Use your gifts to guide our church

Dear ECCC Community,

One of the things I love most about Episcopal camp and conference ministry is that we see the Church from a unique vantage point.

We witness transformation in real time. We see young people discovering belonging for the first time. We watch emerging leaders step into their gifts. We accompany people through grief, joy, discernment, healing, and community-building in sacred spaces that often look very different from traditional parish life.

And because of that, I believe deeply that the wider Church needs the wisdom, experience, and leadership of people connected to camp and conference ministry.

Too often, important decisions about the future of the Church are made without the voices of those who work most directly with emerging generations, outdoor ministry, hospitality, formation, retreat ministry, and transformative community-building. ECCC leaders understand things that the broader Church desperately needs right now: how to build belonging, how to form leaders, how to create brave and welcoming spaces, and how to help people encounter God in authentic community.

That is why I want to encourage members of the ECCC community to prayerfully consider running for elected positions within The Episcopal Church.

Having a seat at the table matters.

Not because we seek power for its own sake, but because representation shapes priorities, conversations, and imagination. When people from camp and conference ministry serve in churchwide leadership, the Church benefits from voices grounded in collaboration, innovation, pastoral care, hospitality, young adult engagement, and life-changing formation work.

There are several upcoming leadership opportunities that I believe could especially benefit from the gifts and perspectives of ECCC leaders:

• Executive Council
The Executive Council serves as the governing board of the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society (Official name of The Episcopal Church) and oversees the implementation of the mission, policies, and budget adopted by General Convention. This role helps shape the strategic direction of the Church between General Conventions and requires thoughtful governance, discernment, collaboration, and leadership.

ECCC leaders often bring exactly the kinds of experiences needed for this work: nonprofit leadership, board governance, strategic planning, operational oversight, fundraising, innovation, pastoral sensitivity, and systems thinking.

• Joint Nominating Committee for the Election of the Presiding Bishop
This committee is responsible for designing and carrying out the nomination process for future Presiding Bishops if a vacancy occurs. The work requires deep listening, discernment, confidentiality, and the ability to understand what the Church needs in its next leader (if Presiding Bishop Rowe were not able to fulfill his full term).

Camp and conference ministry leaders know how to recognize gifts in others, accompany people in discernment, build trust, and think creatively about the future of the Church. Those experiences are deeply valuable in a process like this.

The Episcopal Church needs leaders who understand both the institution and the movement of the Spirit beyond institutional walls. It needs people who know how to build community across difference. It needs leaders who understand emerging adults, vocational discernment, innovation, hospitality, and transformational ministry.

In many ways, that describes the ECCC community.

If you have ever thought, “Maybe I should run,” I encourage you to pay attention to that nudge. The Church needs faithful, creative, grounded leaders willing to help shape its future.

And if you know someone in our network who would be excellent in one of these roles, encourage them. Sometimes leadership begins with someone else saying, “I see gifts in you.”

You can learn more and submit your nomination here.

Thank you for the many ways you already serve the Church and the world through camp and conference ministry. Your ministry matters. Your perspective matters. And your voice matters.

Grace and peace,

Jess Elfring-Roberts
Executive Director
Episcopal Camps and Conference Centers