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This Hits Different
A Retreat for Impactful Church Leaders
Pastor Mary W. Anderson, Creator and Facilitator
This retreat model is intended for a congregation’s pastors, deacons, and lay leaders who will gather to discern new ways to be faithful disciples in this new world and this new church in which we find ourselves. It assumes we must be gospel-solid and extremely agile in a fast-paced world. This model occurs over six hours and covers the topics of Identity + Innovation + Community Partnerships and Cross-Training. Congregations and church leaders, lay and ordained, are in a time when we often don’t know what to do next. Old models aren’t working as they once did, and a new vision is still unclear. This leadership retreat uses my experience as a pastor for 40 years, my doctoral work in preaching, and my on-going learning and research. This retreat model, too, must be agile! It will be tweaked based on my continued learning and on the context of the congregation being resourced. Making use of scripture, the congregation’s history, pre-meetings with key congregational leaders, and the positive experiences of congregations that I have served or known; this retreat helps leaders come away with some new energy, creativity, and some practical examples of what they can do next that hits different. What can you do when you don’t know what to do next? Let’s find out together and get unstuck!
If you are interested in more information or want to plan a retreat, just email: mwanderson140@gmail.com. The cost of this retreat will be based on the needs and abilities of the congregation.
*The term “hits different” is urban slang used by some of my congregational teenagers meaning a thing is special or a unique example of something.
What Participants Are Saying…
Our Congregation Leaders’ retreat led by Pastor Mary Anderson was fun and inspiring. Our goal was to begin asking some questions about what church now and into the future could look like. The ways Mary invited us to think about what “hits different” in ministry really helped our leaders to be grounded in what matters most and to dream about what might be next. This retreat time gave us some renewed purpose and we walked away with some clear places to invest our energy in the months to come.
Pastor Nathan Gragg
Zion Lutheran Church
Lexington, SC
There Are No Children Here
Engaging Children and Their Parents
Pastor Mary W. Anderson, Creator and Facilitator
Many congregations have been experiencing the departure of their Millennial, Gen Z and Alpha Generations. There is congregational depression and grief as the active faith community is sometimes 100% Baby Boomer and WWII Generations. Some congregations and pastors say they no longer have any children or teenagers in their total membership. Sunday School rooms sit empty, confirmation classes have zero to two confirmands, and there is no active youth group.
This workshop will demonstrate ways for a congregation to engage their active and inactive families, as well as children and youth in the community. It will demonstrate a big umbrella of what constitutes faith formation beyond traditional Sunday School, vacation Bible school, and Youth groups. This workshop does not focus on how to create new programs or hire a Youth Minister, but will focus on deepening the faith and engagement of children and their parents.
If you are interested in more information or want to plan a retreat, just email: mwanderson140@gmail.com.
Records + Archives
A Hot Mess: Tackling a Congregation's Messy and Missing Records
Pastor Mary W. Anderson, Creator and Facilitator
This six-week zoom workshop will center on organizing, evaluating, understanding, and maintaining congregational records and archives. It will follow the recommendations of the ELCA Office of the Secretary and our church archivists. It is designed to support the work and responsibilities of church administrators, secretaries, and pastors. It seeks to give congregational record-keepers tools for managing their history, especially those who discover their records are scattered in many places and for those whose membership records are so far beyond, they simply don’t know where to start. This workshop will support you in catching up and in faithfully maintaining your history.
If you are interested in more information or want to plan a workshop, just email: mwanderson140@gmail.com.
