Gathering the Next Generation

Plans to Disband GTNG, Inc. in favor of Online Network

Dear GTNGers and Friends:

Mark Norris, Jan Anderson, and I met informally (as there was no quorum)
via conference call on Tuesday, February 17 and agreed that the structure
established more than eight years ago as "Gathering the Next Generation,
Incorporated" no longer fits the needs of GTNG the network. Specifically,
re-establishing a bank account and attempting to sustain an active Core
Team (monthly conference calls, sub-group meetings, e-mail conversations,
etc...) appears to need energy and time that no one really has available
and does not facilitate the work of the email lists or the web site in
sustaining the network of relationships that have been established. Many
have asked "What does the Core Team do, and why do we need one?" The
answers appear to be "not much" and "we don't."

In short, the current plan is to disband GTNG, Inc. in favor of allowing
the email lists and web site to continue without a formal structure. We
would retain the designated moderators on the email lists and perhaps one
or two webmasters that would form an informal "steering committee" or
something similar for GTNG. GTNG will then function solely as an
Internet-based organization. The formal vote for dissolution will be taken
at a Core Team conference call sometime in March.

Any thoughts about this?

-- Tom+

The Reverend Tom Sramek, Jr., President
Gathering the Next Generation, Inc.

Core Team Report - Future Directions

The GTNG Core Team met via conference call on Tuesday, August 12 to continue to flesh out what GTNG will both look like and do in the next few years. The results of that discussion, future direction, and coordinators of each effort are as follows:

Membership and Rule of Life

This includes defining the concept of "membership" and deciding on some sort of rule of life or defining purpose, likely incorporating the Core Values.

The Rev. Jay Peter Burkardt
The Rev. Mark Norris
Mariann Scott

Networking and Resource Sharing

The value of connecting and gathering face-to-face was put forth strongly, especially as a way of forming (or re-forming) us into new ways of being the church together. Consensus was that these gatherings needed to be less like conferences for information sharing and more like retreats for enriching our relationships with God and each other. Gatherings might include face to face "Pre-Convention Gathering" at General Convention 2009, some sort of presence at GC2009, as well as provincial and national gatherings during other years.

The Rev. Bill Alport, Vice-President
The Rev. Karen Ward
The Rev. Stefani Schatz

Structure and Communication

As the above get fleshed out, there needs to be the ability to oversee and fundraise for events and initiatives and to communicate those to a wide audience. This group would handle that side of things.

Jan Anderson (Finance, as Treasurer)
The Rev. Rodney Hudgen (email lists and communication, as Secretary)
The Rev. Tom Sramek, Jr. (web site and overall structure, as President)

As things are proposed, opinions sought, and decisions made, more information will be forthcoming. As always, comments on the above are welcome!

P.S. (8/30/08) As of May 2008, Bill Alport is officially Vice-President of GTNG, by Core Team vote.

GTNG Core Team Re-formed!

On the evening (7 p.m. PDT) of last Monday, April 7, the GTNG Core Team was officially re-formed! By vote of the then-current members, the Core Team was expanded to its original nine (9) members and the slate of candidates mentioned in the previous post was elected.

Officers were elected (or re-elected, as the case may be) as follows:

The Rev. Tom Sramek, Jr., President
The Rev. Rodney Hudgen, Secretary
Jan Anderson, Treasurer

The Core Team began preliminary discussion regarding the future direction and initiatives of GTNG and hopes to arrive at a consensus regarding them in the coming months. Also, the Core Team decided to meet via conference call each month to keep momentum up and sustain relationships.

More information will follow as feedback is sought and decisions are made. Thank you for your prayers!

Blessings,

--Tom+

The Rev. Tom Sramek, Jr.
President, Gathering the Next Generation

 

GTNG Annual Core Team Conference Call at 7 p.m. PDT on Monday, April 7

Per Section 2.9 of the bylaws of Gathering the NeXt Generation, Inc., the Board of Directors (Core Team) shall meet via conference call at 7 p.m. Pacific Time on Monday, April 7 (note day correction) with the following proposed agenda:

I.  Call to Order and Establishment of Quorum
(Rodney, Tom, and Leslie)

II.  Expansion of Core Team to Nine Directors
and Election of New Core Team (Rodney, Tom, and Leslie)

III.  Election of Officers – New Core Team

IV.  Future Directions and Core Team Roles – New Core Team

V.  Schedule of Meetings – New Core Team

At that meeting, the following Slate of Candidates for the Board of Directors (Core Team) will be presented):

Class of 2009 (eligible for re-election):

The Rev. Jay Peter Burkardt
The Rev. Rodney Hudgen
The Rev. Stefani Schatz

Class of 2010 (eligible for re-election):

Mariann Scott
The Rev. Tom Sramek, Jr.
The Rev. Karen Ward (effective 7/08)

Class of 2011 (not eligible for re-election):

Jan Anderson
The Rev. Bill Alport
The Rev. Mark Norris

GTNG has no official or registered membership beyond the Board itself, so the Board is thus self-perpetuating. However, if anyone is interested in commenting on the above or has questions about this meeting, please let me know. If anyone would like to “attend” the meeting, please let me know and I will see what sort of arrangements I can make.

In Christ,

-- Tom+

The Rev. Tom Sramek, Jr.
President, Gathering the NeXt Generation

P.S. The previous version of this post had the day wrong. It is Monday, not Tuesday!

Still in process...January re-formation

A Blessed Christmas Season to all GTNGers!

As 2007 ends I am in the final stages of composing a full slate of nominees for the Core Team based on the many volunteers that have expressed interest. The plan is now to convene a Core Team Conference Call in mid-January to elect the class of 2008 (serving through mid-July), 2009, and 2010. Those elected to any of the three classes will be eligible for re-election to a full three-year term at the completion of their terms. We will have a full slate of nine (9) Core Team members, so I look forward to a much more active Core Team in 2008.

After re-forming the Core Team in mid-January, we will spend six months in a discussion and discernment process to determine the future direction of GTNG given the current needs of the church, our demographic within it, the history of GTNG, and the gifts and talents of the new Core Team members. Following that time of discussion and discernment, we will have our Annual Meeting, elect officers, and approve a three-year (2008-2011) plan to move GTNG forward into the future. So, continue to keep us in prayer, stay tuned, and be prepared to weigh in at whatever point in time you wish!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Peace,

The Rev. Tom Sramek, Jr.
President

In Process...

Those of you who are keeping track of such things might well notice that there has been nothing posted regarding GTNG for just shy of a month. That is not to say that nothing is going on, just that nothing has come to fruition or resolution as yet. What I do know is this: Rodney Hudgen and I will both remain on the Core Team, Leslie Nipps will not, and we have several people with a myriad of skills that are eager to contribute what they can to a revived Core Team and a revived organization. So, stay tuned for news as we make the transition to what will essentially be a brand new Core Team, probably in the next month or so.

-- The Rev. Tom Sramek, Jr., GTNG President

GTNG Core Team and Re-Visioning

Dear Members and Friends of Gathering the NeXt Generation (GTNG):

In 1997 it was noted that out of more than 7,000 clergy in the Episcopal Church, less than 300 were members of Generation X (at that time, under 35 years old). Four Generation X clergy came together and conceived of a gathering of Generation X clergy. Held in June 1998, that Gathering the NeXt Generation (GTNG) became first a clergy support organization, then an organization composed of both GenX clergy and laity. Some of you no doubt remember that first gathering at Virginia Seminary, with the then relatively newly elected Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold in attendance. GTNG made quite a splash in the first four years of our existence (1998-2002), culminating in a second gathering in Indianapolis, Indiana in June 2002 which, though fun, resulted in the substantial loss of money (now repaid) as well as the beginning of a slow decline of focus, energy, and initiative.

The e-mail lists have been in existence for more than seven years, having begun as earlier lists on a private server. Through the ebb and flow of time and energy by the Core Team and others, the lists have been the sustaining and binding force keeping Episcopal GenXers in communication with one another. To a greater or lesser extent, GTNG programs and initiatives have arisen out of this list. For a while, the GTNG web site was a portal to various GTNG-linked (and sometimes generated) initiatives, but several years ago our server crashed and burned, destroying the site. With an inactive web site and no face-to-face meetings, GTNG has become essentially a e-mail based cyber-community with little other than our online conversation. While we do have a current web site (www.gtng.org) it is not nearly as active or useful as it could be.

Last year I asked the Core Team for the opportunity to resurrect GTNG as an organization and begin to rebuild it. I believed then, and believe now, that GTNG still has a vital role to play in supporting Generation X Episcopalians (both clergy and lay), even as some of us begin to move into midlife and have left "young adulthood" far behind. We are still a small generation, now sandwiched between two huge generations -- Boomers and Millennials. Mike Kinman, the only one of the original four to have remained active in GTNG, has remarked that perhaps we as a generation are called to prepare the way in the church for the next generation (the Millennials) in contrast to the distinct lack of preparation that was done for us by the previous generation (the Boomers). That may indeed be the case. I personally tend to think of Xers as a "bridge" generation, vital to the strength of the church but relatively few in number. In short, I believe that GTNG still has a mission to support Episcopal members of Generation X as we seek to live out our generational calling in the church and in the world.

With all of that as a preamble, I am asking for your assistance. We are at a crossroads as far as GTNG is concerned. We can, indeed, continue to exist as a collection of e-mail lists and nothing more. My preference, however, is to broaden GTNG to include an active web site (essentially a GenX "cyber-church"), a presence at the next General Convention (2009), and a place for new (or old) initiatives to begin while keeping and strengthening the e-mail lists we have.

With that in mind, I am asking for volunteers that would be willing to serve one, two, or three year terms as Core Team members in one of three roles:

1) Web Site "Cyber-Church" Planters (2 people) who would expand the web site and sustain it;

2) E-mail List Owners (2 people) who would be responsible for the oversight and care of the e-mail lists; and

3) Infrastructure and Initiative folks (2 people) who would be willing to be both the caretakers of GTNG, Inc. as an organization and spearhead any potential initiatives. While the entire Core Team would function as the Board of Directors of GTNG, Inc., these last two people would keep track of the nuts and bolts of the organization, including the recruitment of new Core Team members and the re-establishment of our relationship with the wider church.

As the Core Team is currently composed of six members, the above roles would fill the Core Team. We can expand the number of members as we wish.

Ideally, we would like to have a balance of clergy and laity, but of more concern to me is that anyone who volunteers for any of the above roles has both the time (at least three to four hours a month) and the skills to make a real contribution to this organization. If you are interested in serving on the Core Team, please contact me or leave a response to this post and I will pass your name along to the current Core Team who will make the final selection. our Annual Core Team Meeting will take place in the next week or two and we should have a final slate selected and elected by the end of this month.

Thank you for reading this rather lengthy letter. I look forward to a positive response. Once we have a solid, committed, and available Core Team, we will be in a much better position to receive suggestions
regarding the future direction of GTNG.

In Christ,

The Reverend Tom Sramek, Jr.
President, Gathering the NeXt Generation (GTNG)

GTNG in the Interim

Dear GTNGers:

As you can tell by the fact that this is only the second post on this page, this past year has been much quieter than first envisioned when the Core Team emerged from quietness, re-established this website using TypePad, and prepared for much more activity than in the past. Yours truly, your GTNG President, is currently on Sabbatical and will re-engage all aspects of my ministry, including GTNG, when I return in September. As I've expressed to members of the Core Team, one of my top hopes and expectations is a greatly expanded GTNG web site, essentially a GenX "cyber-church" that can be here to support GenX Episcopalians in their faith and life.

What I will say is that in preparation for that hoped-for expansion, we are in need of a few donors to fund the continuation of this blog. It costs $14.95 per month (or a discounted price of $149 a year) to keep this blog going, and it is currently due to expire at the end of August. So, if you feel moved to support this site with a contribution, just click on the "offering plate" in the upper right-hand corner. Yes, this takes some faith, since we haven't done nearly what we had hoped with this site in the past year, but one of my goals is the strengthen the Core Team with at least two or three folks whose sole responsibility will be to guide, govern, and expand the site.

So, stay tuned for more, contribute as you are moved to, and keep GTNG in your prayers.

Blessings,

The Rev. Tom Sramek, Jr., President

P.S. If you have any ideas for or interest in serving on the Core Team, please feel free to leave a comment following this post.

Welcome to the new GTNG!

Dear GTNGers and Friends:

You have arrived at the weblog-based web site of Gathering the Next Generation! Due to a few generous donors, we are the proud recipients of a TypePad "Pro" account, which will allow easier and more frequent updates to our site as well as the ability to have multiple GTNG-related blogs from multiple authors. Visit often, comment, and keep in touch!

For those of you who have just happened by the site, and a review for those who have been involved with GTNG for a while, our mission is above and our core values are as follows:

Our Core Values

We are Christ-centered.
We value the leadership of postmodern generations.
We value our relationships in Christ over issues that divide us.
We value restoring all people to unity with God and each other in Christ

At the same time as we launch a new web site, we also "launch" what we hope will be a new era of Gathering the Next Generation. In a conference call on Monday, August 28 the Core Team met, elected two new members, reduced the number of serving Directors to six (6) and thanked members Nathan Humphrey, Sean LaBat, and Dylan Breuer for their long service to GTNG as they finally rotate off the Core Team. We also elected officers. So, the GTNG Core Team is as follows:

Class of 2007: David Flentje and Rodney Hudgen+
Class of 2008: Anne Hodgens and Tom Sramek, Jr.+
Class of 2009: TBD and Leslie Nipps+

Officers for 2006-2007 are:

The Rev. Tom Sramek, Jr., President
The Rev. Rodney Hudgen, Secretary/Treasurer

We will be adding a person to fill our one open "slot" as well as electing a Vice-President in the coming months.

We are currently in the process of looking at how we might use the gifts and talents of current and potential Core Team members to strengthen the GTNG organization while at the same time discerning what purpose God might have for GTNG that is consistant with our current mission and core values. Comments are welcome, and updates will be posted.

In Christ,

The Rev. Tom Sramek, Jr., President