Retreats & Programs Courage to Lead® 2009 Courage to Lead Series for Clergy
Clergy, Pastoral & Congregational Leaders
2009 Courage to Lead Retreat Series
The soul is generous: it takes in the needs of the world. The soul is wise: it suffers without shutting down. The soul is hopeful: it engages the world in ways that keep opening our hearts. The soul is creative: it finds its way between realities that might defeat us and fantasies that are mere escapes. All we need to do is to bring down the wall that
separates us from our souls and deprives the world of the soul’s regenerative powers.
—Parker J. Palmer, A Hidden Wholeness: The Journey Toward an Undivided Life
For more than a decade, under the guidance of Parker J. Palmer, highly skilled facilitators across the country have offered a unique retreat-based approach to renewing personal identity, professional integrity and vocational vitality. Washington Courage & Renewal is pleased to offer this work to interested clergy, pastoral and congregational leaders, through an initiative funded, in part, by a grant from the Lilly Endowment and the Center for Courage & Renewal.
We invite you to participate in this series of
four Courage to Lead seasonal retreats
at the Palisades Retreat Center in Federal Way, WA.
Download PDF Courage to Lead for Clergy Flyer and Application
Who is invited to participate in these Courage to Lead Retreats?
Clergy, pastoral & congregational leaders from diverse faith traditions of American religious life: rabbis, priests, sisters, pastors, ministers, imams, clerics and others faith leaders are encouraged to participate. Because the program involves a substantial investment of ti me, money, and energy, applicants must be ready and willing to participate in all four seasonal retreats.
Why a Courage to Lead program for Clergy, Pastoral & Congregational Leaders?
The fate of religious communities depends as much on their spiritual foundations as on the quality of their leadership. Our first priority is to contribute to the personal and spiritual formation of these leaders, especially in these complex and conflicted times. We offer clergy, pastoral and congregational leaders an experience of spiritual formation in community, a circle of trust, one that can address the isolation many feel, and one that is built on principles and practices participants can take back into their personal and professional lives.
In such a community of trust, each Courage to Lead retreat supports personal formation by:
- renewing heart, mind, and spirit by exploring the inner landscape of the leader’s life;
- reconnecting personal identity and professional integrity, honoring gifts, acknowledging the power of limits;
- creating a community of mutual respect and caring that welcomes the soul and honors diversity;
- developing trustworthy space for inner exploration within diverse religious communities; and
- exploring connections between the leader’s inner life and the renewal of congregational life.
In partnership with: Church Council Greater Seattle Rauschenbush Center; Seattle University-Pastoral Leadership Program; Whitworth University-Weyerhaeuser Ctr; NW Interfaith Community Outreach; University Congregational UCC; Lk. Wash. United Methodist Church
What is a circle of trust?
In A Hidden Wholeness: The Journey Towards an Undivided Life (Jossey-Bass, 2004), Dr. Parker Palmer describes the importance of creating “circles of trust,” trustworthy spaces in which honest sharing and deep learning can occur:
In this culture, we know how to create spaces that invite the intellect to show up, to argue its case, to make its point. We know how to create spaces that invite the emotions to show up, to express anger or joy. We know how to create spaces that invite the will to show up, to consolidate effort and energy around a common task. And we surely know how to create spaces that invite the ego to show up, preening itself and claiming its turf! But we seem to know very little about creating spaces that invite the soul to show up, the core of ourselves, our selfhood.
In each Courage to Lead seasonal retreat of the series, skilled facilitators help create a quiet, focused, and disciplined space—a circle of trust—in which the noise within us and around us can subside and we can begin to hear our own inner voice. This retreat series consists of a cohort of 25 clergy, pastoral and congregational leaders who gather for five seasonal 2 day retreats over a period of 9 months. By setting aside this time, space is created for authentic transformation of ourselves as leaders, and of our hopes for congregational life. In large-group, small-group and solitary settings, we will share our inner journey via personal story-telling, poetry and teaching tales from various wisdom traditions. Participants will be invited to speak honestly about their lives and work and to listen and respond to each other—and to themselves—with encouragement and compassion.
DETAILS
Dates:
#1- November 3-5, 2009
#2- February 8-10, 2010
#3- May 10-12, 2010
#4- July 12-15, 2010
Time: Each retreat will begin at 3pm the 1st day and end at 3pm the last day
Location: Palisades Retreat Center in Federal Way, WA.
Cost: $1,550 for 4 retreat series ($387 per retreat) includes single occupancy lodging, food, facilitation & materials. Financial assistance & payment plans are available. We are committed to helping those with limited resources be able to attend. Contact our office for details.
“It has been a gift that has impacted my life like nothing else. I am more grounded and centered, have more courage in my convictions and wisdom, am calmer and less stressed, am renewed in spirit and hope.”
C&R past participant
RETREAT LEADERSHIP
Rick Jackson, M.A.R., M.Div., is President and co-director of the Center for Courage & Renewal (www.couragerenewal.org.) Rick consults and speaks with non-profit organizations and foundations on a range of topics, including sustaining the identity and integrity of teachers and leaders, youth and community development, and strategies to foster long-term sustainable change. He earned a Master of Arts in religion and social ethics from Yale University Divinity School (1975); and a Master of Divinity from United Theological Seminary (1979). He was ordained a minister in the United Church of Christ in 1979, and was an executive with the YMCA for 25-years.
Jeanne Strong, M.Ed., Ph.D., an educator who has worked with students from pre-school through graduate school, has been an active C&R facilitator for 7 years, and led multiple C&R retreat series, including several gatherings focused on social justice. Jeanne is the daughter of a UCC Minister whose work took him to the UCC Board of World Missions and the World Council of Churches. Jeanne grew up in many different cultures, with family values focused on spiritual development and social responsibility. She is a member of a Quaker Community.
Advance Registration is required.
Download PDF Courage to Lead for Clergy Flyer and Application
Register online, call or FAX APPLICATIONS AND PERSONAL STATEMENTS TO:
Washington Courage & Renewal
Ph: 206-633-2888, Fax: 206-328-7689;
email:
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Registration Deadline: October 1, 2009. Register early - retreats fill quickly. $100 Discount for Applications received by SEPTEMBER 1, 2009 We encourage everyone interested to apply – regardless of ability to pay.