Gathering the Gardeners
Published on March 31, 2023 by Rev. Drew Stever
Summary: After hearing the needs expressed by members in Koinonia Mutual Aid, we recognize the need to form a leadership pod to help sustain this work. As we do that, we want to hear from you all. How do you want this formed? What do you need from the leadership pod? What resources do you have in forming anti-racist leadership teams? You are invited to fill out this 11-question survey by April 14th. Your wisdom will be shared anonymously with the leadership pod so that we may learn from you and grow in ways rooted in the values expressed by this community. If you rather share your responses one on one instead of another online survey, both Hazel and I are happy to meet with you. Email Drew at [email protected] to start setting up a time.
Hello community.
I hope you are feeling the sunbeams of spring hit you in these days. The headlines have not been kind lately (when haven't they been unkind?) and I hope you are taking many moments for retreat and recharge.
I am writing to you from the new workbench I built in our garage. Hazel kicked me out from the studio space we shared together in our garage because...well, wet clay and sawdust don't mix apparently. So we just wave at each other from our respected areas and build little mugs and carve little spoons.
Hanging above the bench are all my hand tools. As I sit here, I am finding myself thinking about what I can create next. What can I build?
In this season of Koinonia Mutual Aid, we are asking ourselves the same question. What can we build? What can we build together?
We have met with members of Koinonia and asked them what faith leaders need as they try to rest, recover, and heal from the systems that have caused harm - particularly to those who are LGBTQIA+ and/or Black, African-descent, Indigenous, Latiné, Asian-Pacific Islander and those who are of mixed race.
In those conversations, it became clear that in order to sustain the work and meet the needs of the community, we need to form a leadership pod. This pod will meet regularly for at least a year to usher in more programming, educational experiences, and resources for the faith leaders and communities Koinonia serves.
We want to build this pod intentionally. In order to do that, we want to hear from you, the community about how you want this pod to be formed, what you need it to do and be, and offer any resources you might have in creating leadership teams that are rooted in anti-racist, decolonized practices.
As we build this pod, we ant to learn from you. When you have 10 minutes, I invite you to fill out this 11-question survey. All the findings collected will be shared anonymously with the leadership pod so that we may learn about the needs and hopes of this community.
We are aiming to gather as a pod at the end of April, early May. Recognizing that many in this community are in the midst of Easter/Ramadan/Passover, we are hoping to gather all your responses by April 14th.
If filling out another online form, or staring at words on the screen are not something that brings you life, both Hazel and I would be honored to sit with you for a 30 minute one on one conversation to talk about the questions in this survey. To do that, please email me at [email protected] to start setting up a time.
May your relationships be a soft pillow for you to fall on.
May peace find you in between the breaking news cycles.
May life burst up in front of you reminding you that you are still alive.
With gratitude,
Drew
Hello community.
I hope you are feeling the sunbeams of spring hit you in these days. The headlines have not been kind lately (when haven't they been unkind?) and I hope you are taking many moments for retreat and recharge.
I am writing to you from the new workbench I built in our garage. Hazel kicked me out from the studio space we shared together in our garage because...well, wet clay and sawdust don't mix apparently. So we just wave at each other from our respected areas and build little mugs and carve little spoons.
Hanging above the bench are all my hand tools. As I sit here, I am finding myself thinking about what I can create next. What can I build?
In this season of Koinonia Mutual Aid, we are asking ourselves the same question. What can we build? What can we build together?
We have met with members of Koinonia and asked them what faith leaders need as they try to rest, recover, and heal from the systems that have caused harm - particularly to those who are LGBTQIA+ and/or Black, African-descent, Indigenous, Latiné, Asian-Pacific Islander and those who are of mixed race.
In those conversations, it became clear that in order to sustain the work and meet the needs of the community, we need to form a leadership pod. This pod will meet regularly for at least a year to usher in more programming, educational experiences, and resources for the faith leaders and communities Koinonia serves.
We want to build this pod intentionally. In order to do that, we want to hear from you, the community about how you want this pod to be formed, what you need it to do and be, and offer any resources you might have in creating leadership teams that are rooted in anti-racist, decolonized practices.
As we build this pod, we ant to learn from you. When you have 10 minutes, I invite you to fill out this 11-question survey. All the findings collected will be shared anonymously with the leadership pod so that we may learn about the needs and hopes of this community.
We are aiming to gather as a pod at the end of April, early May. Recognizing that many in this community are in the midst of Easter/Ramadan/Passover, we are hoping to gather all your responses by April 14th.
If filling out another online form, or staring at words on the screen are not something that brings you life, both Hazel and I would be honored to sit with you for a 30 minute one on one conversation to talk about the questions in this survey. To do that, please email me at [email protected] to start setting up a time.
May your relationships be a soft pillow for you to fall on.
May peace find you in between the breaking news cycles.
May life burst up in front of you reminding you that you are still alive.
With gratitude,
Drew