São Paulo, Brazil — August 2026
What happens when we create a space where every voice is invited to the table?
That question was at the heart of a significant gathering in São Paulo, Brazil, this August as leaders from across the Americas, the Caribbean, and other parts of the Anglican Communion came together to explore how power can be reimagined and how communities can be empowered to discern and act on the issues that affect their flourishing.
The gathering marked the first pilot of the Anglican Alliance’s A Place at the Table – Reimagining Power Through Every Voice, an innovative process designed to help churches and communities listen deeply to lived experience, recognize God-given agency, examine systems of power, imagine new possibilities, and act together for change.
Hosted by the Anglican Alliance and held at the Anglican Cathedral in São Paulo, the two-week experience intentionally brought together people from different countries, cultures, and leadership contexts. The pilot was not simply an opportunity to learn about a new program—it was an opportunity to experience it, listen to one another, and discover together what becomes possible when leadership creates space for every voice to be heard.
A Historic Gathering of Anglican Leaders
The week began with an important moment in the life of the Anglican Communion. From August 10–12, Primates and Provincial Secretaries from across the Americas and the Caribbean gathered in São Paulo, including The Episcopal Church’s Presiding Bishop, the Rt. Rev. Sean Rowe.
It was the first time such a regional gathering had taken place, creating a new space for relationship, conversation, and shared discernment among the Provinces. The gathering was made possible through the relationship-building and convening work of the Anglican Alliance, reflecting its broader ministry of connecting people and Provinces across the Communion.
Experiencing “A Place at the Table”
From August 13–15, senior leaders of the Anglican Church participated in a three-day immersive envisioning of A Place at the Table. Rather than simply hearing about the process, participants experienced it firsthand.
At its heart, A Place at the Table begins with listening.
It creates intentional space to listen to God, to one another, and to the lived experiences of communities—particularly those whose voices may too easily be overlooked or unheard. From that place of listening, participants are invited to consider how power operates, where agency already exists, and what new possibilities might emerge when communities are empowered to identify and address their own priorities.
The process is grounded in the conviction that meaningful change cannot simply be prescribed from outside. Instead, the priorities for change emerge from the experience, wisdom, and discernment of the communities themselves.
Forming Leaders to Carry the Work Forward
The following week, from August 17–21, the first cohort of A Place at the Table Master Facilitators participated in a five-day formation program.
Among the participants were Lisa Bortner, President of the National Episcopal Church Women, and Lois Frankfurter, World President of the Girls Friendly Society. Together with leaders from across the Anglican Communion, they were equipped to bring the A Place at the Table process into their own dioceses, regions, and communities.
For Bortner, the experience was both a privilege and the beginning of an important new relationship.
“I will be forever grateful to have been asked to become a facilitator of A Place at the Table,” Bortner said. “This experience has given me the opportunity not only to learn and grow as a leader, but also to strengthen the relationship between the National Episcopal Church Women and the Anglican Alliance.”
That relationship is already bearing fruit. The National ECW and the Anglican Alliance are beginning to plan future mutual events and opportunities for collaboration, building on the connections established in São Paulo and looking for ways to bring their shared commitment to listening, leadership, advocacy, and community flourishing to women and communities throughout the Anglican Communion.
Six Stages Toward Transformation
The A Place at the Table journey unfolds through six stages, moving from inward and outward listening toward envisioning change, analyzing power, strengthening connections, releasing action, and building forward together.
The process recognizes that communities are not simply recipients of ministry or solutions developed elsewhere. They possess wisdom, experience, gifts, and God-given agency that are essential to determining what change should look like.
Rooted in Scripture and connected to the Anglican Five Marks of Mission, A Place at the Table seeks to connect Christian faith with the realities communities face every day—including poverty and inequality, violence and exclusion, environmental degradation, and structures of power that can prevent people and creation from flourishing.
It asks a profound question: What might become possible when power is exercised differently?
Perhaps leadership becomes less about having all the answers and more about creating space for others to discover their own answers. Perhaps communities become stronger when people recognize their ability to shape their own futures. And perhaps the Church becomes more fully the people of God when every person is invited to bring their experience, wisdom, gifts, and voice to the table.
A New Way of Imagining Leadership
The São Paulo pilot was deliberately a time of experiencing, learning, listening, and discovering together. Senior leaders were invited to encounter the process themselves, while the first cohort of Master Facilitators was formed to accompany churches and communities as they begin their own journeys.
A Place at the Table does not begin with the assumption that the answers are held by those with the greatest institutional authority.
Instead, it begins by making room.
Room to listen.
Room to ask difficult questions.
Room to recognize the gifts and wisdom already present within communities.
Room to imagine a different future.
And room for people to act together.
This approach offers a powerful reminder that Christian leadership is not simply about directing others. It is also about listening deeply, sharing power, nurturing agency, and helping create the conditions in which people and communities can flourish.
For the National Episcopal Church Women, the experience in São Paulo represents more than participation in a new leadership initiative. It is the beginning of a strengthened partnership with the Anglican Alliance and an opportunity to explore what can happen when organizations work together across borders, traditions, and cultures.
The work begun in São Paulo is only the beginning. As the newly formed Master Facilitators carry A Place at the Table into their dioceses and regions, and as the National ECW and Anglican Alliance continue to develop opportunities for collaboration, the hope is that more communities will discover the power of listening to every voice—and the transformative possibilities that emerge when everyone truly has a place at the table.