Toward a new generation of leaders.
The Department of Faith Formation of the Episcopal Church oversees formation and ministry of all ages, with a primary focus on youth, young adults, and leaders. This department engaged Sacred Playgrounds to create and execute a multi-phased study of leadership in the Episcopal Church. The purpose of this study is to provide insights to guide the Department of Faith Formation in developing programs and initiatives to raise up a new generation of Episcopal leaders.The Episcopal Church Leadership Project (ECLP) is designed to answer the question, “How is the Episcopal Church training young adults for leadership?” The purpose of this study is to provide insights to guide the Department of Faith Formation of the Episcopal Church in developing programs and initiatives to raise up a new generation of Episcopal leaders.
The ECLP is a 3-phase research project spanning the summer of 2024 through early 2025. Each phase focuses on specific audiences including summer staff from Episcopal Camps and Conference Centers camps, current church leaders, and engaged emerging adults.
We’ll continue to share details and actions steps as each phase launches and ongoing findings as insights are generated.
WAVE 1
The Episcopal Church Leader Survey
How has The Episcopal Church been effective in raising up youth and young adults to leadership roles? This survey seeks to address this important question by focusing on ordained and lay leaders of The Episcopal Church. We are investigating the perceived impacts of multiple ministry experiences on the faith formation and call story of current leaders in the church. This will give us a better understanding of the key ministries that we currently have, as well as insights into areas for future focus. What were the most crucial ministry spaces for your formation? Sunday school? Camp? Diocesan retreats? Music ministries? Campus ministry?
WAVE 2
Episcopal Camps and Conference Centers (ECCC) Summer Camp Staff Study
FINALLY, a study of ECCC summer staff! We just got word that our friends at the Department of Faith Formation are funding a study of Episcopal camp staff THIS SUMMER! And they are engaging our ministry partners at Sacred Playgrounds to pull this off. We need all hands on deck for this one. Let us know right now if we can count on you to distribute this survey to your summer staff. We want to survey as many of them as possible at the beginning of the summer (as in RIGHT NOW) and again at the end. This will help us:
- Characterize the impacts of the summer staff experience
- Better tell the story of camp to donors and supporters
- Gain insights into how we can better support and serve our staff
- More effectively recruit young adults for summer staff!