Seabury's Kellogg School Summer Institute
Leadership Skills for Clergy & Lay Leaders

June 18-22, 2012

offered by Seabury Western Theological Seminary

in partnership with Center for Nonprofit Management, Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University

Description

Following up on its highly lauded 2011 inaugural summer program, this five-day course offers new and expanded themes and materials to help build the confidence and skills needed for effective church leadership.

Seabury’s Kellogg School Summer Institute 2012 is a custom educational program tailored to meet the distinctive needs of lay and clergy leaders. It is taught by professors at the Kellogg School, a global leader in management education. Upon completion, students can earn 3 academic credits or CEUs.

Through lecture, case examples, interactive exercises and classroom dialog, participants will

• gain an understanding of general management principles and how successful nonprofit organizations operate, including marketing and branding their congregations<

• learn how to articulate vision and values in a compelling way

• discover how a parish's core competencies can help position it for the future

• learn how to think creatively when facing challenges and opportunities

• network with colleagues from across the United States and share best practices and management challenges

• recognize that change, even when unanticipated and unwanted, can provide opportunities for growth.

Admission
Admission is by application only and is limited to 45 students. Apply online here. 

What are religious congregations and why do we need them?

The answers would seem obvious. Congregations constitute the largest volunteer gathering of religious people in North America. Yet the definition of religious congregations is shifting and expanding as new models emerge for communal worship.

The focus has grown from what takes place within physical houses of worship—Here's the church, here's the steeple—to include the wealth of possibilities offered by online communities and by groups of people who gather outside of the traditional church. Can new kinds of congregations serve people who currently aren't being served?

This one-week course will examine religious congregations from theological, historical, sociological and economic perspectives. Included in the discussions will be emerging and fresh ministries that are popping up on the religious landscape and an exploration of what God is calling the church to be and do in today’s world.

The Rev. Dr. Susan Harlow, course instructor and Seabury's director of congregational development, said she finds great value in being part of a congregation.

"These are earthbound communities seeking a life of transcendence," she said. "They are seeking more: more love, more relationships, more authenticity, more God. And there's a good deal of comfort in seeking with others. If one person is powerful, a committed group addressing the same issue is even more powerful.

Harlow said she'd like to say "come and see" to people who feel they have no need for a religious community.

"Sometimes when people say I'm spiritual, they're saying they realize there is something more to life but don't want to be part of a religious community," Harlow said. "But I say come and see. The spirit is at work in community. And in community, you understand forgiveness in a different way."

Students will leave the course with a better understanding of how congregations support our faith journey, challenge our personal perception of God, and broaden our understanding of who God is.

Instructor: The Rev. Dr. Susan Harlow, Director of Congregational Development

Dates: June 4-8, 2012

Weeklong Intensive 3 credit or CEU hrs. MDiv or DMin

Register:  Click here to register for this course.

Reading List: Click here for the 2012 course reading.

Community organizing is all about relationship building, a crucial component of effective ministry. Come to this course and learn new skills for getting to know the wider community context in which your congregation is situated.  The core of this course is the Industrial Area Foundation's acclaimed national leadership training and learn how to use community organizing as a powerful approach to living out one's faith in the world.

Instructor: Thomas Lenz, lead organizer for United Power for Action and Justice

Episcopal Church History, Polity and Canon Law

What Would You Have Done? Leadership During Pivotal Moments in Episcopal History

Put on your thinking caps and join Bill Sachs for this five-day, intensive course that examines events and leadership styles that have shaped the Episcopal Church.

This course, Episcopal Church History, Polity and Canon Law, fulfills the canonical requirement for the study of canon law, but it also will provide intriguing food for thought for those not on an ordination track.

Using the Socratic method, twice a day students will be presented with important church events and issues dating from 1740 to 2003. They will then discuss and debate how the understanding of faith and faith communities shaped the outcome. 

The Rev. Bill Sachs is a teacher, preacher, writer and Seabury Chabraja Fellow. Based in Richmond, he is director of the Center for Interfaith Reconciliation, which he founded in 2006. Previously he was vice-president of the Episcopal Church Foundation in New York where he directed research and leadership formation programs.

Instructor:  Bill Sachs

Dates:  Online work and three intensive weekends:  October 5-6, November 2-3, November 30-December 1

Click here for the January 2012 reading list.

Click here for the January 2012 syllabus.

Click here to register for this Fall 2012 course.

Back by Popular Demand!

Bishop Griswold's Course

Laypeople and clergy are invited to join Bishop Frank Griswold at Seabury for a five-day exploration of Anglican spirituality and the rhythm of our worship. Praying Shapes Believing will include reading and reflection with a community of students led by Bishop Griswold, former Bishop of Chicago and former Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church. The course draws on his book, Praying Our Days, published in 2009 by Church Publishing. 

Instructors:  Frank Griswold

Dates: Online work and three intensive weekends:  October 12-13, November 9-10, December 7-8.

Click here for the January 2012 course reading list.

Click here for the January 2012 syllabus.

Click here to register for this Fall 2012 course

This course will look at the way Anglican Christianity emerged and developed over two millennia as a complex, evolving understanding of God, history, the natural world, and human life. Using images, music and texts, the course will acquaint participants with both the variety and continuity of Christian thought and expression across a wide variety of media. Historical re-enactments will allow participants to experience the lived history of the church in a vivid and holistic way. The course will demonstrate how the Anglican way of being Christian synthesizes this entire history and continues its evolution toward a generous approach to existence.

Read more

Instructor: John Dally, Professor of Theology and Culture

Dates: Offered in a week-long intensive from January 14-18, 2013

This course offers participants an opportunity to explore contemporary issues through an Anglican tradition of thoughtful theological reflection, dialogue, and examination of courses of action that reflect baptismal living and are applicable to daily lives and decisions. Topics for exploration will include current mission priorities of the Episcopal Church, such as the Millennium Develop Goals and ways to overcome poverty in the world, as well as current topics of dialogue throughout the worldwide Anglican Communion, such as issues related to the theologies of Scripture and of human sexuality.

Instructor:   Dwight Zschiele, Luther Seminary


Dates:  This course will be offered in a weeklong intensive from January 7-11, 2013

Nonprofit Management and Community Development

Making Mission Possible in Tough Times

Money matters, and people want their money to make a difference. This Nonprofit Management and Community Development course will explore how mission focused fundraising and greater neighborhood involvement can breathe new life into congregations at a time when many are struggling with shoe-string budgets and the exploding social needs of their communities.

How can congregations respond when they encounter more young adults unaccustomed to pledging, funders requesting more accountability, and the realization that healthy congregations—rural and urban—need vital neighborhood communities? Along with fundraising strategies, participants will learn to identify and engage local partners in mission and will hear from visiting speakers about how congregations can be catalysts for change in their communities.

Instructor:  Susan Harlow

Dates:  This course will be offered in a weeklong intensive from January 21-25, 2013

Click here for the January 2012 reading list.

Exploring the Anglican Communion's breadth and depth

With some 85 million members in more than 160 countries, the Anglican Communion covers a lot of ground. Join Professor Ellen Wondra, Seabury's academic dean, in this exploration of its variety of theologies and ethics. By examining Anglican theologians from the 16th century through today, this intensive, hybrid course will discern how classic theologians continue to influence contemporary Anglican thought and its emphasis on authority, the use of Scripture, the conscience, and the Incarnation.

Instructor:  Ellen Wondra

Dates: Offered in a weeklong intensive from January 21-25, 2013