Fall Webinars - Coming Soon

It’s always interesting the way things unfold. When we first received a planning grant from the Lilly Grant Foundation, we had hoped it would help us take a few meaningful next steps in listening to our Ministry Forum community and the needs and dreams of those in diverse areas of ministry. What we didn’t anticipate was the opportunity to actually DO some of that ministry with some of the left over funds.

In the spring we brainstormed how we might use these remaining funds to support ministry leaders: What if we could address some of the topics that feel especially weighty and worth wrestling with right now?

Our goal was to offer a space that felt thoughtful, grounded, and led by experts and deep thinkers in a diverse areas of topics (many that were reference in our original listening sessions)

So far this summer, we’ve held two of these sessions, and they’ve both sparked really meaningful conversations.

In July, we gathered for a session on trauma-informed practice, guided by folks from TEND Academy. We talked about what it means to see people not through the lens of “what’s wrong with you?” but “what happened to you?”—and what that shift opens up, not just in theory, but in our everyday ministry.

We named the ways trauma shows up in our congregations and communities, and also in ourselves. We talked about the weight that ministry leaders carry, especially when we’re asked to absorb stories and struggles without always having clear pathways for support. We looked at six key principles of trauma-informed leadership so we could go into different settings with this informed posture in mind. And we asked, “What would it look like if churches were places where people felt truly safe—not just welcome, but safe?”

It wasn’t a light conversation, but it was a hopeful one!

In August we jumped into a very different topic - artificial intelligence. And while it might seem like a strange leap—from trauma to tech—the two conversations were actually had a reasonable amount of overlap asking: Who are we becoming, and how do we want to show up?

In this webinar, Curt Hammond invited us into what he calls the +AI mindse, where we talked about a framework for discernment. He reminded us that AI doesn’t understand. It doesn’t know us, or our communities, or our faith. It simply sees patterns and builds on them. The task, then, isn’t to fear it—or to blindly adopt it—but to ask how we might co-create with it. How can we find ways to have it amplify our values and support our work.

It was a refreshing conversation!

We’ve been encouraged by the content and engagement so far and we’re looking forward to what’s still to come.

In September, we’ll join with David Csinos on intergenerational ministry—not just as a programmatic option, but as a way of being church that challenges our assumptions about worship, formation, and belonging.

In October, Florence Sevensma will lead us in thinking about social media as a kind of first contact with the church—how the way we show up online might actually be the beginning of someone’s encounter with faith and community.

And in November, Jan Nolting Carter and Paul Rhebergen will help us reflect on transitional ministry. Their starting point is a compelling one: all ministry is transitional. And if that’s true, what does it look like to lead through change with clarity, humility, and hope?

So that’s where we’ve been, and where we’re heading. If you’ve joined us already, thank you. If you haven’t, there’s still time to join in.

Each session stands on its own, and they’re all free to attend.
You can find registration info on our here.
And if you’ve got colleagues or friends in ministry who might benefit from these conversations, feel free to share.

We’re grateful to be walking this road with you. And grateful to the Lilly Grant Foundation for making these conversations possible!