EHF wants to help congregations develop skills needed to begin new initiatives, gain inspiration from thought leaders and connect with others doing similar community work. We’ve identified several upcoming conferences and training sessions that offer content related to community development, strategic planning and identifying community assets and needs.
EHF offers financial support to congregation members attending on behalf of their congregation by covering registration costs. In some cases, we also can help pay for travel and/or accommodations if needed. We encourage you to take advantage of these training sessions.
For more information about each conference, the registration process or applying for support, please visit our Learning Opportunities webpage. If you are planning to attend one of these events and do not need financial support, please let us know so we can connect you with others from Episcopal congregations who will also be in attendance.
Upcoming Learning Opportunities
- Texas Rural Leadership Conference
June 21–23| San Antonio, TX – More Info and Registration Here!
The Texas Rural Leadership Program (TRLP), housed in Texas AgriLife Extension at Texas A&M University, hosts its annual conference to equip attendees with skills to create community development plans by strengthening leadership capacity, identifying community assets and resources that can be used to create change in their communities, and developing community-engaged action plans.
Over the past few years, three Episcopal congregations in the Diocese have participated in TRLP projects. Fr. Bob Green, former rector at St. Stephen’s in Liberty, created TRLP in the 1990s and the congregation is still active with the program today. Trinity, Jacksonville and St. Phillip’s, Hearne are also working with local leaders to introduce the program in their communities. Both congregations have started to identify and tackle community issues.
Read more about St. Stephen’s Liberty, St. Phillip’s Hearne and their involvement with TRLP.
July 9 | Grace Episcopal Church, Houston – Register Now!
July 30 | St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, Houston – Register Now!
August 27| St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, Bryan – Register Now!
September 17 | All Saints’ Episcopal Church, Crockett – Register Now!
Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) is an evidence-based, eight-hour course designed to equip people with the tools necessary to help someone who is developing a mental health need or experiencing a crisis. The program has been shown to build mental health literacy, and help people with no clinical training better understand and respond to signs of mental illness and to effectively refer people to professional help.
Over the past few months, EHF has offered the course in response to congregations’ strong interest in mental health. Since the first training, more than 200 people from 25 congregations have been certified in Mental Health First Aid.
- Episcopal Relief and Development’s Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD) Training
August 8-11 | Milwaukee, WI – More Info and Registration Here!
September 19-22 | Albuquerque, NM
Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD) is a strategy for sustainable community development and building on the strengths and assets found within a community. The strategy leverages the assets of individuals, associations and institutions to organize around community needs. The Called to Transformation, ABCD Facilitator Formation Workshop is open to clergy and lay leaders from across the Episcopal Church. The conference will teach the theory and practice of ABCD work, and then begin the process of creating a working plan to implement an ABCD project in their own community. Participants will be prepared to lead their congregation through this process and train others in ABCD.
- Mission Driven: A Summit for Social Innovation
September 8-9 | More Info and Registration Here!
Mission Capital, formerly known as Greenlights, in Austin, hosts the annual Mission Driven Conference for community leaders who want to explore how social innovation approaches can accelerate achievement of community transformation goals. As a summit for social innovation, Mission Driven brings innovative approaches, fresh ideas and the right connections to help address social issues attendees may be passionate about. In 2015, six Episcopal congregations sent leaders to this conference with EHF support. Participants said they found the conference energizing, inspiring and helpful in thinking about their community engagement efforts in new ways.
- Texas Christian Community Development Network –No Need Among You Conference
October 5–7 | More Info and Registration Here!
The Texas Christian Community Development Network hosts its annual conference to connect churches, non-profit practitioners and volunteers from across Texas to learn about community development and empowerment. The conference helps equip leaders with skills to support their community efforts. The event includes nationally-recognized speakers in the field, opportunities to network and various training workshops. The workshops will include topics of poverty, relief and development, racial reconciliation, social justice, health policy and other social issues.
Members of St. John the Divine, Houston attended this conference last year with EHF support in order to learn skills to build community partnerships in Houston’s Third Ward neighborhood.
These and many other opportunities are listed on our Learning Opportunities page. We’ll continue to update the page with new events offered throughout the Diocese and the nation.
