Water and the Word Conference at DaySpring
Lise Amundrud attended the Water and the Word Conference at DaySpring over the weekend of April 26th. There were over 190 participants representing 55 churches from all over the Diocese of Southwest Florida. The the Bishop talked about the four pathways of Christian life (see image below).
There were lots of presentations. One gave statistics from a recent survey conducted by RenewalWorks. They were saying that 80% of our churches have under 100 members, 75% of those members are over the age of 50.
The RenewalWorks survey reflected that 14% of our members do daily reflections on scripture and that 42% have never met with the clergy individually. Some additional statistics of the survey said that 60% want the church to help them to build a deeper relationship with God in Christ, 57% indicated their desire to be challenged and grow and take steps the next step spiritually.
They jokingly said that Episcopalians are known for being “spiritually shallow and being fine with that. “
Lise added, “Overall, it was a wonderful weekend. I was glad I got to go. It was interesting to see what other ministries smaller churches are doing, like community gardens, working with the local schools, and asking local government officials what they see as an unmet need in the area near our church.”
