Taking a SPLaSh

Something’s missing. Something’s not quite right. I couldn’t put my finger on it and then through a difficult, but important conversation with a member I highly respect, we started to figure it out.

Long story, short—I’ve enrolled in the SPLaSh–Sacred Practice Leadership Series, which is a joint program of the Alban Institute and the Center for Renewal. This is a 2-year series of 6 workshops (3 days each) that are held at the Shalom Retreat Center in Dubuque, Iowa. Each workshop focuses on a different sacred practice. They are: Visioning, Discernment, Relationship, Prayer, and Proclaiming and Interpreting Scripture.

Here’s an excerpt from the Sacred Practices Overview:

“Leadership in the church is changing. In the past, leadership often meant knowing and following good business practices, reading the desires of members, and developing programs. Leaders were judged by their ability to keep people happy and to make numbers grow. Today there is a growing awareness that our emphasis on efficiency and success often leaves something important out of the mix—namely God and the sacred practices which express and form our ability to respond to God’s call to us.”

In A New and Right Spirit, Rick Barger states, ‘I believe that pastors suffer from burnout and depression, not because they are poor at self-care, but because they are stuck in systems that no longer work. They are exhausted from one technical approach after another. They know deep down inside that something is inherently
wrong.”

Some of the goals of SPLaSh are:

1. Growth in one’s ability to respond to God’s call in ways that are particular to one’s specific context.
2. Movement from a focus on accumulating knowledge and skills to the ongoing process of Christian formation.
3. Becoming as adept at equipping members for ministry as at providing ministry for others.
4. Beginning the transition from an expert-driven, event-oriented educational model to ongoing peer-supported formation.

I ask for your prayers as I work through this series of Sacred Practices. The next workshop is August 21 – 23. I’m excited about these workshops and pray they will be a blessing to my ministry and to you, my family at Christ. If you would like to learn more about this program, the website is: www.sacredpracticeseries.org.