that harsh reality. But maybe this week in the rhythms and rituals of our lives, we can take the time and make the space, allowing beauty to interrupt, giving thanks for where we see it, recognizing it as reflection of God’s nature, in the process allowing us to build bridges where there is division.

Here’s a thought: each day this week, take a few minutes to savor a work of art, or listen to a piece of music, or get out in nature where God’s creativity interrupts. Let it lead you to worship. Let it bring you joy.

-Jay Sidebotham


Our Churches After Covid

Wednesday, May 12 at 7pm EST

Our monthly conversations resume with a discussion of where we’ve been over the last year and where we might be headed. To help us address those questions, we welcome three gifted clergy leaders:
  • The Rev. Chris Harris, Associate Rector, Christ Church Cranbrook, Bloomfield, Michigan
  • The Rev. Edwin Johnson, Rector, St. Mary’s Church, Dorchester, Massachusetts
  • The Rev. Marissa Rohrbach, Rector, St. Matthew’s Church, Wilton, Connecticut.

We’re grateful for the insights these three will offer, and we’ll make sure to have time for comments and questions.

RenewalWorks: Connect seeks to gather folks who want to continue to explore spiritual growth as priorities in their congregations. All are welcome.

Be sure to receive the Zoom invitation by joining the RenewalWorks: Connect email list. Click here to join.

Monday Matters (April 19, 2021)

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For I know that my Redeemer lives, and that at the last he will stand upon the earth.

-Job 19:25

Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation has been in vain and your faith has been in vain…But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have died. For since death came through a human being, the resurrection of the dead has also come through a human being; for as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ.

-I Corinthians 15:12-14, 20-22

So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.

-Colossians 3:1,2

The resurrection completes the inauguration of God’s kingdom. . . . It is the decisive event demonstrating that God’s kingdom really has been launched on earth as it is in heaven. The message of Easter is that God’s new world has been unveiled in Jesus Christ and that you’re now invited to belong to it.

 -N. T. Wright

It is such a letdown to rise from the dead and have your friends not recognize you.
-Rob Bell, Velvet Elvis: Repainting the Christian Faith

Ordinary Resurrection

Each year as we make our way through the Easter season, I’m reminded of a powerful book by Jonathan Kozol, educator and advocate for children, especially children who have been pushed to the margins, children who contend with what he calls savage inequalities. The book I have in mind is entitled Ordinary Resurrections. It describes Dr. Kozol’s relationship with a group of children, students who attended school in one of the poorest parts of the Bronx and also those who participated in an after-school program at a local Episcopal Church (St. Ann’s). It’s a loving account of his relationship with these young people, and a hopeful testimony to their resilience.

It’s from this book that I first learned of the etymology of the word resurrection. It really means to stand again, which strikes me as a beautiful way to think about this season.

As we move through this season (It’s more than just one day), we certainly focus on the events of the first Easter morning which brought the amazing news that Jesus, Lord of the dance had indeed been knocked down but he leapt up high. He stood again after confronting the worst that his world could dish out. But Jonathan Kozol reminded me that stories of resurrection unfold in all kinds of places.

For those of us in the Christian tradition, we hear the word that because Christ has been raised, we also can be raised. As we reflect on what the past year has brought to us, to our individual lives, to our church, to our nation, we can safely say that we have been knocked down. The promise of the Easter season is that by grace, we can stand again. The longings and losses of the past year are not the final word.

So maybe you feel like you have been knocked down. Maybe your loved ones are having that experience. If that’s the case, imagine ordinary resurrections. Embrace the Easter promise that we can start again. We can stand again.

Maybe your faith has been knocked down, by the inexplicable pain of the world, or the failures of the church, or the appropriation of Jesus’ teaching for political advantage. If that’s the case, imagine ordinary resurrections. What would that look like in the course of your spiritual journey?

Maybe your church feels like it’s been knocked down. Many churches lived on the edge prior to pandemic. The challenges of the past year only deepened the anxiety. If that’s the case, imagine ordinary resurrections. What would that look like for your faith community?

Maybe you live in a community that has been particularly hard hit, knocked down in one way or another. Recent waves of gun violence and racial division provide examples of this. If that’s the case, imagine ordinary resurrections. That may not be easy to do. But Jonathan Kozol reminds us that they can happen, through amazing grace (the title of another of his books). Perhaps the first step is simply believing it’s possible.

-Jay Sidebotham


RenewalWorks has partnered with The Episcopal Church to transform RenewalWorks for Me into My Way of Love, Powered by RenewalWorks.

Using baseline data from hundreds of churches and thousands of Christians who have worked with RenewalWorks, your responses to a few simple questions will help the system identify broad characteristics of your spiritual life, and then assign you a plan of action.

After reading your initial results, you can go further by signing up for eight weeks of customized emails with tips, reminders and suggestions for daily spiritual practices. Following a four-part routine (Warm Up – Practice – Coach’s Tip – Stretch), these weekly emails support your unique spiritual journey and provide just the right suggestions for you to grow.

My Way of Love is free, a gift from Forward Movement and The Episcopal Church, offered in the confidence that as individual Christians grow in spiritual health, our congregations and dioceses will also be healthier-spiritually speaking.

Learn more and sign up for My Way of Love here.

In a recent episode of the video series  Leading Forward: Conversations on Discipleship and Growth, Presiding Bishop Michael B. Curry speaks with the Rev. Canon Scott Gunn, executive director of Forward Movement. The two discuss My Way of Love and the connection between discipleship and the spiritual practices for Jesus-centered life.

“Answering the survey questions helps the coach to guide you in real spiritual growth based on experience,” said Bishop Curry, “RenewalWorks and [Forward Movement] have been working on this for a while, but My Way of Love is based on that experience and the experience of roughly 2000 years of Christian history, plus a couple more thousand years of Jewish history and the history of other people of faith.” Watch the video here.

Leading Forward -- Conversation with Bishop Michael Curry about My Way of Love
Leading Forward — Conversation with Bishop Michael Curry about My Way of Love

If you’ve already done RenewalWorks for Me, you can still participate in My Way of Love and experience the wisdom that has been infused by this addition of The Way of Love, Practices for Jesus-Centered Life.

Now What? 5 Spiritual Growth Strategies for the New Normal

In the past year, we’ve had to rethink and reconfigure a lot of the ways that we are the church. Probably many of you have navigated the sudden switch from meeting in-person to gathering virtually. With vaccines rolling out, hopefully you’re moving into something like a new normal and returning to your buildings. Although many things have changed about how we do church during this pandemic, some basic principles about vital churches have not.

by Jay Sidebotham

What are these principles? And how can we apply best practices of spiritually vital churches to our congregations as we make our way into this new normal?

Based on our research and learnings from RenewalWorks, we offer some insight that might help you as you forge ahead. (Learn more about RenewalWorks in our digital brochure.)

The first step is to take the pulse of your congregation. How has your congregation changed over the past year? There are many obvious changes. You may stream your Sunday service online or meet via Zoom for small groups. But now is the time to assess how the events of the past year have impacted the spiritual life of your parishioners. For many people, times of crisis lead to deepened faith, but it can be hard to gauge where people are in their faith journeys.

The RenewalWorks process can help you take the pulse on the spiritual health of your parishioners. This information gathered by a Spiritual Life Inventory provides a starting point backed by data for charting your course forward. (And if you’ve done this process in the past, it might be a good time to do it again. You’ll learn a lot.) Contact us if you want more information about this Spiritual Life Inventory and how to get started.

The data we’ve gathered from congregations across the Episcopal Church has helped us understand the most effective practices for fostering spiritual vitality. Here are some things we’ve learned about these best practices that you might want to consider and implement right away:

1. Strengthen the heart of your leadership

Research shows that leaders make disciples by modeling discipleship. How has the pandemic impacted your own heart and the hearts of your congregation’s clergy and lay leaders? You’ve navigated a crisis. It might be time to check in with yourself and other leaders about whether or not you’re making personal spiritual growth a priority. Is it time for a retreat? For connecting with colleagues or a mentor? Is it time to get back to daily spiritual practices neglected during this past year? The leader’s heart is the critical element for spiritually vital congregations.

2. Get people moving

Is spiritual growth an expectation in your congregation? Data we’ve gathered shows the importance of helping people understand that they are on a spiritual journey. In this moment, how can you create a path with clear next steps for wherever they are on that journey?

For Episcopalians, the eucharist is transformative. People have missed it terribly. Now would be a great time to teach about this central sacrament. You may have picked up newcomers to the Episcopal tradition who are unfamiliar with the liturgy. You may be welcoming back longtime church-goers who recognize how much they’ve missed the eucharist and want to know what it’s all about. Capitalize on this curiosity. An instructed eucharist is a great way to deepen understanding of the spiritual journey. Another helpful resource about Holy Eucharist is Furman Buchanan’s book, Gifts of God for the People of God.

At the same time, in the midst of the pandemic, many parishioners have explored new spiritual practices, discovering alternative ways of “being” church. Find out what has been meaningful for people in this unusual time. See how new practices can be incorporated in your common life. As you move forward, how will you mix online and in-person gatherings? Which practices should continue to be offered online regardless of pandemic restriction?

3. Embed scripture in everything you do

According to research, the primary catalyst for spiritual growth is engagement in scripture. Whatever your future plans entail, scripture can be incorporated. It can be as simple as beginning meetings (even those about church business!) with 10 minutes of scripture reflection. It can mean launching a church-wide challenge to read a book of the Bible together to celebrate reunion. (The Good Book Club has archived resources that might help with facilitation). It can be offering study groups, online or in-person or some hybrid, to maximize engagement. Maybe you want to study Bible stories about time in the wilderness, or return from exile, circumstances not unlike coming out of the pandemic.

4. Create a sense of ownership

Nearly 60% of Episcopalians indicate in the Spiritual Life Inventory say that they want to be challenged to grow and take next steps spiritually. A great way to help folks take ownership of their spiritual journeys is to teach and encourage practices such as daily quiet times in prayer and reflection on scripture. Keep offering the Daily Office online even when you can meet in person. We’ve heard from many churches that participation in midweek services has increased since they’ve offered the ability to participate via Facebook or other online platforms. Invite every parishioner to participate in My Way of Love, an individual inventory followed by eight weeks of emails that trace the Presiding Bishop’s Way of Love. It’s an easy way for people to shape a rule of life that can guide them.

5. Pastor your community

There’s been so much hurt over the past year. Spiritually vital congregations find ways to address the longings and losses of the community. How can your church provide comfort? Hold an interfaith liturgy of remembrance for your community. In addition to the pandemic, we are experiencing crises around racial reconciliation. How can your congregation discuss and learn about racial reconciliation? How can you invite the broader community into conversation?

Think about ways to support teachers and students, helping them make up for lost time and letting them know they are loved and appreciated. Economic need is great. Invite folks to support a food pantry or community vaccine clinic with time, talent, and treasure. Share a prayer or blessing when you give out a bag of food or vaccine.

The data on Episcopal churches has shown us that we excel in service but don’t always connect our faith to these acts of giving. Find tangible ways to connect the two. Spiritual growth happens when acts of service are anchored in the Baptismal Covenant, in prayer, and in scripture.

The mission of RenewalWorks is to help churches (and individuals in them) refocus on spiritual growth and identify ways that God is calling them to grow. Now is a great time to engage this process and chart the course forward. We would love to help you on that journey. Contact us if you would like to learn more about RenewalWorks, or if you have other thoughts and ideas about fostering spiritual growth as we emerge from the pandemic.

RenewalWorks – Digital Catalog

Monday Matters (April 12, 2021)

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C.S.Lewis reflects on his conversion:

Really, a young atheist cannot guard his faith too carefully. Dangers lie in wait for him on every side.

You must picture me alone in that room at Magdalen, night after night, feeling, whenever my mind lifted even for a second from my work, the steady, unrelenting approach of Him whom I so earnestly desired not to meet. That which I greatly feared had at last come upon me. In the Trinity Term of 1929, I gave in, and admitted that God was God, and knelt and prayed: perhaps, that night, the most dejected and reluctant convert in all England.
(Surprised by Joy, ch. 14)

Lewis explained that on November 12, he and his brother Warren traveled to Whipsnade Zoo. “When we set out,” Lewis wrote, “I did not believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God; and when we reached the zoo, I did.”

What makes you believe?

For Mary Magdalene in the garden on Easter morning, it was Jesus saying her name. For Thomas of doubting fame, it was seeing the wounds of Jesus. For the disciples on the road to Emmaus, it was the breaking of the bread. For Peter, it was Jesus’ help with the disciples’ abysmal skills as fishermen. The stories of Easter offer all kinds of reasons why people came to believe. There were many ways that their eyes and hearts were opened.

So this morning, I’m wondering: How did that happen for you? What made you a believer, to whatever extent you consider yourself a believer? What compels you, or at least prompts you to identify with faith, even if that faith is small as a mustard seed, even if it wavers?

A lot of it has to do with the way we look at things. Einstein said that there were two ways to look at the world. One, as if nothing is miracle. Two, as if everything is miracle. I’m guessing that some of those disciples simply thought resurrection was not possible. They were blocked by limits of their own imaginations. That kind of thing (i.e., resurrection) didn’t happen, even when Jesus had given them hints it was coming. That may be true for us as well.

Abraham Lincoln said that he was driven to his knees in prayer because he had nowhere else to go. Many people come to faith out of a sense of their own brokenness, their need for help from a power greater than themselves. They’ve tried everything else.

Many people come to faith because of the witness of someone else, making the point that faith is more often caught than taught. The early church apparently grew exponentially because people outside the church looked at this new community and said, “See how they love one another.” I wonder if folks would say that about the church today.

And then we have to admit that growth in faith is a mystery. Lots of Jesus’ parables suggest that. He talks about seeds planted, some taking root and some not. When Jesus spoke with Nicodemus about being born from above, being born anew, being born again, Jesus said that it’s as mysterious as the wind blowing where it wills, not knowing where it came from or where it’s headed. I sometimes feel that way about my faith. It’s a come and a go.

I’m grateful for the ways that the gospels tell the Easter story. As we read these stories over 50 days, we see again and again that the first disciples doubted and feared and wondered. They are us. In our world there are plenty of reasons to throw in the towel on belief. The most religious people may well be the ones who make it most difficult for us to believe.

So how about this for an Easter project? Spend some time thinking about your own spiritual growth, perhaps even about your own conversion experience, for some a singular transformative event, for others a lifelong process moving from exploring to deepening to centering on a life with God. If belief feels thin this morning, say a prayer for eyes to be opened in some new way to God’s presence. If belief feels strong, give thanks. If you know someone who seems to have a powerful faith, ask that person about how that came about. And maybe as an observance of Easter, share a story with someone about how faith took root in your life and how you hope it will continue to blossom.

-Jay Sidebotham


RenewalWorks has partnered with The Episcopal Church to transform RenewalWorks for Me into My Way of Love, Powered by RenewalWorks.

Using baseline data from hundreds of churches and thousands of Christians who have worked with RenewalWorks, your responses to a few simple questions will help the system identify broad characteristics of your spiritual life, and then assign you a plan of action.

After reading your initial results, you can go further by signing up for eight weeks of customized emails with tips, reminders and suggestions for daily spiritual practices. Following a four-part routine (Warm Up – Practice – Coach’s Tip – Stretch), these weekly emails support your unique spiritual journey and provide just the right suggestions for you to grow.

My Way of Love is free, a gift from Forward Movement and The Episcopal Church, offered in the confidence that as individual Christians grow in spiritual health, our congregations and dioceses will also be healthier-spiritually speaking.

Learn more and sign up for My Way of Love here.

In a recent episode of the video series  Leading Forward: Conversations on Discipleship and Growth, Presiding Bishop Michael B. Curry speaks with the Rev. Canon Scott Gunn, executive director of Forward Movement. The two discuss My Way of Love and the connection between discipleship and the spiritual practices for Jesus-centered life.

“Answering the survey questions helps the coach to guide you in real spiritual growth based on experience,” said Bishop Curry, “RenewalWorks and [Forward Movement] have been working on this for a while, but My Way of Love is based on that experience and the experience of roughly 2000 years of Christian history, plus a couple more thousand years of Jewish history and the history of other people of faith.” Watch the video here.

Leading Forward -- Conversation with Bishop Michael Curry about My Way of Love
Leading Forward — Conversation with Bishop Michael Curry about My Way of Love

If you’ve already done RenewalWorks for Me, you can still participate in My Way of Love and experience the wisdom that has been infused by this addition of The Way of Love, Practices for Jesus-Centered Life.

Monday Matters (April 5, 2021)

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The prayer closing Martin Luther King’s sermon: The Questions Easter Answers

O God, our gracious Heavenly Father, we come on this Easter morning thanking Thee for revealing to us the ultimate meaning and the ultimate rationality of the universe. We thank you, this morning, for your Son, Jesus, who came by to let us know that love is the most durable power in the world, who came by to let us know that death can’t defeat us, to take the sting out of the grace and death and make it possible for all of us to have eternal life. We thank you, O God. And God grant that we will be grateful recipients of they eternal blessing. In the name and spirit of Jesus, we pray. Amen.

 

Love wins.
-Rob Bell

Alleluia, the 2021 version!

A parishioner once rather heatedly questioned my wisdom as rector because he believed that I had scheduled Easter during his son’s spring vacation. He was not happy. In response, I began by noting my appreciation for the ascription to me of such authority. I also conveyed my own frustration that Easter keeps moving around. Seasons shorten and lengthen depending on when Easter is scheduled. That presents challenges for type-A planners like me. Do you know any in the church?

But here we are. It is Easter, a season as well as a day. Why not look on the bright side? Led by the Spirit, changing dates can help us find new insights into the meaning of the day, the reason for the season.

For instance, when Easter falls on April 10, we are able to recall the witness of Dietrich Bonhoeffer who died on this day. He gave witness to Easter as he was led to execution, turning to his imprisoned congregation and saying: “For us this is the end. For me the beginning.”

When Easter falls on April 1 (April Fools’ Day), we can live into the wisdom of Esau McCaulley in his column in the New York Times on Friday, words about the unsettling news of Easter. He wrote: Christians, at their best, are the fools who dare believe in God’s power to call dead things to life. 

When Easter falls on April 15, we get to explore the question of rendering to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s. That can be a vision of a new, resurrected life.

When Easter falls on Earth day, we celebrate the beauty of the earth, which teaches us all the time about death and resurrection, seeds going underground and dying to produce growth.

And as Easter falls on April 4, as it did yesterday, that collision of calendars offers opportunity to give thanks for the life and ministry of Martin Luther King. His life ended on April 4 on a balcony at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis. The Sunday before Dr. King died, he preached a sermon in which he seemed to know what was coming. He spoke about the promised land, a hopeful vision which he knew that he himself may not see but to which he had led a movement. That sermon had Easter promise written all over it.

In 1957, he preached an Easter Sermon entitled “Questions that Easter Answers.

He said: “As I look over the world, as I look at America, I can see Easter coming in race relations. I can see it coming on every hand. I see it coming in Montgomery. Man’s extremity is God’s opportunity. What stops us does not stop God and that miracle is as much a part of the end as of the beginning. Above all, Easter provides answers to the deepest queries of the human spirit.”

All of this says to me that our observance of Easter obviously happens year after year with dreams unfulfilled. In 1957, Dr. King claimed that he could see Easter coming in terms of race relations. I can’t imagine he would have imagined that in Holy Week 2021 we’d all be watching footage of the end of George Floyd’s life. And while we may see Easter coming after a year of COVID, we still contend with the great losses that come from this health and economic crisis.

The new life that is promised in Easter does not mean that all difficulties of life dissipate. It does mean that week in and week out we affirm that love wins. We join with Dr. King in claiming this as the Easter message: “Love is the most durable power in the world…Through the love that God revealed through Jesus Christ, things move on.” As he said, what stops us does not stop God.

May we this day, this week, this Easter season tap into that durable power. Where will you start this morning?

-Jay Sidebotham


Exciting news!  Introducing…

RenewalWorks has partnered with The Episcopal Church to transform RenewalWorks for Me into My Way of Love, Powered by RenewalWorks.

Using baseline data from hundreds of churches and thousands of Christians who have worked with RenewalWorks, your responses to a few simple questions will help the system identify broad characteristics of your spiritual life, and then assign you a plan of action.

After reading your initial results, you can go further by signing up for eight weeks of customized emails with tips, reminders and suggestions for daily spiritual practices. Following a four-part routine (Warm Up – Practice – Coach’s Tip – Stretch), these weekly emails support your unique spiritual journey and provide just the right suggestions for you to grow.

My Way of Love is free, a gift from Forward Movement and The Episcopal Church, offered in the confidence that as individual Christians grow in spiritual health, our congregations and dioceses will also be healthier-spiritually speaking.

Learn more and sign up for My Way of Love here.

In a recent episode of the video series  Leading Forward: Conversations on Discipleship and Growth, Presiding Bishop Michael B. Curry speaks with the Rev. Canon Scott Gunn, executive director of Forward Movement. The two discuss My Way of Love and the connection between discipleship and the spiritual practices for Jesus-centered life.

“Answering the survey questions helps the coach to guide you in real spiritual growth based on experience,” said Bishop Curry, “RenewalWorks and [Forward Movement] have been working on this for a while, but My Way of Love is based on that experience and the experience of roughly 2000 years of Christian history, plus a couple more thousand years of Jewish history and the history of other people of faith.” Watch the video here.

Leading Forward -- Conversation with Bishop Michael Curry about My Way of Love
Leading Forward — Conversation with Bishop Michael Curry about My Way of Love

If you’ve already done RenewalWorks for Me, you can still participate in My Way of Love and experience the wisdom that has been infused by this addition of The Way of Love, Practices for Jesus-Centered Life.