Our goal

To strengthen and energize leaders in ministry; to help those who lead dioceses, parishes, and congregations to better connect — with their people, with those who are far from faith, and with God.

How do we do this?

The same-old-same-old just doesn’t seem to work anymore. People walk away from institutional religion. Ministerial and formation programs struggle to improve. Why? Rather than point a finger “out there” to blame our culture for the “isms” of secularism, relativism, individualism, and utilitarianism, we turn that around and point inward at ourselves, asking, “What are we not seeing?” and “What do we need to evaluate to better understand where we are doing well and where we fall short?” Often we work from a limited set of voices, from anecdotal evidence, from our own sample of experience, and out of wishful thinking. For the glory of God, together we can learn to see better than that.

How can we as church connect better? Strengthening connection comes from a careful assessment of where we are – both our strengths and weaknesses. This is followed by a prayer-filled envisioning of where God calls us to be and then the setting of goals to get there. This process works on a personal level, for a parish or congregation, for a diocese or district, as well as at national and international levels. Our consulting practice focuses on research and goal-setting in these ministerial situations.

But ministry is not simply a utilitarian pursuit of “what works.” Those of us who minister to the people of God paint an icon, a window into God, by the way that we invest our lives, compose our words, and bodily express them. As a bishop, priest, deacon, pastor, minister, or lay leader, you and I, we cannot “get out of the way”. We are the way. Therefore the quality of our connection with God influences all that you and I do. The spirit of prayer  undergirds the ventures that we will undertake together.

Who are we?

We are a group of lay people whose passion is to better connect the pulpit and the pew for the glory of God. To renew the Christian faith, we must revitalize the encounter of preaching. That is our primary focus. In service to that mission, efforts in the “new evangelization” must be founded on solid research. Without prayer, we chase after wind. Preaching, evangelization, and prayer – these flow together. We bring fresh voices to the table with energy, enthusiasm, and a wealth of practical life experience.