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About three years ago the Episcopal Church in Connecticut decided to "reimagine" the way it was organized and governed so it could be better at encouraging people in churches to work together and to support their participation in God's mission.     Part of what it did was to re-organize into six geographic Regions, and then it hired six three-quarter-time missionaries, one for each of the six Regions, to help. Today’s episode is a conversation with three of these Region Missionaries about their work: the Rev. Rachel Thomas (Southeast Region), the Rev. Rachel Field (South Central Region), and Erin Flinn (North Central Region).    Rachel Thomas is originally from Georgia and originally from the Methodist Church. She's been ordained to the priesthood for 26 years - making her the elder, by age only, among the Region Missionaries. She's has served at camps and conference centers, in college campus ministries, and at parishes in Connecticut.    Rachel Field is from Maryland where she worked as a research biologist and environmental educator. She is a graduate of Yale Divinity School, she is also an ordained Episcopal priest.    Erin Flinn is originally from New Hampshire. Her first career was as assistant lighting designer for the Lyric Opera Company in Chicago and she also worked in administration at Northwestern University and as program director for the Episcopal Church at Yale. She has an M.Div. from Yale Divinity School.    Our first question was about unpacking what “participating in God’s mission” meant to them and to their work. They talked about Christianity as a way of life, not as a “spectator sport,” and how God is already present, and about how it’s an invitation.    Next, they each talked about their job and about the Regions where they serve.   In their official job descriptions, their role is to assist the parishes and worshiping communities in “their” Region to catalyze, connect, convene, and build capacity/capability. They spend a lot of time driving from place to place and listening to people, learning about great ministries and partnerships. They share stories. They talk about God and about community.   They face what one called “beautiful challenges,” including geography and old habits; they encourage people to try new things; they ask questions.    As  the role of the church in today’s culture and society changes, Region Missionaries can be like midwives to the process, reminding people to breathe … they are also experimenters, and builders of the Kingdom of God that God needs now.    And, they have “tremendous faith that God will always have the church that God needs.“ To a person, they love their work, see it as ministry, and feel called to it.    As we concluded the session, we asked about their personal spiritual practices and how those have been influenced by their work as RMs. They all spoke about the importance of their shared time together as RMs: learning, praying, spending time with scripture — becoming a community. Sung chant is one of their spiritual practices (learning about different ones, and singing them) and they agreed to close our session today with one of these, “To the hills I will lift mine eyes.”  ------------------------------------------------------------------ About the chant:  Here’s how another of the RMs (you’ll meet her in a future episode!) describes the chant: “This chant was written by a contemplative Christian activist and has been integrated into social justice action, particularly in resistance of pipeline construction. It has been used to find courage in preparation for disrupting systems of greed and sin. May all who sing it in community find courage to resist the ways of sin that lead to death and in singing, may we join all those who are creating a taste of God’s dream for the world.”