“Grow Church” is Underway!

In early October, Beth Marquart and I gathered with several others from around the diocese at St. Matthew’s on the Hill. The first in a series of retreat weekends, Grow Church is a two-year program offered by the Diocese of West Virginia and the Diocesan Church Development Institute (DCDI). The purpose of the program is to form participants as a community and as members of the Diocese of West Virginia, to teach congregational development skills, and to offer opportunities for continued spiritual formation and worship.

We are pleased to report that the first weekend got things off to a warm, spirited start. Throughout the two days, we learned, listened, and prayed together. We covered topics involving frameworks for how parishes function as communities, building trust and open communication in parish committees and many other topics. As part of our formation, we prayed the traditional offices together: Morning Prayer, Noonday Prayer, Evening Prayer, and Compline. These offices, found in our Book of Common Prayer, give us a common language and identity as Episcopalians and Anglicans.

A very human dimension was felt during the weekend, too. Beyond discussion and activities, we took time to hear each others’ stories. Stories of how we came to our present faith, and what we encountered along the way. We look forward to sharing more with you as we continue and invite you to learn more.

Note: There are still seats available if you’d like to join the 2023 Grow Church community. Our next retreat is December 1-2 at St. Matthew’s in Wheeling. Another cohort will begin during the fall of 2024 if that works better for you. Please contact Jordon Trumble, 304.344.3597, for registration and fee information. Scholarships are available.