Diocese of Los Angeles Requiem or Renaissance program development team. Episcopal News Photo
The Diocese of Los Angeles is launching of a “Requiem or Renaissance” program for congregations in the Diocese, based on the original program of the same name from the Diocese of Missouri, designed to help churches discern their calling in times of decline or changing circumstances.
A three-day planning meeting began Jan. 6 at St. Paul’s Commons, but was cut short on Jan. 8, due to concern for the fires.
The Missouri program — which has served 18 congregations and is currently working with nine congregations in its third cohort — also equips leaders with the skills to live out their discerned callings, whatever they may be. Requiem refers to the ending of a congregation’s current ministry, and Renaissance refers to the re-thinking and re-creation of certain elements of the congregation’s ministry.
The Rev. Canon Whitney Rice, who created and oversaw the program in the Diocese of Missouri, is helping the diocesan team adapt the program for the context of the Los Angeles diocese.
“We have a hard time talking about church decline. We have a hard time talking about the struggles that the church has without either feeling doom and gloom or having a sort of false ‘rah rah’ mentality,” Rice said. “The goal of Requiem Renaissance is to provide a space for people to do some truth telling and lay their struggles on the table and then discern what God is calling them to.”
The team is led by the Rev. Canon Melissa McCarthy, diocesan canon to the ordinary, and comprises clergy and lay leaders selected from around the diocese. “For years we have seen our smaller churches in decline getting older and poorer to the point that several cannot pay their Mission Share Fund contribution or pay for a priest,” McCarthy said. “We need a plan. We need a way to address the issues our congregations face and to strengthen ourselves for the work we need to do in the world.”
In the first two cohorts, in Missouri, “in all cases but one, churches have been revitalized, and the one church that decided to close funded a start-up church which today is going strong,” McCarthy said. “I have a lot of hope for this program. And, like any program, it works best when we are committed to it.”
The Rev. Canon Thomas Quijada-Discavage, canon for formation and transition ministry at the diocese and a member of the Diocesan Requiem or Renaissance team, said that he hopes these initial meetings can create a pathway to get more people involved and create the programing necessary to implement the program towards the end of 2025.
“It’s a somewhat daunting task because it’s so necessary for our congregations,” Quijada-Discavage said. “There’s a lot of excitement, there’s a lot of question about, ‘How are we going to do this?’ and ‘Will we be able to get something put together that that will yield the result that we all hope for?’ but patterning it after something that is in its third group, and seems to be working well, I think we’ve got a good base to go from.”
The Rev. John Watson, diocesan missioner for new models of ministry, said that there are many programs and courses available for church revitalization, but the Requiem or Renaissance program has proven special and successful.
“I think it can offer a real sense of hope when sometimes things don’t look very hopeful, and it can also breathe in new life when we feel tired,” Watson, who is also priest-in-charge of St. Athanasius, Echo Park, and Church of the Epiphany, Lincoln Heights, said. “I’m really confident this is going to be something which is going to change the way churches feel about themselves and help them to make decisions around their own future, for the good of this diocese.”
Watson said that under Rice’s guidance, the team has been developing a program specific to the context of the Diocese of Los Angeles, instead of transplanting the Missouri program.
Team member Sarah Nolan, director of giving and economic justice at All Saints Church in Pasadena, said she sees the program as an opportunity for churches to work together, while also exploring their unique callings.
“What I really appreciate about this program is its emphasis on reminding us that we are all part of the body of Christ, and all members of the church,” Nolan said. “This is an opportunity for different communities and people to share resources with one another, to explore how we live out our Gospel calling in the world. Even though we have individual parishes and communities, I think this is really an opportunity to collaborate and explore what it means to live out our unique callings. All churches and congregations, no matter what, need to be really honest about where they are in their journey of faith, and this is an opportunity to do that in a place and in a way that is safe and supportive and has a strong spiritual foundation.”
The Rev. Karrie Backer, vicar at St George’s, Riverside, and another member of the Requiem or Renaissance team, emphasized the collaborative nature of the program. “Congregations can be isolated, and this gives them a chance to really see shared difficulties across the diocese and across the wider church,” Backer said. “They’re not experiencing these things alone, but there’s just no opportunities to connect. This gives people an opportunity to come together and to hear about what the things that brings them joy are, and also the difficulties and the things they’re struggling with.”
McCarthy said that the time the team has spent working with Rice has been “rich, informative, and inspiring.” She said she’s proud of the team, and excited for where the project can go “When it comes to the church, The whole is always greater than the sum of our parts, and I would say that’s very true with this group,” McCarthy said. “I’m really excited about what’s next and how transformational this can be for our diocese.”
Rice said that in the first two cohorts, all the congregations came out of the program skillfully exploring new territory, with the mindset of ongoing renaissance or requiem, trying exciting new missions and projects, ending or altering programs that aren’t working, and discern how to best redirect their energy. Rice said that once the question of renaissance or requiem is intuitive, congregations can continually feel the freedom of unlocking and harnessing their energy.
“The desire is for congregations to really take hold of their own power, for them to set their own destiny, for them to be in that space of self-determination and exploration of new things,” Rice said. “And the requiem part of it is so important because there is so much trapped energy locked up in so many congregations because they’re doing church the way they think church has to be done, or has always been done.
“And when we help them explore requiem, it opens up so much more energy to try new, creative, risky things. And if they know that the diocese is alongside them and supporting them, it gives them the courage and the support to try some of those riskier things and set off into some new frontiers.”
The L.A. diocesan planning team will meet again at a future date to be determined.