Events

String of Prayers: Contemplating Protestant Prayer Beads

Events Published on
March 6, 2024

The Center for Leadership Excellence presents a webinar sponsored in partnership with the Commission on the Status and Role of Women (COSROW)…

Many different traditions have used prayer beads over the millennia, with the Catholic rosary the most well-known in Christian practice. Using a 33-bead model created in the 1980s, Protestants are exploring and enjoying this means of contemplative prayer.

In this webinar, we’ll assemble our own prayer bead strings from kits and spend some time practicing this calming, comforting, affirming prayer practice.

String of Prayers: Contemplating Protestant Prayer Beads
Presented by the Center for Leadership Excellence
with Anne Sims
Thursday, April 18, 2024, 1pm-2pm ET

This webinar is free for the first 40 registrants. All registrants will receive a free prayer bead kit in the mail prior to the webinar so that we can assemble the kits together.

About Anne Walker:

Rev. Dr. Anne Walker Sims is a United Methodist elder, the spouse of a disabled United Methodist elder, and the proud pet parent of two dogs who remind her daily of the unconditional love of God and the need to laugh regularly. She is the pastor of Oriental UMC in beautiful Oriental, NC, and shamelessly shares photos of the “Sailboat Capital of North Carolina” often on Facebook. Anne has flirted with contemplative practices her entire life, despite being a strong extrovert with ADD. Building on a quarter century of ministry experience, a doctoral dissertation on community building in divided settings, and the knowledge that there is something valuable in contemplation if she could only figure out how to settle down to do it, she began to develop a personal contemplative spiritual practice toolbox (both virtual and physical) to help her grow in her faith and support her mental and physical health.

Anne has a Masters of Divinity from Duke Divinity School and a Doctor of Ministry from Drew Theological School. In 25 years of ministry, she’s led numerous Bible studies and book groups, led workshops and retreats on praying with labyrinths, prayer beads, through journaling and art, lectio divina, and more, developed prayer stations and liturgical arts experiences for worship, and pastored urban and rural congregations. She’s passionate about developing and deepening relationships between people and God.

The “Yes-And” of Ministry – Leaning into Improv

Events Published on
March 5, 2024

Life is full of the unexpected, both positive and not so positive. What if, instead of fighting it when things don’t go as planned, we leaned into the change and improvised?

Improv offers an invigorating approach to life as individuals and as spiritual communities. From Moses to Ruth to Jesus, scripture is full of people boldly saying “yes, and…” as they receive what life throws their way and build upon it.

Join pastor and author MaryAnn McKibben Dana for a spirited exploration of “yes, and…” and other tools for faithful improvisation. We are all improvisers, often without realizing it. The focus of our time together will not be on acting and comedy skills, but on practices for thriving in the midst of chaotic, often unpredictable lives. Come for a tasty blend of scripture, theology, psychology, literature, pop culture, music, and more, as we dream, discuss, and play together.

A Church Reforming, a World Transforming:
Faithful Ministry in a Chaotic World
Presented by the Center for Leadership Excellence
with MaryAnn McKibben Dana

Tuesday, May 21, 2024, 9:30am – 3pm ET
NC Conference Building, Garner
$40, includes lunch

About MaryAnn Mckibben Dana:

The Rev. MaryAnn McKibben Dana is a writer, pastor, speaker, and ministry coach living in the Virginia suburbs of DC. She is author of three books, Hope: A User’s Manual, God, Improv, and the Art of Living, and Sabbath in the Suburbs, and writes a weekly newsletter for thousands of subscribers called The Blue Room. Her writing has also appeared in TIME.com, The Washington Post, Huffington Post, Religion Dispatches, Journal for Preachers, the Christian Century, and Presbyterians Today. She was featured on PBS’s Religion and Ethics Newsweekly for her work on Sabbath and was recognized by the Presbyterian Writers Guild with the 2015-2016 David Steele Distinguished Writer Award.

She is a sought-after speaker, preacher, conference leader and writer around issues of leadership, faith formation, and congregational transformation. She currently serves as associate pastor at Trinity Presbyterian Church in Herndon, VA. MaryAnn is a graduate of Rice University in Houston, Texas and received her M.Div. from Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Georgia. She is a mother of three, an imperfect knitter, and an occasional ultramarathoner. Connect with her at her website.

Looking Up: Acknowledging Grief, Embracing Hope

Events Published on
February 27, 2024

The Center for Leadership Excellence presents a webinar led by Courtney Ellis…

Looking Up: Acknowledging Grief, Embracing Hope
Presented by the Center for Leadership Excellence
with Courtney Ellis
Tuesday, March 19, 2024, 1pm-2pm ET

About the Webinar:

Join author, birder, and pastor Courtney Ellis for an invitation into simple, gentle, creative spiritual practices that can encourage our hearts as we seek to live with open hands. Whether you’re holding the weight of grief, seeking to lead well through uncertain days, or just eager for a fresh encounter with the Spirit, Ellis is a wise and soulful guide.

About Courtney Ellis:

Courtney Ellis is an ordained pastor in the PCUSA with over two decades of ministry experience. Author of five books–most recently Looking Up: A Birder’s Guide to Hope Through Grief—she also hosts The Thing With Feathers podcast, a show all about birds and hope. Courtney makes her home in southern California with her husband Daryl (also a pastor!) and their three children.

Christian Unity in a World of Disunity

Events Published on
February 20, 2024

The Center for Leadership Excellence, in partnership with the Christian Unity and Interreligious Relationships Committee, invites you to a webinar, Christian Unity in a World of Disunity, with Jean Hawxhurst.

Christian Unity in a World of Disunity
Presented by the Center for Leadership Excellence
in partnership with the Christian Unity and Interreligious Relationships Committee
with Rev. Dr. Jean Hawxhurst
Monday, June 17, 2024, 1-2 pm ET

Jesus’ last prayer in the Gospel of John before he was arrested was that his followers might “be one.” That seems like a remote dream these days, and yet the call to unity is foundational to who we say we are as United Methodist Christians. This webinar will take a look at why and how we are called to Christian unity and to interreligious hospitality, and it will give some practical guidelines and suggestions for how to live that out in the life of a local congregation.

About Jean Hawxhurst:

Rev. Dr. Jean Hawxhurst is an elder in the Kentucky Annual Conference who has served three local congregations and as a district superintendent. She was appointed nine years ago to serve as an Ecumenical Staff Officer for our United Methodist Council of Bishops. Her passion is helping United Methodists see how our call to unity is foundational to our faith journeys.

Race Equity & Justice Invites All

Events Published on
February 2, 2024

Premiered at the Smithsonian’s 2023 Folklife Festival, “Faith in Blackness” explores the spirituality of Afro-Latines across different religions and faith practices. The film seeks to explore the relationship between the racial identity of Black Latines and their spirituality.

Co-sponsored by the Race Equity & Justice Ministries office, this screening and panel discussion is open to the public with no cost to attend. This event will begin at 5:00 pm on February 27.

New Ideas for a New Year…Join us!

Events Published on
January 2, 2024

Since the New Year is an opportunity to refresh perspectives and ideas…why not join us on January 30 for a Day of Learning with this very goal? We’ll spend this time dreaming, unearthing creative concepts, and working through innovation exercises to get you thinking about the fresh ideas that might be a part of your congregation in 2024.

Eight More Days for the Team Discount! We’re all better with a team. Dream with your colleagues, your pastor, or your laity and lay the groundwork for future ministry collaboration. Register 3 or more from your church by January 10 and receive a 20% discount on your total registration!

The Good News of Shipwreck:
What Does Church Look Like Now?
Presented by the Center for Leadership Excellence
with Kenda Creasy Dean

Tuesday, January 30, 2024, 9:30am – 3pm ET
Hayes Barton UMC (2209 Fairview Road, Raleigh)
$40 includes lunch

About Kenda Creasy Dean:

Kenda Creasy Dean is an ordained United Methodist pastor and the Mary D. Synnott Professor of Youth, Church, and Culture at Princeton Theological Seminary, where she
works closely with the Institute for Youth Ministry and the Farminary. In 2013 she and Mark DeVries co-founded Ministry Incubators.

She is the author of numerous books on youth and the church, including Innovating for Love: Joining God’s Expedition through Christian Social Innovation, Almost Christian: What the Faith of Our Teenagers Is Telling the American Church, and The Godbearing Life: The Art of Soul-Tending in Youth Ministry, co-authored with Ron Foster, which just came out in its 25th anniversary edition, rewritten with (millennial) Megan DeWald.

A graduate of Miami University (Ohio), Wesley Theological Seminary (Washington, DC), and Princeton Theological Seminary (New Jersey), Kenda has served churches in Arlington, VA, College Park, MD, and Kingston, NJ. She and her husband, Kevin, love digging their toes in the sand on the Jersey shore and hanging out with their hilarious grown kids.

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About Jean Hawxhurst:

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