During this pilot phase, we hope to gain valuable experience and feedback as we share the program with a small group of parishes and prepare for a wider rollout in 2024. The first step will be learning how to recruit diverse congregations using resources such as the Church’s Neighborhood Tool. We hope to include a number of congregations comprised of and/or located in areas of historically marginalized and underrepresented groups facing environmental injustice. We aim to help all the pilot congregations contextualize their path based on local creation justice priorities across racial, environmental, social, and other intersectional factors.

We will develop and document how to recruit and train volunteer Companions who will be assigned to each parish as its primary contact and advocate. And, we will use the launch and conclusion of the pilot as opportunities to promote and build interest across the dioceses as we move toward assisting other Episcopal communities in adapting the system and resources to their own local contexts.

During the six months of the official pilot program, we will interactively learn how to onboard parishes by helping them assess their incoming status and identify the next steps, supporting them in accountability, and offering resources at designated checkpoints. We hope to encourage a diverse set of parish and broader community leaders and volunteers to become involved in the Path. We will conclude by gathering feedback on the initial experience through exit interviews and surveys.

The results will be compiled and used to improve the Path and its implementation toward open enrollment in the second half of 2024. We will provide full access to our findings and the resources we create along the way to other dioceses, provinces, and the Church as we collaborate toward broader adoption.