[Episcopal Diocese of New Jersey press release] More than 400 people from throughout the Episcopal Diocese of New Jersey participated in the April 18 FORMATION: The Bishop’s Spring Conference, an inaugural event held at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Trenton.

The conference featured three leaders in the field of Christian formation. More details on the conference are available here; a full range of resources and materials from the conference, including a video presentation, audio downloads of the complete conference, PowerPoint presentations, photography and more, is available here.

Conference leaders included the Rev. Canon Angela S. Ifill, the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society’s missioner for black ministries; the Rev. David W. Anderson, an ecumenical and international presenter on faith formation; and John Roberto of LifelongFaith Associates and  editor of the journal Lifelong Faith. Audio recordings of all three leaders’ presentations are available at the above links, as well as a high-definition multi-camera video of Roberto’s presentation, “Reimagining Church in a Digital World.”

Roberto’s presentation was streamed live on the Episcopal Diocese of New Jersey’s website. Members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s New Jersey Synod and the Episcopal Diocese of Newark watched the streamed presentation together at a viewing held at Cross Roads Camp and Retreat Center in Califon, New Jersey.

“It’s really about a cultural change going on in our diocese and our church that will help us deepen faith in our congregations and beyond,” said New Jersey Bishop William H. (Chip) Stokes. “I hope that vestries and Christian formation committees will watch or listen to the talks and then engage in conversations about them.  I hope we will find ways to implement what we learned into our congregation’s practices. It’s an exciting time to be the church. “

The Bishop’s Spring Conference was the result of a year’s worth of planning by the Diocese of New Jersey’s Lifelong Christian Formation committee. Susan Stokes, Bishop Stokes’ wife, chaired the event. The momentum created at the conference will continue in diocesan initiatives throughout the year; weekly updates will be included in “Good News in the Garden State,” the diocesan newsletter, emailed every Thursday. Interested parties may sign up for the newsletter here.

The diocese’s new church growth program, The Way of St. Paul, will also explore and expand upon themes presented at the Bishop’s Spring Conference. More information about this new program can be found here.