Embedded Files
The Vergers Guild of the Episcopal Church
October 9 - 12, 2025
Registration is OPEN
VGEC 2025 Promo.MOV
St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral
127 NW 7th Street Oklahoma City, OK 73102
Welcome!
Welcome!
The Very Rev. Katie Churchwell, Dean of St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral, and the Staff and vergers of St. Paul’s are thrilled to welcome the Vergers Guild of the Episcopal Church for their 2025 Annual Conference. Our vergers have worked to put on an educational and fun conference for all. Enjoy dynamic sessions, great food and fellowship, moving worship, and so much more!
Join us October 9, 2025, through October 12, 2025 in Oklahoma City, by clicking on the BIG RED Register Online button above.
Why Attend the 2025 Conference in OKC?
Why Attend the 2025 Conference in OKC?
Connect in fellowship and community with fellow vergers from across the church
Discover new ways to enhance your ministry and support your congregation
Join together in service, worship, and shared learning
Experience the energy and hospitality of downtown Oklahoma City—with vibrant arts, culture, food, and history just steps away
Worship and learn at St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral, a stunning architectural and spiritual centerpiece of the city
We can’t wait to welcome you to the heart of Oklahoma!
Vergers Guild National Conference 2025
St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral, Oklahoma City
2nd Weekend of October 9-12th
Conference Theme: Dignity, Discipline, and Devotion: Vergers as Keepers of Sacred Stories in a Changing Church
This theme acknowledges the current challenges of mainline church decline and positions vergers as stewards of what endures. Stories play a crucial role in faith formation, and vergers ensure that the Church's sacred traditions, spaces, and liturgies continue to shape faith communities. Vergers are not just caretakers of liturgical order but stewards of sacred memory and renewal. This theme encourages conversation on how vergers can help the Church adapt and thrive despite declining participation.
Connection to the Oklahoma City Bombing Anniversary: The Oklahoma City National Memorial tells the story of loss and resilience. Similarly, vergers help hold the sacred history of their communities, ensuring that worship spaces remain places of healing and remembrance.
Connection to Indigenous Traditions: Many Native cultures emphasize the role of elders and storytellers in preserving identity. Vergers serve as liturgical storytellers, ensuring that worship and tradition are passed down with dignity.
Call to Action: This theme invites vergers to consider how they uphold the past while being adaptable to the Church’s evolving needs.
Scripture to Ground the Conference
1. 2 Timothy 1:6-7
"For this reason I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you; for God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline."
Conference Integration & Field Trips
Workshops on Storytelling & Ritual: How vergers act as custodians of liturgical memory and how rituals shape collective identity.
Key Takeaways for the Conference
Vergers must be both stewards of tradition and agents of renewal.
Decline does not mean irrelevance; it means tending the story more carefully.
Sacred space, liturgy, and order matter even more in times of uncertainty.
Faithfulness is the calling, even when the Church looks different than it once did.
This proposal provides a strong thematic foundation for the conference while incorporating Oklahoma City’s historical and cultural significance. These themes will inspire vergers to see their ministry as one of resilience, renewal, and hope.
Accommodations
Accommodations
There is no official conference hotel; however, we highly recommend the accommodations near St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral in Downtown Oklahoma City in the link below. We encourage you to explore these options, visit hotel websites, and use your preferred booking platform to make your reservation. The OKC Streetcar offers convenient service throughout downtown, with pick up near each hotel and a stop located right next to the Cathedral for easy access.
Travel & Transportation
Travel & Transportation
Will Rogers World Airport (OKC) is just a 15–20 minute drive from Downtown Oklahoma City, where St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral and many of our recommended hotels are located. Ubers, Lyfts, and taxis are readily available, and all major car rental companies—including Alamo, Avis, Budget, Enterprise, Hertz, and National—are accessible at the airport.
If you plan to stay in the downtown area, renting a car is not necessary. Many OKC visitors staying downtown see no need for a rental car. With so much to explore within walking distance—and convenient access to the OKC Streetcar, which stops right next to the Cathedral—you can easily enjoy your stay without needing to drive. That said, it’s entirely your choice based on how much you’d like to explore beyond the downtown core.
Thursday, October 9
The Vergers Conference begins Thursday afternoon with registration at St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral, where docents will offer guided tours of the Cathedral’s beautiful architecture and sacred spaces. That evening, we’ll gather for a reverent Choral Evensong with incense, followed by a warm Welcome Reception (with heavy hors d'oeurves) in the Cathedral’s Dean Willey Hall—a chance to meet fellow vergers, share stories, and enjoy a taste of Oklahoma hospitality.
Friday, October 10
We’ll start the day together with Morning Prayer in the Cathedral, followed by a full morning of formation sessions designed to support and inspire verger ministry. After a shared boxed lunch (provided by St Paul’s) we’ll visit the powerful and deeply moving Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum, where we’ll reflect on resilience, remembrance, and the role of sacred presence in moments of grief. The evening is open for you to explore Oklahoma City’s vibrant downtown food scene at your leisure.
Saturday, October 11
Saturday begins again with Morning Prayer at St. Paul’s, followed by a second round of rich formation sessions, including a special presentation on Indigenous storytelling and spiritual practice. The Vergers Guild Business Meeting will also be held in the late morning. After lunch provided at the Cathedral, enjoy time for FAM Museum with optional activities and time to explore. We’ll end the day in celebration with a themed Banquet Dinner hosted at the Cathedral, honoring our shared ministry with good food and joyful fellowship.
The FAM - First Americans Museum
Bricktown
Wheeler District
Sunday, October 12
On Sunday morning, a deluxe continental breakfast will be available at 9:00 a.m. at St. Paul’s, with vesting at 10:30 a.m. in preparation for our final liturgy. We’ll close the conference with Holy Eucharist at 11:15 a.m., featuring a procession of vergers and a group photo in the Nave. An elevated coffee hour reception featuring a curated spread of light fare and delightful bites will be provided after service. Worshiping together in the cathedral space, surrounded by new friends and longtime colleagues, will be a fitting and beautiful end to our time in Oklahoma City.
Each year, the VGEC provides a limited number of scholarships to cover $200 of the registration expense. The Mark Emory Graham Scholarship Fund of the VGEC makes these grants possible. They are intended to develop the ministry of the verger and will be considered for junior vergers, new vergers, or first time attendees, or those with a financial need. Click HERE to complete an online scholarship application. The president of the VGEC will review the requests and will contact each member making a scholarship request. The process is very easy, so if you are interested, please complete the form today. The scholarship covers $200 of the registration fee but not transportation, lodging, or additional food or other expenses. Please contact the VGEC president at president@vergers.org if you have questions about the scholarship or the application process.
If you are applying for a scholarship, do not put in your credit card information when registering for the conference. Select the Pay Later option !!
Report abuse