SIM - Society for the Increase of the Ministry

SIM - Society for the Increase of the Ministry SIM supports future ordained leaders in The Episcopal Church.Visit http://www.simministry.org for more information.

SIM is a learning community of thought-leaders cultivating wisdom for the massive adaptive challenge required to secure the future of the faith, and leading that adaptive change through recruitment, scholarships, convening, consulting and publications.

02/10/2026

SIM Discernment Retreat 2026 Trinity Church NYC
Walk Into the Future | NYC Discernment Retreat 🚶🏽‍♀️🚶🏻
Day 2 gathered us again in a wider circle, beginning with the Covenants of Presence—an opening practice that helps us set intention for our shared discernment work. Similar to Baptismal Promises, these covenants express our commitment to one another as we engage deeply, listen fully, and discern together. https://simministry.org/sim-news/walk-into-the-future-nyc-discernment-retreat-

— The Society for the Increase of the Ministry
SimMinistry.org

Day 4 we make our commitment to go beyond ourselves. As we prepare to depart the retreat we encourage each of those in a...
01/22/2026

Day 4 we make our commitment to go beyond ourselves. As we prepare to depart the retreat we encourage each of those in attendance to leap into the unknown. Instead of holding our tongues, we invite everyone to speak their truth.

Our centering reflection brings us back into the circle, looking back into each other before we take our work into the world. Each attendee, as they are called to do so, steps to the center of the circle, takes a stone from the altar, and notes one gift and one commitment coming out of the retreat.

Thank you for joining us for this Walk Into The Future.

The final step comes on Day 3 as we step into the Design Studio. We journey from the "what if", to discussion and team r...
01/21/2026

The final step comes on Day 3 as we step into the Design Studio. We journey from the "what if", to discussion and team review, then to pragmatic steps of how it would be done, by whom, when and where. Finally, each of the 13 teams each report out the ideas that came to them, allowing us each to follow the divine thread all the way from storytelling to creating that ministry, the change that the stories impel.

Design studio is a process for developing and putting flesh on those things you have begun to discern are given to do by God, the things that your stories and dialogue, journaling and deep meditation have all brought to life.

Day 3 exercises, after letting go, focused on visualizing all that we were hoping for the future of the church. We opene...
01/17/2026

Day 3 exercises, after letting go, focused on visualizing all that we were hoping for the future of the church. We opened the door and looked out onto the future we were building, then committed that to paper for us all to see. It is a powerful moment to come together around these sketches of the future we were looking to build.

Walk into the Future with us as we bring those visions to life, see for yourself what the spirit was calling forth in us all for the future church.

Letting Go is essential to making change, deeply ingrained patterns and habits show us how resistant to change we can be...
01/17/2026

Letting Go is essential to making change, deeply ingrained patterns and habits show us how resistant to change we can be. Day 3, following the Covenants of Presence, began with our belief release exercise focused on just that: Letting Go.

This is a meditative reflection led by Dr. Courtney Cowart. However, it is also a physical exercise of clenching the hands around the chairs we have so firmly positioned on the ground beneath us and feeling the physical release of letting them go.

What are you holding onto that is holding you back from real change?

Day 2 of our Walk into the Future focuses on storytelling and holy listening, exploring experiences with listening for a...
01/16/2026

Day 2 of our Walk into the Future focuses on storytelling and holy listening, exploring experiences with listening for a truth (blue notes), helping others discern the sound of the genuine in themselves (green notes), and finally, observations from our journals and what we saw (yellow).

Join us for a walk through the gallery wall of our minds and notice God's presence in the stories.

Day 2 brought us back to an expanded circle, and started with the Covenants of Presence which give us a way of setting o...
01/15/2026

Day 2 brought us back to an expanded circle, and started with the Covenants of Presence which give us a way of setting our intention for the whole of these circle practices. The Covenants of Presence are an opening ritual similar to the Baptismal Promises, representing our commitment to each other in the deep work of discernment.

Speak to me and awaken me. Lead me towards what is true and real, and of you. Day 1 of our discernment retreat, Walk int...
01/15/2026

Speak to me and awaken me. Lead me towards what is true and real, and of you.

Day 1 of our discernment retreat, Walk into the Future, ended with exercise. Our heartfelt longings for the church and for our time together.

Day 1 of our discernment retreat: Walk into the Future 🚶🏽‍♀️🚶🏻World Café is most often identified as a space for "conver...
01/14/2026

Day 1 of our discernment retreat: Walk into the Future 🚶🏽‍♀️🚶🏻

World Café is most often identified as a space for "conversations that matter." Ideas and emerging themes are harvested that open possibilities for those gathered and these conversations yield a deepened mutual understanding among participants and each one's worldview.

12/30/2025

Lighting the Way for the Next One Hundred
You’ve already heard us celebrate a remarkable moment in SIM’s life this year: reaching one hundred Becoming Beloved Community scholars. In this short video, SIM Missioner Mari Shiukashvili reflects on what that milestone truly represents – the lives, callings, and faithful “yeses” behind the numbers.

She shares why making space for our scholars’ voices matters, how beloved community begins to take shape when faithful leaders are given the freedom to explore their callings, and what it looks like to walk alongside them in this work. As we move through the Christmas season, we invite you to pause, listen, and consider how you might stand with these scholars and help light the way for the next one hundred. The SIMinarian simministry.org/images/fileman/TheSIMinarian-2025.pdf
simministry.org/sim-news/-lighting-the-way-for-the-next-one-hundred

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