Urging conference members to experiment with new ways of being church, Bishop Dan Schwerin reminded them that “we are not living into what we planned but what we didn’t plan for."

The days of waiting for people to visit our church—and assuming they would like some of our dated, uninspiring practices and would be thrilled to join acommittee—is about us and not about loving our neighbors.

Many of our churches are losing members, and there are increasingly fewer fulltime appointments available for elders.

“We are in a time of experimentation,” he said. 

This is why the 2025 Bishop’s Appeal will provide conference churches grants to assist their efforts to try new ministries that serve theirneighbors.Experimentation will sometimes result in failure, and that can be discouraging, the bishop observed.

He told of a childhood experience when their father arranged for his brother and him to rent a boat to cross a lake to meet their father at a cabin. It was a challenging trip. But he knew their father would be on the other shore, waiting for them.

He found a parallel in Acts 27, which tells of a shipwreck that the Apostle Paul and his companions endured. Their lives were at stake because the soldiers aboard were planning to kill them when the boat got stuck in a reef. A centurion helped them escape by telling them to jump overboard and swim to safety.

Hope was the key factor in both stories. “If we have a relationship with Jesus Christ, we have a relationship with hope," he said.

He offered three points for looking ahead with hope.

First, he said that both the Northern Illinois and Wisconsin conferences have plans to resource churches to experiment with ways to turn their missional focus toward their neighbors.

Rev. Christian Coon, NIC’s director of congregational development, is starting a cohort of large-church pastors that will experiment with new ministries to their communities. He will make coaching available if they want it. He is also preparing on a document on good practices for church mergers.

Wisconsin Conference is hosting a congregational development “boot camp” led by  Discipleship Ministries’ Path One staff.

Second, churches can practice being the collaborative body of Christ. In our connectional denomination, churches can rely on each other and learn from each other.

Third, we can turn to the Old Testament profits and the Epistle of James to recall our Christian morality.

“True religion is caring for the widow and orphan, not making them,” he said.

“Faith is the courage to let grace do its work. You are the body of Christ to each other. We are the people we need for this moment.”

Watch the Episcopal Address