ECF announces a new program area: Adaptive Ministries
September 7, 2023, New York, NY - The Episcopal Church Foundation (ECF) is excited to launch a new program area: Adaptive Ministries. Previously known as Leadership Resources, Adaptive Ministries recognizes that congregational vitality and sustainability are contextual and require varying approaches specific to each local community. Adaptive Ministries will help equip, resource, and inspire congregations to discover what God is calling them to be in a changing church and world.
Over the past seven years ECF has produced many effective and inspiring leadership offerings especially through our Lilly Endowment Grants. These initiatives have inspired new methods and approaches in helping us develop innovative programs for the future church.
“I am excited about promoting new ministry models that enhance the church’s ability to effectively engage in God’s mission in the world,” said Donald V. Romanik, President of ECF, “We hope that Adaptive Ministries will help vitalize local faith communities within their own context and help build effective partnerships and collaborations.”
Adaptive Ministries is designed to be a more flexible and inter-connected web of programs, resources, and collaborations than previous structures. Each congregation or local faith community will be able to access and apply the offerings that meet their own unique context, address their own challenges and opportunities, and enhance their vitality and sustainability.
Haley Bankey, Director of Partnerships & Program Innovation at ECF, expressed, “As communities of faith are being challenged to seek new and creative ways to discern and carry out God’s mission, ECF is adapting and innovating as well. This new approach will help ECF be a more effective partner in transforming ministry.”
Since there is no ‘one-size-fits-all’, the Adaptive Ministries Team will help congregations access the most effective and appropriate resource or program within the ECF toolbox (e.g., Pivot online cohorts or ECF 360) or connect them with a collaborative partner better suited to address their unique needs. As a start, ECF encourages congregations to assess their current strengths and weaknesses through the Congregational Vitality Assessment Tool. This is one way to help discern a path forward.
To learn more about Adaptive Ministries, and other ECF offerings, visit our website. For more information, please contact hbankey@ecf.org.