Leading and planning in congregations and religious organizations these days requires resilient strategy and resilient spirit. This event focuses on participatory practices of leading and planning that build upon the congregation’s strengths as well as your own. You will examine and draw on a variety of “whole system” approaches as you develop an overarching model of organizational engagement.
What Will You Learn?
* Principles of Appreciate Inquiry, Theory U, World Café, Spiritual Discernment, Asset-mapping and Scenario Planning
* How to use practices from these methodologies in the on-going work of leading and planning
* How to build resilience and sustainability into your leadership and your congregation
What Will You Take Home from this In-Depth Seminar?
* An outstanding learning experience led and presented by Larry Peers, premier consultant in the field of whole systems planning and leadership
* A practical grasp of various asset-based approaches to organizations, including Appreciate Inquiry, Theory U, World Café, Spiritual Discernment, Asset-mapping and Scenario Planning
* Al materials that you will use during the event
* An extensive annotated bibliography
* Opportunities for small group conversations with your peers throughout the three days
* Practical tools and the knowledge to use them in your own congregation
Who Should Attend?
* Clergy and lay leaders who want to expand their repertoire for discussing, discerning, and determining strategic directions
* Seminary faculty teaching congregational leadership
* Denominational and Judicatory staff responsible for congregational development
What Else Should You Know?
* This event will begin with lunch on Tuesday, February 26 and conclude with lunch on Thursday, February 28. Shared meals are an important part of the learning experience. Please try to arrange your travel in such a way as to be able to participate in all of the shared meals.
* Scholarship assistance is available for clergy and lay leaders from small congregations. Click here for more information.
Who Is the Leader?
Larry Peers is a senior consultant, clergy coach and seminar leader with the Alban Institute, with expertise in whole systems strategic planning, congregational growth and change, clergy coaching, and conflict management. He has also served on the adjunct faculty of Hartford Seminary. An ordained minister for over twenty years, Larry has served local congregations, worked as a director of congregational growth and research for a denomination’s national office, and worked with clergy through the Lilly-funded Sustaining Pastoral Excellence Program. He has doctorates in congregational studies from Hartford Seminary and organizational change from Pepperdine University.