The Center for Pastoral Effectiveness will begin the second Kansas East Conference retreat series Aug. 1-3 at the Tall Oaks Retreat Center in Linwood, Kan.
The number one reason to attend the series is that church growth or development (Vital Congregations) is a challenge for clergy leadership. However, the greater challenge is the anxiety that develops in the system when congregations undergo or consider change.
Addressing that anxiety is what pastors focus on during the Center for Pastoral Effectiveness retreat series.
This anxiety in the church system is the same anxiety that occurs in a minister’s own family or any emotional system when changes occur. The very changes that congregations might want pastors to lead, changes which might be precisely what is needed in your church, can also lead to some painful emotional times for the leader as well as those laity who are striving to lead.
But those reactions are not the most important part of the emotional system on which ministers need to focus.
What is important is the pastor’s response to the anxious reactivity. This is NOT easy. It takes an incredible effort not to strike out, hide out or build up a group on your side, none of which is a healthy answer.
At the Center for Pastoral Effectiveness of the Rockies retreats utilizing Family Systems Thinking, you can gain insights into developing a healthier process of leadership.
The series is six three-day retreats, which spans two calendar years to make more continuing education funds available. The series costs only $1,980.
Twenty Kansas East pastors have already attended the series. Since beginning in 1999, more than four hundred clergy from six different denominations have attended series with locations in seven different states.
To register, just send an e-mail to Rev. Bill Selby at integrity4u@comcast.net. If you would like to hear a personal recommendation from one of your colleagues, just e-mail Selby, and you will be connected.
Visit www.pastoraleffectiveness.org to learn more about the series.