Dianna Perrine

Dianna Perrine is team leader for her Organizing for Mission Team at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Spokane. Last time we spoke with her she had finished the training in January, and was preparing for the Lenten campaign at her church, to raise funds and awareness about hunger that affects our local communities, and the world.

“It’s good to get finally get started after so much planning and planning,” says Dianna Perrine. After attending Organizing for Mission (OFM) training in January, she and her team have been actively involved in hands-on work, raising funds to alleviate hunger during the season of Lent. “It’s good to see your plans working,” Perrine says.

Perrine is Organizing for Mission team leader at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Spokane, a relatively small congregation with an average Sunday attendance of around 45. Organizing for Mission is the newest effort of the Episcopal Diocese of Spokane, to train people of faith to be effective leaders in the church, and in their communities. During the season of Lent, OFM teams around the Diocese are raising funds to relieve hunger locally, and globally.

She and her team have been sharing their Public Narratives during the Thursday night “Soup Suppers” at St. Andrew’s. Public Narrative is a method of sharing personal stories that connect personal experiences with the values of the church, and urgent need, such as hunger. Public Narrative is a form of mission work that teaches leadership and organizing skills to people of faith.

Perrine says her team’s work has resonated with their parish. “People can see the enthusiasm of our team. Quite a few told the team, thank you for the work you do,” she says. Perrine says that pledges had been arriving steadily. “There has been great turnout,” she says. “People have really been touched.”

She and her team are pleased with their success in raising funds for hunger, she says. “I think what we hadn’t anticipated,” she says, “is how important Public Narrative is to the process of leadership in the church.

She says she see applications of Public Narrative’s leadership techniques everywhere from mission strategy, to leading the choir. “Public Narrative has a lot of application in the church. That part of the training was unexpected,” she says.

Return in the coming weeks as we continue to follow Dianna and her team in their journey to address hunger locally and globally. For more information about OFM, visit the Organizing for Mission page on SpokaneDiocese.org.