It’s back-to-school season in the life of the church!
Whether you are blessing backpacks, planning new formation opportunities, or building community through mission and service, we are grateful for the many ways you continue to care for your neighbors and one another.
This issue of Small Church Voices celebrates Iona’s back-to-school programming, including the first cohort of our new Certificate in Congregational Spiritual Direction program, which began their studies this week, as well as the 80+ priests, deacons, and lay leaders who have registered for Continuing Education this semester. Together, these two programs represent nearly 40 Episcopal dioceses, and more than half of our Continuing Education students are taking an Iona course for the first time. We’re grateful to the deans of local schools of formation across the Iona network for helping spread the word about these opportunities throughout the wider church.
We’re also pleased to share two featured resources this month from our friends and colleagues at Bexley Seabury and the Center for Rural Strategies. Read on to learn more.
As always, we welcome your stories. If you know of news worth sharing about small and rural churches and their leaders, we’d love to hear from you — please reach out anytime.