Who We Are

We  think that something great is happening in some Episcopal churches on the West Coast. We think that being on the West Coast, in this particular cultural context, has something to do with those great things that are happening. We want to learn more about what the Spirit is doing in churches on the West Coast. 

The Convivium West is a collaboration of Episcopal Church practitioners who want to talk, think, pray, learn, and speak about and from the context of Episcopal spirituality and practice in the Western USA.  Begun by Phil Brochard, Paul Fromberg, and Alissa Newton, Convivium West hopes to provide space for conversation and connection in both physical and virtual realms for creative West Coast congregational leaders and those who want to hear from them. Our hoped-for outcomes include:

• Deeper connections between creative leaders on the West Coast
• The development of an Episcopal “voice” on the West Coast
• ​To reflect together on the unique experiences and practices we discover and bring in the West, for the purpose of transformation.
• To leverage what we know and are learning about being church on the West Coast for deeper development of our individual practice as clergy and congregational practice as leaders.

We are:

• Located and practicing congregational leaders on the West Coast and in the Western United States.
• Intentionally diverse in respect to age, race, orientation, type of congregation served, location of congregation served, length of time in leadership, and more.
• Practitioner focused and led.

Here’s some other values and practices we want to be part of what we are building. 

Phenomenological:

• Heliotropic - we grow toward the light
• Oriented toward hope
• Values/Identity over Program/Prescription
• Evidence/Experience based
• Experimentation not innovation
• Curiosity as a spiritual practice
• Open source
• Collaborative not competitive

Theological

• Foundationally relational, reflecting the life of the Trinity
• We trust that the Spirit is always doing a new thing
• We are disciples, following Jesus in the church and in the streets
• We believe that God wants to be found in the places we already are, within the contexts that we already have - God is not elsewhere.

Convivium West is an exercise in practical theology.