Julie Hagen is a second-career M.Div. student at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington D.C. and serves as Program Manager for the Office of Strategic Initiatives. Julie is a United Methodist with a background in corporate sales, non-profit management, and communications/marketing.
The last thing my Sunday school leader in Dallas said to me before I moved to Washington, D.C. in 2016 was, “Go! Be the Church.” At that point, I hadn’t discerned a call to seminary, nor did I think much about the theological implications of his statement.
Now, as Board Chair for The Church Lab and a faith leader who is also deeply interested in how we connect more fully to each other and to God, it’s a lot easier to imagine what being the Church means. Last weekend the TCL Board and staff gathered for our annual retreat to reflect on the past year and to continue the strategic planning process. Our gathering, like much of the past 18 months, did not go as planned. What was designed as an in-real-life retreat turned into an extended Zoom call. I give thanks to each person who attended it, and can’t even explain how grateful I am for Carrie, Ollie, and our intern Julia for spending so much time preparing. As we ended on Saturday evening exhausted, we felt empowered, confident, and energized. I realize that sounds almost too good to be true, but you see, TCL’s innovative culture thrives in this environment.
We approved a mission-centric budget that will continue to strengthen the organization operationally and have a strategic plan plan to implement over the next several months. We are continuing to identify candidates for the TCL Board and sharing how TCL is making a difference by building spiritual bridges through interfaith dialogue. Most importantly, though, we have tightened our bonds with each other.
The TCL mission is twofold: “exploring innovative paths to spiritual maturity” and “helping the Church find her future.” I am grateful to walk on this path with the TCL community as we move into the future...together.