Our Brochure
RenewalWorks BrochureSample Materials
Facilitator Guide - PDF Preview
Explore a sample of the guide the workshop team facilitator will use to plan and lead each of the four workshops. The full version is a downloadable PDF included with the purchase of RenewalWorks.
Participant Workbook - PDF Preview
Review the workbook each workshop team member will use as a participant in RenewalWorks workshops. The full version is a downloadable PDF included with the purchase of RenewalWorks.
Footsteps - PDF Preview
Footsteps is a short booklet written by RenewalWorks founder, Jay Sidebotham. This booklet explains the concepts behind RenewalWorks. Hard copies of the full version may be purchased here through Forward Movement. Three (3) hard copies are included with the purchase of RenewalWorks.
Our Best Practice Principles
Researchers in our line of work have studied thousands of congregations—across multiple denominations, demographics, sizes, and setting (urban vs. rural, for example). Despite this diversity of sample size, basic themes have emerged, leading researchers to identify Five Best Practice Principles common to these congregations:
#1 | The Heart of the Leader
It’s the key, the critical element. The leader—we’re talking primarily about the clergy leader (or rector, if you have one), but also other clergy and lay leaders, like wardens, vestry members, and others—must single-mindedly champion spiritual growth as the priority for the parish.
Ideas to help:
- Revive is an uplifting discipleship program to help active lay leaders grow in their own spirituality, empowering them to become spiritual leaders in their community.
- Reading suggestions:
- Signs of Life, by RenewalWorks founder Jay Sidebotham
- The Heart of the Leader, by Edward S. Little
- Vestry Resource Guide and Finance Resource Guide, from Episcopal Church Foundation (both available in Spanish)
#2 | Get People Moving
This, of course, suggests welcoming and incorporating newcomers. But it means much more. It’s about communicating to everyone in the congregation, new and not so new, that that person is on a spiritual journey. It’s an invitation, a call, and a challenge to take the next step, wherever a person may be in that journey.
Ideas to help:
- Instructed Eucharists and related resources, like the How2charist, help congregants understand and appreciate worship.
- Reading suggestions:
- Forward Day by Day, a small daily devotional that fits in nearly any pocket
- Invite Welcome Connect, by Mary Parmer, equips and empowers individuals and congregations to practice evangelism, hospitality, and connectedness
- Faithful Questions, by Scott Gunn and Melody Wilson Shobe, engages our curiosity and our wonder as we seek to follow Jesus
- Gifts of God for the People of God, by Furman Buchanan, explores Holy Eucharist in the Episcopal church, offering insights and inspiration for new and long-standing worshippers alike.
- Jesus was an Episcopalian, by Chris Yaw
- Being Christian, by Rowan Williams
#3 | Embed the Bible in Everything
In the same way that scripture is woven throughout The Book of Common Prayer, so the Bible should be woven throughout the life of the congregation, providing guidance, comfort, and challenge. The leader teaches and preaches, but each parishioner is called to discover scripture’s rich meaning for his or her own personal spiritual journey.
Ideas to help:
- Put Bibles in the pews and refer to them in preaching. Indicate page numbers in the Bible in the bulletin.
- Post Bible-related infographics in the parish hall. These posters provide wonderful insights into the Bible, from common weights and measurements found in the Bible, to Biblical geography and tips on choosing a Bible.
- Plan a parish-wide, intergenerational engagement with the entire Bible with guided readings like The Path, The Story, or The Bible Challenge.
- Don’t have the time to facilitate? Sign up for updates from The Good Book Club, which convenes regular church-wide readings of specific books of the Bible.
- More reading suggestions:
- The Path, by Scott Gunn and Melody Wilson Shobe (there is a free curriculum)
- Forward Day by Day, for self-guided daily scripture reflection
- The 40-day and 50-day Bible Challenge Series
- The Bible and Episcopalians pamphlet or some other resource about scripture from Forward Movement.
- Take a unique perspective with Bible Women or Angels of the Bible; youth might be interested in The Spy on Noah’s Ark or The Spy at Jacob’s Ladder.
#4 | Create Ownership
Life in the church is not a spectator sport. It is not entertainment. It is not a product to be consumed. Everyone has both the freedom and the responsibility to pursue his or her own spiritual growth. Leaders assist this process by establishing the expectation that every individual in the community will grow in their relationship with the church, in their personal spiritual practice, and in service.
Ideas to help:
- Revive is a spiritual growth program for lay leaders
- Promote simple and accessible daily devotional practices, like Forward Day by Day
- Encourage people to take our individual assessment and spiritual guide, My Way of Love. Participants can opt in to receive 8 emails, over 8 weeks, which suggest practices they can undertake.
- Articulate a Rule of Life for your parish. It can be quite simple. For example, one church in Chicago developed the following Rule of Life: WORSHIP more than you don’t; SEEK a deeper understanding of your faith; SERVE others in the name and manner of Jesus; GIVE as generously as God has given to you.
#5 | Pastor the Community
Jesus came to serve, and a relationship with him is deepened through commitment to service in the church and the neighborhood. He calls his disciples to go out into the world, proclaiming good news by word and example. A big part of that is knowing what God is up to in the neighborhood already, listening to the voices encountered there, entering into dialogue with those of other faiths. And it’s about working for justice and peace wherever you encounter the suffering and need of others.
Ideas to help:
- Make it an expectation that everyone in the parish will do some kind of service. One parish was sponsoring a food drive with the slogan: “Everybody can”.
- Explicitly anchor current service projects in the Baptismal Covenant, in prayer, and in scripture. Will You? is a great Lenten study of our baptismal promises.
- If you have a soup kitchen or a mission trip or a construction project, incorporate scripture and prayer in those gatherings. Ask different members of the service team to lead a brief time of prayer and scripture.
- Discover ways to learn what is going on in the neighborhood and around the world. Contact Episcopal Relief & Development to see how your congregation can support global initiatives. Use Episcopal Relief & Development resources in Lent.
Develop a partnership with a community of another faith or at least another denomination. Work on a service project together with that community.
