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UPDATE: Changed to a One-Day Online Gathering
2026 Archdeacon & Deacon Directors Conference | A3D
The Courage to Go First: Leading with Grace and Grit
Saturday, May 2, 2026
(Optional Friday online reception and facilitated conversation)
Saturday, May 2, 2026
(Optional Friday online reception and facilitated conversation)
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After careful review of registration and participation trends, the Association for Episcopal Deacons has made the decision to pivot the 2026 Archdeacon & Deacon Directors Conference (A3D) to a one-day online gathering. (Schedule and registration below.)
We needed approximately 60 participants in order to responsibly proceed with the in-person event. With less than two weeks remaining before registration closed, participation had not reached that level. Moving forward would have required AED to assume the financial risk that late registrations would close the gap, or to absorb a significant loss if they did not. As a small nonprofit with limited reserves, we cannot responsibly take that risk. We are choosing to act early in order to protect the long-term sustainability of AED and ensure that our resources remain aligned with our mission. We are committed to ensuring that AED gatherings are mission-driven and financially sustainable. This shift also reduces travel costs and time commitments for deacon leaders who are already carrying significant responsibility in their dioceses. The heart of A3D remains unchanged: shared leadership, facilitated conversation, peer storytelling, and collaborative problem-solving among those shaping the diaconate across the Church. The one-day online gathering will preserve the core purpose of The Courage to Go First: Leading with Grace and Grit — the quieter courage of discernment, truth-telling, and responsible leadership before outcomes are clear. The day will include facilitated conversation and collaborative work, along with an optional Friday evening online fellowship gathering for informal connection and relationship-building. February 13, 2026 The Courage to Go First: Leading with Grace and Grit
Who are the people in your diocese who carry responsibility for the health, formation, and direction of the diaconate? In some dioceses they are called archdeacons. In others, deacon directors, canon-appointed leaders, formation chairs, or simply the person everyone turns to when the diaconate needs support. If that is you, this gathering is for you. At the end of every Eucharist, deacons proclaim the dismissal, sending the Church into the world to love and serve. That act of sending is also a model of leadership. Someone has to go first. Someone has to step forward before the path is clear, trusting that God is already at work ahead of us. A3D 2026 is for deacon leaders across the church who are navigating real challenges: formation transitions, strained systems, unclear authority, burnout, polarization, and the quiet pressure of leading from the middle. Our time is designed around shared leadership, facilitated conversation, peer storytelling, and collaborative problem-solving shaped by the experience and questions participants bring with them. SCHEDULE
Friday, May 1, 2026: 7:00 – 8:30 PM Eastern Optional online reception and facilitated conversation. Courage in Context. An informal space to meet colleagues, build connection, and begin naming the courage your ministry currently requires. Saturday, May 2, 2026: 11:00 AM – 4:30 PM Eastern 11:00–12:00 PM Panel Conversation: Practicing Courage in Real Contexts 12:00–1:00 PM Small Groups: Crafting a working definition of courage 1:00–1:30 PM Off-screen Lunch Break 1:30–3:30 PM Breakout Conversations:
3:30–4:30 PM Whole Group Story Circle: What did we learn? What is emerging? What is next? REGISTRATION
$75 per participant. Registration closes April 10. If you are able, we invite you to contribute beyond the registration fee. Additional contributions help offset the costs of this gathering, strengthen leadership formation across the Church, and make future programming possible. AED is sustained by the generosity and participation of deacon leaders, and your support directly shapes what we are able to offer. All deacon leaders are welcome.
If you're ready for honest conversation, practical leadership tools, and fellowship with peers who understand your calling, we hope you will join us. |
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AED hosts the Archdeacon & Deacon Directors Conferences as a way to gather individuals from across the Church for professional development. If you're interested in deacon formation, supervision and pastoral care in your diocese this event is for you.
During the conferences, leaders in diaconal ministry assess new best practices in what amounts to an annual learning lab, designed to address issues they face locally. We may also make use of Open Space Technology, an effective method of group facilitation which leads to profoundly productive conversations concerning your own, or your diocese's, immediate challenges in ministry. Read Open Space Notes from prior conferences. |