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Looking Back on April

by Ashley Graham-Wilcox


Could Easter really have been only a month ago? April felt like six different seasons packed into 30 days.


My family squeezed in a spring break trip to Lake Tahoe where my very brave 40-something husband tried snowboarding for the first time with our son. We virtually queued for Olympics tickets (you’ll recall I’m a devotee) and are the proud holders of once-in-a-lifetime women's soccer final tickets and sure-this-will-be-fun archery ones for the local games coming to an arena near us for #LA28. Long before any hometown Olympic glory, I somehow found myself at two away baseball games — both with shockingly popular + painful giveaways.


On the workfront, one church client is navigating a rector transition. Another is managing overlapping fundraisers. A third is preparing for its first-ever clergy sabbatical. I had the privilege this month of attending two back-to-back conferences, Episcopal Communicators in San Diego and our own Caffeinated Church Conference in Atlanta — which resulted in this introvert fully collapsing into herself for several days afterward.


But as always, conferences — and long drives and airport rides home — tend to clarify things. 

Upcoming Workshops

Expert-led Workshop

Keeping Your Faith While Working for the Church

Thursday, May 14
| 10:00 AM PT / 11:00 AM / 12:00 PM CT / 1:00 PM ET


Working for the church can be deeply meaningful—and deeply exhausting. In this session, Brother Andrew Morehead will explore the intersection of faith, vocation, and burnout, offering ways to stay grounded spiritually while navigating the realities of ministry work.


Together, we’ll reflect on what it means to care for your own faith while caring for others, and consider practices that support sustainability over the long haul. Whether you’re feeling energized or running on empty, this session offers space to reconnect with the why behind your work.

Church Collaboration Gathering

Backup Support So You Can Take a Vacation

Wednesday, May 20
| 10:00 AM - 11:30 AM PT / 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM MT / 12:00 PM - 1:30 PM CT / 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM ET


How do you make backup plans as a church administrator or communicator with others on staff? When your work never seems to stop, how do you find someone to fill in when you are gone on vacation? What systems do churches use to provide backup for these roles? Facilitated by Mike Orr, Canon for Communications and Evangelism, the Episcopal Church in Colorado.

Realm User Group

Realm User Group


May 21 (Third Thursday of the Month, excluding July and December): 9:00 AM PT / 10:00 AM MT / 11:00 AM CT / 12:00 PM ET


Join us for a time of sharing, troubleshooting, and honing our Realm skills in support of our missions and ministries.


Hosted by Janey Griggs Salazar, Administrative Assistant and Benefits Coordinator for the Episcopal Church in Colorado

 

Administrators Virtual Cafe

How I Use AI: Real Weekly Workflows


Thursday, May 28 | 10:00 AM PT / 11:00 AM MT / 12:00 PM CT / 1:00 PM ET


AI can write a decent email. You’ve probably heard that. What’s more interesting, and actually helpful? Using tools like ChatGPT to save real time each week without sounding robotic, cutting corners, or losing your own voice in ministry.


In this practical Admin Roundtable, Ashley Graham-Wilcox will pull back the curtain on how she actually uses AI in her week-to-week work as a one-person communications and administration team supporting churches, nonprofits, and ministry projects. You’ll see real prompts of how AI helps streamline repetitive tasks while creating more space for strategy and creativity. 


We’ll walk through a typical week and explore how AI can help with things like:


  • Turning sermons, meetings, and notes into usable content 
  • Writing social media captions and newsletters faster 
  • Brainstorming event messaging and workshop ideas 
  • Summarizing long documents and reports 
  • Using AI as a thought partner when you’re staring at a blank page at 4:45pm on a Thursday 


We’ll also talk honestly about what AI can’t do well: replace your judgment, understand your congregation’s nuance, or magically fix unclear strategy. This session is designed for people who are curious, skeptical, overwhelmed, or already experimenting and wondering how others are using these tools in practical ways.


Facilitated by Ashley Graham-Wilcox, Independent Church Consultant

Expert-led Workshop

Small Changes, Big Impact: Refreshing Your Church Website


Tuesday, June 9 | 10:00 AM PT / 11:00 AM MT / 12:00 PM CT / 1:00 PM ET


Learn practical, high‑impact ways to make your church website more welcoming in hours—not months. Designed for clergy, vestries, communicators, and volunteers, this session walks you through quick wins: clarifying your homepage message, surfacing service times and a strong call-to-action, writing plainly for newcomers, cleaning out clutter, and applying simple design and accessibility tweaks. You’ll leave with a clear 1‑hour refresh plan, examples you can copy, and immediate steps you can implement this week to help visitors find their way in.


Led by Kendall Martin, Strategic Communications Consultant

 

Espresso Yourself: A Creative Prompt

This month’s challenge: Retire the phrase “All are welcome.” (Or at least make it work a little harder.)


Write three new versions of “All are welcome” that feel unmistakably true to your community.


Try to write one version each that's:


  • deeply specific
  • a little surprising
  • something only your church could say


Maybe it sounds like: Bring your kids, your questions, your coffee, and your complicated family. Or: You do not need to have your beliefs sorted out before showing up here.


Send us your favorite rewrite!

Refill & Rest: Self-Care Corner

At our recent Caffeinated Church conference, the Rev. Jennifer Shimota served as our conference chaplain and offered a reflection that clearly struck a nerve—in the best way.


Her piece, “What Does It Even Mean for the Gospel to Perform Well?” feels especially worth revisiting as many of us return to full inboxes, Sunday prep, and the everyday demands of ministry.


It’s a thoughtful reflection for anyone who has ever quietly tied their worth to attendance numbers, engagement metrics, productivity, or whether everything went exactly according to plan. As you read, sit with these questions:


💨Where have I been tempted to measure faithfulness by performance?


💨What would it look like to define success differently in this season of ministry?


💨What am I carrying right now that was never mine to carry alone?


Read it when you have a quiet moment this week. Let it be a small permission slip to loosen your grip.

 
 
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