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Dear Friends-
In a prayer that has come to be known as "Patient Trust", Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, SJ, invites us to reflect and ‘Trust in the slow work of God.’
In the years of serving as an interim, I find it necessary to return to this prayer regularly.
Since we began our work last fall with Susan Czolgolz, our consultant, we have learned much. The results of our ‘Holy Cow’ survey told us that taking a serious look at how this community deals with conflict was necessary.
In the months following we have taken several action steps forward as a community.
Phase I
During Phase I, Susan interviewed twenty-five parishioners and staff and produced an extensive summary about the sources and area of conflict that need attention.
Phase II
Phase II invited parishioners to participate in extensive learning opportunities. So far, more than sixty parishioners have received this training. We now are sharing additional opportunities for others in the congregation to join in this important work, which will commence on June 24th.
Please see the link here and further below in this email to sign up for the Phase II workshops.
Since we have begun this work, we have learned from our experience. Below we will identify 2 key takeaways from our initial Phase II sessions.
1) We’ve received feedback that ‘in person’ education is preferred for some participants, rather than ‘online’. To that end, we have designated a number of the Phase II trainings as ‘in person only’, in which participants will gather in the Chapter Room at the cathedral, and join a singular Zoom call to connect with Susan. This same practice will be applied to a few Phase III sessions.
2) We also received feedback that some participants wanted to hear the information a second time, or with a different group. If this describes your experience, we encourage you to sign up for another Phase II group.
Phase III
Once you have participated in Phase II of the process, we encourage you to sign up for a small group meeting to put what you’ve learned into practice.
Our consultant, Susan Czolgosz describes Phase III as the following:
"Phase III of the conflict transformation process is the small group experience. It is a two-hour commitment. Groups of no larger than 8 individuals will gather to create an intentional listening community.
The small group experience at its core is an opportunity for healing and reconciliation."
Please note, you must participate in Phase II in order to sign
up for Phase III.
The Phase III sign-ups are included here and further down in this email.
A Note For All Sign-Ups
If you are unable to sign-up for sessions at home, we will have access to the sign-up pages for both Phase II and III available at coffee hour on Sundays via the cathedral laptop. A member of our team would be glad to assist you.
If you need help or clarification with this process, please contact our parish administrator Avery Levesque-Schott for assistance via email or phone (207)-772-5434.
I am so thankful for your willingness to engage with this work and to trust in the ‘long slow work of God’ that de Chardin invites in the prayer.
Faithfully,
The Reverend George R. Stevens
Interim Dean
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