In 1979 The Episcopal Church approved a version of the Book of Common Prayer which made it clear that Baptism was to be public, central, and foundational for all Christian ministry.  Forty years later we are still living into the implications on leadership and ministry of this renewed baptismal theology.
In this conference, a deacon and a bishop (who happen to be married to each other!) -- long committed to spiritual renewal and baptismal ministry -- will share understandings of Baptism and Baptizing Community, spiritual practices and discernment, theological reflection, cradle to grave Christian formation, and a few processes and methods that enhance ministry development for individuals and communities.
The conference will be interactive and participatory -- come... "wade in the water!"

Speakers: The Rt Rev. Christopher Epting and The Rev. Susanne Watson Epting
The Rt. Rev. Christopher Epting is a retired Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Iowa. Before his election in 1988, he served for nearly twenty years as a parish priest in congregations large and small, rural and urban in the Diocese of Central Florida. Retiring after nine years as Ecumenical Officer for The Episcopal Church, Bishop Epting served for two years as the interim Dean of Trinity Cathedral in Davenport, Iowa. He currently serves on the House of Bishops’ Committee on the Religious Life and as Bishop Visitor for the Community of Celebration in Aliquippa and the Community of the Transfiguration in Cincinnati.
Deacon Susanne Watson Epting currently serves as Director of the Association for Episcopal Deacons. In 1981 she began work as an assistant in campus ministry at the University of Iowa, and as lay coordinator of a small Episcopal congregation in the same city. After completing graduate work, studying the Social Gospel era in America, she was ordained to the diaconate in 1989.
From 2005-2008, she was part of the Anglican Communion delegation to the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women. Recently she has been facilitating online courses with the Church Divinity School of the Pacific and teaching ministry development at Seabury-Western Theological Seminary.