The Episcopal Church Foundation (ECF) and The Gathering of Leaders are pleased to announce a collaborative partnership through which each organization will benefit from the skills and resources of the other, while bringing hope-filled, positive change to the Episcopal Church and its leaders.

Both ECF and GOL share a common mission to identify, empower, network and support innovative and entrepreneurial leaders who will help shape the future direction of the Church. The new partnership will bring a higher level of connectivity, economies of scale, networking, and resource sharing that will benefit not only the member clergy in GOL, but also lay and clergy alike throughout ECF’s network.

“ECF’s new relationship with Gathering of Leaders enhances our ability to support transformational clergy leaders and empower them to help shape the Episcopal Church of the future,” remarked Donald Romanik, President of ECF. “This collaboration will expand our network, increase our impact and enable us to live into our mission in new and creative ways.”

The Rt. Rev. Duncan Gray, III (Res.), Chairman of the Board for GOL, says, “I am excited about the unique opportunity that this new partnership offers and look to our future together with much anticipation. We are convinced that the synergy created by our two organizations with mutually compatible missions will be a source of great renewal throughout our church.”

For over a decade, GOL has connected hope-filled, creative, entrepreneurial clergy with one another to share ideas, collaborate on new ways of growing the church, and support one another in mutual ministry. Often labeled the “research and development branch of the Episcopal Church”, GOL will now have the opportunity of sharing this message and ideas with the wider church beyond their membership because of this new partnership with ECF.

ECF has long been a proponent for building up innovative leaders in the Church over its seventy-year history primarily through the Fellowship Partners Program which supports both academic and ministry leaders who are forging new, innovative and mission-based ways to be the Episcopal Church. The GOL model is aligned with ECF’s emerging approach to leadership developed especially as it relates to the Congregational Leadership Initiative, which is funded, in part, by a grant from the Lilly Endowment. This new partnership with GOL will connect ECF directly with over 600 clergy leaders who are responding to the missionary call of Christ with a hope-filled vision for the Episcopal Church. It will also explore pilot gatherings for laypersons who are involved in creative and innovative leadership. ECF will provide staff support to GOL primarily through Haley Bankey, GOL’s Executive Director who is now part of ECF’s Leadership Resources Team.

Both ECF and GOL look forward to this new partnership that promises to create many more opportunities for leaders in the Church to thrive and grow.