The Cohort Initiative

Clergy-led Inter-parish Formation Groups

In the first year, participants will meet twice monthly clergy-facilitated covenant groups. Engaging part-time clergy as facilitators gives participants clerical pastoral guidance that may not be available at parish level.

However, the goal of the initiative is to help lay people recognize their own call and capacity to offer spiritual practice through the richness of their own experience. Over the course of the year, every opportunity will be given for participants to lead from their own spiritual concerns, passions, and strengths in small groups, large groups, and retreats, as they feel called.

How it works

Each meeting will involve shared spiritual practice, teaching and review of current themes for growth and discipleship, and time in covenant groups for deeper conversation around individual experiences of life, leadership, and practice.

Participants will experience various forms of prayer, ways of engaging Scripture, and practices of discernment. Through these, they will nurture the depth of their own spiritual lives as well as confidence in their identities as spiritual leaders

Experience led content & discussion

Content and discussion will be oriented around participants’ experience as disciple leaders which we hope will help participants engage with practices of the Christian faith/Anglican tradition as well as provide a facilitated way to practice feedback and mentorship among peers, and to help spiritual leadership thrive within a parish.

In year two, the director will help organize regional peer groups for community participants to continue their support of one another.

The Curriculum

We have identified the Revive curriculum as a framework with themes that are essential to spiritually vital lay leadership - prayer, Scripture, and discernment. However, specific content for the Communities will come from a variety of additional resources, such as seasonal devotionals with voices from our dioceses, the rules of life from our monastic communities, the Episcopal Way of Love, and the particular interests and gifts of our participants.

Our first cohort is using the Spiritual Disciplines Handbook by Adele Calhoun to explore spiritual practices from across the Christian tradition. All of these resources will provide tools that our participants can use not only in their own spiritual lives but in their service to their communities. It is our hope that among the tools presented through this website, you will find some that are of benefit to your own spiritual growth, whether or not you are a cohort participant, a lay or ordained person, official ‘leader’ or a seeking disciple.

Coaching & Spiritual Direction