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IMAGINE your congregation doing ministry based not on what has happened before, or even on what people want. Imagine your congregation growing in its ability to understand and plan its ministry based on God’s call and on God’s desire for the world around you.
Leadership in the church is changing. In the past, leadership often meant knowing and following good business practices, reading the desires of members, and developing programs. Leaders were judged by their ability to keep people happy and to make numbers grow. Today there is a growing awareness that our emphasis on efficiency and success often leaves something important out of the mix—namely God and the sacred practices which express and form our ability to respond to God’s call to us.
THE SACRED PRACTICE LEADERSHIP SERIES (SPLaSh)
is designed for those who lead congregations, both in ordained and lay roles. Six renewal events over the course of three calendar years —with online resources available between events— will feature twelve prominent authors/theologians and practitioners inviting us into conversation and reflection on sacred practices like prayer, discernment, and service. Participants can expect to learn to use sacred practices as a means of shaping their congregation’s life and ministry by intentionally allowing God to be a more active player in the life of the congregation.
Watch this brief video in which past participants describe the difference SPLaSh made in their congregations.
If the video in the box above does not work for you, click here to watch it on YouTube.
What you can expect
Growth in your ability to respond to God’s call in ways that are particular to your specific context.
Movement from a focus on accumulating knowledge and skills to the ongoing process of Christian formation.
Becoming as adept at equipping members for ministry as you are at providing ministry for others.
Focus on relationships, moving participants from an expert-driven event-oriented educational model to ongoing peer-supported formation.
How we'll do it
SPLaSh features six three-day workshops from August 2011 to April 2013. Each will focus on one sacred practice:
PRACTICING VISION: The series begins by lifting up a vision of what God is calling the church to be, as we discover that "what is or has been doesn't have to be what will be," a vision that can best be uncovered through the use of sacred practices.
PRACTICING DISCERNMENT: To discern God's call to us as followers of Christ, we do well to begin not asking what God desires for us to do, but by discerning who God has created us to be. In this way we learn to know and become who we are in God's sight, through a lifelong process of Christian formation of individual and congregational living. In this way we learn to know and become who we are in God's sight, through a lifelong process of Christian formation of individual and congregational living.
PRACTICING RELATIONSHIP: Just as prayer and Scripture call us into a more faithful relationship with God, they also call us into the practice of healthier relationships with one another, as we learn to engage in “holy conversation” that let both God's vision for us and our willingness to live with love and justice become the basis for congregational life and ministry.
PRACTICING PRAYER: For many Christians prayer has largely become a private practice. In congregational life it has taken a back seat to our ability to discover and "fix" whatever problems or conflicts we face - often without seeking God's involvement in our corporate lives through the practice of prayer in community.
PRACTICING PROCLAMATION: The Bible is more than a repository of narratives, poetry, or teachings. Scriptute comes to life in community when it is proclaimed and interpreted through reading, hearing, preaching and making connections between the stories of God and the life stories of the individuals who hear them. We need to learn again to experience the power of Scripture to renew and revitalize a congregation's faith and mission, by actively listening to Scripture as it is read and preached and then interactively sharing with one another the places where the stories of God and the stories of our lives intersect.
PRACTICING SERVICE: As our lives are formed and re-formed in the image of God, we grow in love, discovering God precisely in caring for others as ourselves. The integration of our needs with those of others frees us for service that expresses the good news of God’s love in Christ, moving from doing ministry on behalf of others to equipping people for ministry among others in their daily lives.
Expectations
Participants should be committed to participation in all six onsite events. Each person will develop goals at the beginning of the series, work on those goals over the course of the series, and revise them as necessary in light of what they learn at the workshops. Participants will also work with others in covenant groups, both at the onsite events and then following each event through electronic communication and conference calls. This will reinforce what is learned by applying that learning to the participants’ contexts for life and ministry. Participants will also be asked to form a leadership team in their congregation (or to work through an existing team) to begin to employ the insights gained from the series.
SPLaSh is designed for leaders who come from congregations that are ready and willing to grow in health and faithfulness; it is not designed for leaders who come from overly conflicted congregations. Clergy participants will need to be able to demonstrate the support of their congregations in this venture, and lay participants will need to show the support of their congregational clergy. Each represented congregation is encouraged to send both clergy and lay leaders; this is vital for the effectiveness of the series, and for the ongoing interpretive process through which congregations begin to implement what their leaders have learned.
Cost
The cost of the entire series is only $2,100 for clergy and $1,900 for lay leaders, payable as a lump sum or in installments during the three calendar years of the Series. This covers registration for all six events, housing and meals, as well as the contact between onsite sessions. Additional out-of-pocket expenses will include transportation and the purchase of recommended books.
Limited scholarships on an as-needed basis are available, especially for lay participants. Please contact Dwight Dubois at 515-263-6021 for additional information.
Location Designed for an ecumenical audience in the upper Midwest (Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa) all onsite SPLaSh events will be held at the Shalom Retreat Center in Dubuque, Iowa. Participants outside this four state area are weclome to attend.
Application Participants need to complete an application and send a $100 deposit. Space is limited and the application process takes some time to complete, so you are advised to apply as soon as possible. The application deadline is July 22, 2011.
Contact For further information, contact Dwight DuBois at 515-263-6021 or dwight.cfr@me.com.
