Email: Academy 42 Covenant Group Welcome
From: Blake Kendrick (via Kathy Norberg)
Date: January 2, 2023

Advent greetings fellow pilgrim,

As the first session of Academy #42 draws near, I look forward to beginning our journey together.  I affirm your decision to join the Academy #42 community.  Together, we will create opportunities for rest, reflection, and renewal.  Know that the Leadership Team will hold you in our prayers as we prepare for this sacred journey together.

I will serve as the Covenant Group Coordinator for Academy #42.  Each Academy participant will be assigned a Covenant Group that will be composed of 9-10 people who will remain together throughout the duration of the 2-year Academy.  Your Covenant Group will provide a sacred space for you to reflect upon your Academy experiences.  Together, your Covenant Group will do some “holy listening”, offering each other hospitality, mutual respect, and encouragement.  As your Covenant Group journeys together, you will support one another through times of excitement, challenge, revelation, and joy.

To further your understanding of Covenant Groups and what they are designed for, you may consider reading through the following books:  Parker Palmer’s “A Hidden Wholeness” and/or Frederick Buechner’s “The Remarkable Ordinary.”  Both of these books speak to the beauty and sacredness of listening for God’s presence in daily life.  At Academy, we will learn how to listen deeply, how to make room for others, and how to steward God’s presence in communal life.        

During each of Academy #42’s eight sessions, different individuals from your Covenant Group will serve as the convener.  The conveners from all of Academy #42’s Covenant Groups will meet with me for breakfast each morning so that we can encourage each other and provide feedback to our Leadership Team, faculty, and community.  I will assign conveners for session one prior to our arrival.   

Welcome to Academy #42.  May God keep and sustain you with grace and peace.  I am honored to serve as your Covenant Group Coordinator.  I am confident that you will experience God’s patient and inclusive grace as your Covenant Group meets together over the coming months.  I remain ever grateful for the ways that God has blessed me through my Covenant Group experience in Academy #30 (2009-2011).

With hope and expectancy,

Blake

Rev. M. Blake Kendrick
Covenant Group Coordinator