Tending Our Soil

We are delighted to share that Saint Nichols has been selected to be among the first twelve congregations in the Diocese of Washington to participate in the Tending Our Soil, a thriving congregations initiative that hopes to transform our congregation into greater vitality.

The Tending Our Soil thriving congregations initiative seeks to cultivate the soil of our congregation so that God’s love might grow more fully right here, right now within our congregation and in our neighborhood.

The initiative is based on the belief that thriving congregations recognize their changing social and cultural contexts, exhibit clarity of values and mission, and cultivate Christian practices.

Over a three year period our entire congregation, led by a team of 4-6 lay members and the rector, will (1) listen to God, one another, and our neighbors; (2) reconnect to God’s dream for our congregation; (3) discern new or refreshed ministries; (4) cultivate leadership and resources needed for those ministries; and finally (5) celebrate learnings and successes.  Our hope is that this initiative will strengthen our capacity to bear God’s love in the world.

We will be commissioning our congregational team on September 12th and the program launches on September 18th with a gathering of leaders from across the diocese.  The first year will focus on listening to one another, our neighbors, and God and will begin with the opportunity for us to share stories about our congregation’s history and hopes for the future. Be on the lookout for invitations.

We invite you to pray for the leadership team as they begin their work.

If you have any questions about this initiative, please feel free to reach out Saint Nicholas Episcopal Church.