2026 Archdeacon & Deacon Directors Conference​ | A3D

UPDATE: Moving to a One-Day Online Gathering

The Courage to Go First: Leading with Grace and Grit
Archdeacon & Deacon Directors Conference (A3D) 
Saturday, May 2, 2026

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 on Saturday, May 2, 2026.

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.

Those who registered for the in-person event will receive a full refund automatically. Registration for the online gathering will open soon and will be offered on a donation basis to ensure broad accessibility.

Additional details, including schedule and registration information, will be shared shortly.

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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.

We'lll:

• Name the real barriers deacon leaders are facing right now.
• Share stories of risk, courage, and faithful initiative.
• Work collaboratively on practical experiments and next steps.
• Build relationships across dioceses.

​Topics will emerge from the group, but may include:

• Leading up and down the system with bishops and clergy.
• Supporting deacons through change and conflict.
• Sustaining yourself in a demanding leadership role.
• Formation that develops leaders, not just managers.
• Holding the center in a polarized church. ​​

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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.