Gleanings December Newsletter: Five Updates from our Desk

Welcome to Glean, the world's first incubator for spiritual entrepreneurs. We're a multifaith network of innovators who are building new models of institutions that serve.

1. A word of welcome to our newsletter, Gleanings.

The American religious landscape is churning. At a moment in which roughly 4,000-7,000 churches and synagogues close each year, there has been a promising upswell of emergent models of spiritual connection that has gone largely unnoticed, overshadowed by the headlines of decline. As these new models take shape and their leaders take courageous initiative, not only must we find ways to support their growth, but we must do so in ways that reflect the nature of today's changing landscape: unprecedented.

Our intention with this newsletter is to highlight, explore and amplify the inspiring work being done on the frontiers and margins of spiritual life: the inspiring spiritual entrepreneurs building startups, the visionary leaders reimagining legacy institutions, and the ways that the changing nature of faith impact all of us, every day.

We hope that this newsletter - like everything we do at Glean - is an invitation into relationship with us and our growing network of spiritual entrepreneurs and partners. You can always find up-to-date information at gleanincubator.com, share this newsletter with friends and colleagues who might be interested in engaging with our work, and contact us directly (info below).

In blessing and peace,

Rabbi Elan Babchuck, elan@clal.org
Rabbi Irwin Kula, ikula@clal.org
Adele Anderson, adele@clal.org

2. Our network of spiritual entrepreneurs is growing!

29 spiritual entrepreneurs representing 17 ventures joined us at Columbia Business School in mid-October for Glean's second opening retreat, traveling from as close as Harlem and as far as Jerusalem. They're seeing abundant opportunity in places where others might experience scarcity. Some examples:

Scarcity: Record numbers of churches and synagogues close their doors each year.

Abundance: Gorgeous, serene, and peaceful building spaces that are underutilized or vacant.

Opportunity?

The Owenwood Missional Campus: Repurposing church buildings into non-profit coworking spaces for mission-aligned organizations and community hubs. (Neil Moseley and Mitchell Boone)
Pop-Up Chapel: Offering underutilized worship spaces to folks of all faiths looking for a place to pray (Kursat Ozenc)

3. Wisdom from our opening retreat:

Rabbi Irwin Kula

"Every tradition is just an innovation that made it, and every innovation is merely a tradition that hasn't yet."

Jack McGourty

"Love the problem, not your solution."

Erin Satterwhite

"One of the key laws of thermodynamics: when entropy (disorder) is increasing, the only way to bring more order is by infusing energy. That's what this work is all about."

Matt Wallaert

"The originating human desire is to be good and do good... It's the environmental factors which determine whether or not we fulfill that desire. If you want to encourage people to do good in the world, focus on what inhibiting pressures are getting in the way."

4. Introducing the SPARK Fellowship to Ignite Synagogue Innovation

The work of spiritual entrepreneurship isn't limited only to startups; the tools and mindsets are applicable in a myriad of settings, and that's why we are so excited about the SPARK Fellowship to Ignite Synagogue Innovation!

Clal, in partnership with UJA-Federation of New York's SYNERGY, is launching the SPARK Fellowship to Ignite Synagogue Innovation. Teams of synagogue leaders will learn to incubate new ideas, manage change and evolve to meet emerging demographics and spiritual needs. Teams of clergy, staff and lay leaders from selected congregations will discover ways to better understand their communities, be trained in innovation techniques, receive coaching in change management and use design thinking to prototype innovations in their own synagogue innovation labs. Grants of up to $10,000 will be available to seed these experiments.

Learn more about the SPARK Fellowship

5. Our collaboration with the Adese Fellowship.

This yearlong ecumenical program engages participants in self-discovery, theological reflection and business development as they create scaleable and sustainable ventures that counter systemic poverty and build social equity.

While sponsored by the United Church of Christ, the program solicited applications from any faith-driven entrepreneur who is committed to a just world for all.

We are thrilled to partner with Adese on two levels: (1) Adese's lead staff person, Melina Higbee, is a participant in our second Glean cohort, and (2) Elan Babchuck, Glean's founding director and Clal's Director of Innovation, will serve as lead faculty for Adese. Stay tuned for an announcement introducing Adese's inaugural cohort soon!