Look at What People Are Doing June 25, 2009
Posted by mgilm in General News, SPE.add a comment
Click over to the “Grant Recipients and Experiences” tab for updated lists of the activities Covenant pastors, missionaries, and chaplains have been able to participate in through the benefit of Sustaining Pastoral Excellence grants. SPE continues to award individual grants along with coordinating re-visioning retreats and new study cohorts around the pastoral arts of leadership, teaching, and preaching.
More information about SPE grants can be found at www.covchurch.org/spe.
Reclaiming the Town Center June 18, 2009
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Reclaiming the Town Center
Drive through the old town center in Anywhere, USA, and you will find two buildings encircled by the main road: the courthouse and the church. Historically, the church has been the locus, or central focus, of the community. For better or worse, it was where people congregated to share life’s stories.
Once the center of connection, the church has become an ancillary part of the greater community. It has lost its status as a “third place.”
Sociologist Ray Oldenburg coined the term “third place.” The concept of a third place involves a gathering place for people separate from home (the first place) and work (the second place). These informal meeting places have existed throughout history, but they have increased in importance in the last decade. As the lines between home and work blur, and as people travel farther distances from home to work, the third place has become an important gathering point for people wanting a break between the first and second place. That’s why high-end coffee shops are on every street corner. They charge $1 for a cup of coffee combined with a $3 experience of communal gathering.
Spring 2009 Re-visioning Retreat May 19, 2009
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The Spring Re-visioning Retreat, held in Texas, just concluded. The week was one of rest, reconnecting with Jesus, and some beach adventures. The Mustang Island Conference Center proved to be a great site for our group of Covenant pastors, missionaries, and chaplains. At the conclusion of the week, one pastor commented that they had been in ministry for over 20 years and this retreat was like no other. “It went deep. It was personal. It was much needed,” they said.
Here are some pictures from the week:
To learn more about the SPE Re-visioning Retreats, visit www.covchurch.org/spe/constancy.
Articles Worth Reading April 8, 2009
Posted by mgilm in Interesting Articles, Leadership Development, Worth Reading.add a comment
Leadership Education at Duke Divinity maintains an archive of interesting articles that are relevant to many aspects of ministry. Current offerings include:
- Maturing missions
- Followers: The Five Types
- Discerning Decisions
- Rendering Unto God
Visit the online Faith & Leadership site, or click here to read these, and other, articles.
Tending the Embers March 31, 2009
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This week, The Alban Institute’s Howard Friend tells the story of a pastor who, slowly but surely, tends his new and colorful congregation through painful but necessary change, helping them to remember their own stories of faith and involvement in church. Read the article here.
Faith & Leadership February 24, 2009
Posted by mgilm in Interesting Articles, Interesting webLINKS, Resources.1 comment so far
The current issue of Duke Divinity School’s Faith & Leadership Newsletter highlights several interesting articles, including a look at churches’ and Christian organizations’ efforts at living through the current economic crisis. Crisis and faith, by David Gibson
Also featured are articles about Christian Leadership, functioning in the tension between tradition and innovation, and a new study that shows recent immigrants being welcomed by predominantly white churches.
For more from Faith & Leadership, visit their web site: http://faithandleadership.com/.
Faith & Leadership is a publication of Duke’s Leadership Education initiative, which is funded in part by the Lilly Endowment, Inc.
Retreats February 16, 2009
Posted by mgilm in Revisioning Retreats, SPE.add a comment
Faithfulness, longevity, and fidelity are nurtured through a personal state of wellness – issuing out of a vital relationship with Jesus Christ. The SPE initiative encourages ministers to consider nurturing this relationship through a retreat experience designed to encourage healthy patterns and habits of renewal.
Visit the “Retreats” tab of this resource page for suggestions of places to retreat, or consider applying for a space on the spring Re-visioning Retreat this May. Visit www.covchurch.org/spe/constancy for more information about grant funding for retreats, or to download an application for the re-visioning retreat.
Samford University group offers SPE Mini-grants December 1, 2008
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The Resource Center for Pastoral Excellence at Samford University is offering a limited number of mini-grants of up to $2,000 to existing SPE peer groups. About half the grant funds will be awarded to SPE groups submitting proposals for enrichment activities at the Resource Center, located on the Samford campus in Birmingham, Ala. The remainder of the funds will be used to support proposals from SPE peer groups for activities and opportunities offered through SPE sponsored or initiated organizations.
Finding Spiritual Green Space November 21, 2008
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In the 1950s, renowned French planner Jacques Gréber proposed a “greenbelt” for Ottawa, Ontario, as part of a master plan for Canada’s capital region. More than half a century later, the greenbelt is a natural haven in the midst of an urban area. The greenbelt, about 50,300 acres of open lands and forests, encircles Ottawa on the Ontario side of the Ottawa River.
The concept of planning green space in the landscape was groundbreaking in Gréber’s time, but today it has become commonplace. For city dwellers facing daily smog alerts, the need for green space has never been more urgent.
Now a group of pastors from New England is making the case for planning “green space” in our spiritual lives, too. “As cities carve out green spaces to break urban congestion, we need to help each other find green spaces in our busy lives,” said Bruce Dykstra, a pastor originally from Pictou, Novia Scotia, who now serves The River Christian Reformed Church in Sutton, Mass.
Read the rest of the article here.
SPE Coordination Office, Duke Divinity School
Box 90966, Durham, NC 27708-0966 • 919-660-3448 • spe@div.duke.edu
The Sustaining Pastoral Excellence program is funded by Lilly Endowment Inc.
Health & Excellence November 11, 2008
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The Sustaining Pastoral Excellence is currently exploring the pastoral art of caring – what it means for pastors and for congregations. Thus far, groups of Covenant pastors have gathered in the Chicago and Detroit areas to consider “Health & Excellence” for pastors, as well as what it means to be “Living Reminders” of Christ for congregations and communities.
The “Health and Excellence” gathering took place in late September, and was led by Jay Matthews from Midwest Ministry Development. The notes from this gathering are available by clicking here.
Another “Living Reminders” seminar will take place in Atlanta, January 6-7, 2009. For more information or to register, please visit the main SPE web page at www.covchurch.org/spe.
