By the time the last prayer was said at this year's Clergy Conference, Bishop Rob Price's vision had settled into the room: The future of our diocese will be shaped not by chance, but by the leaders we intentionally start forming now. Rooted in the Biblical hope of "a great multitude from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages" standing together before God, he called the diocese to form leaders, parishes and partnerships that mirror a truly multicultural church on earth as it is in heaven.

Before the formal program began, Bishop Price spoke to the clergy about the need for creative leadership pipelines. He announced that the Commission on Ministry will host new discernment conferences to help both lay people exploring their call to serve and those already on the path toward holy orders. Rather than relying only on individuals to declare that they are called to ordained ministry, he urged clergy to raise up leaders who can recognize gifts for the priesthood and diaconate in others -- especially in those who may not yet see that call in themselves. Bishop Price also laid out more details about the pathway to clergy ordination in the diocese and said new details for deacon ordination will come later. 

He also told clergy there will be a new focus for the diocese and how that was a main theme for the conference. “The content of our work together is around multicultural vision, commitment and engagement and to talk about that to each other…” Clergy sat at round tables and were given sets of questions to review and discuss about multicultural ministry and how that looks now in their parish and how that reach could expand. 

Throughout the conference the clergy prayed the office together, and included a service with Eucharist and a homily by the Rev. Cynthia Moore, who drew a striking parallel between the shearing of sheep and Nicodemus' spiritual journey. The shearing is a disorienting experience for the flock -- for a time, the young sheep cannot recognize their mother, nor she them. This image mirrors Nicodemus' struggle to comprehend spiritual rebirth: beginning in doubt and confusion, he gradually moves from skeptical questioning to bold witness, ultimately defending Jesus before the authorities and honoring him at the cross, Moore said. The sermon emphasized that this transformation is the work of the Holy Spirit, drawing the faithful -- as the sheep slowly recognizes what was always familiar -- into an ever-deepening unity with Christ. “That is the invitation - not to have everything understood, but to keep coming to, keep seeking, to keep listening in the quiet, because the spirit is already at work,” Moore said. “And every once in a while, we need to shed our own wool and begin again and slowly recognize ourselves in Christ, deeper in faith.”

The bulk of the conference focused on its central work of a reconciled multicultural church, led by the man who had shaped the gathering from the ground up -- Markus Lloyd, founder of Threaded, a ministry dedicated to helping churches and organizations cultivate multiethnic relationships and create collaborative pathways to meaningful change. Lloyd spoke to the challenges and costs of reconciliation in the early church, drawing parallels to modern church leadership.  Key points included the need to address inequities, the importance of structural change, and the risks to reputation and control that come with that work. The conversation emphasized the necessity of internal shifts to reflect diversity and the value of consistent partnership in multicultural ministry.

The Multicultural Ministries Commission, overseen by the Rev. Canon Dr. Samira Page, was lifted up as a key resource, with a focus on reconciliation, rectitude and representation. Page said that reconciliation calls us to the sacred work of healing across racial, ethnic and cultural divides, across nationalities, histories and lived experiences. “It’s about restoring relationships and reflecting the reconciling heart of Christ,” she said. Rectitude names our commitment to justice and outreach. “It speaks to moral uprightness, integrity and alignment with what is right in the sight of God. It reminds us that our ministries of service must flow from a rightly ordered heart and a faithful commitment to God’s justice.”

Clergy also spent downtime sitting in small groups as they shared meals together and gathered in the outdoor spaces of the camp to visit with one another. One evening Bishop Price cooked over an outdoor fire as he made an apple cobbler for everyone as they relaxed and visited in the milde weather and visited with one another.  

As the conference drew to a close, participants were asked to fill out a commitment card on how they can go forward with this new call of a shared diocesan focus on the bishop's vision for a leadership pipeline and multicultural ministries. Bishop Price said this focus and this meeting was important work. “Gathering with leaders and bringing their best thinking forward to each other on the most difficult challenge facing us is perhaps the best work that I can do with the clergy of our diocese,” he said. “That, and making them apple cobbler, of course,” he added with a wink.