Over the last few decades, many churches, especially smaller churches in urban and rural settings, have had to adopt models of leadership which emphasize the role of laity. This project explores the practices that foster and sustain lay leadership within these models of shared ministry. Although there is undoubtedly no “secret sauce” that converts Christians from consumers of a product to active participants in the life of their church, there are likely techniques and practices that help to foster that transformation. This project will focus on interviewing lay leadership from various Episcopal churches who have practiced shared ministry more than a decade, and compiling research on the subject of shared ministry as well as models of innovative and empowered leadership within the business and non-profit world. The intention of this project is to capture some of the methods that have been central to transforming lay people from participants to leaders in the life of the church, and share them with congregations within my own diocese as well as others interested in this work.