Collaboration for Clergy and Lay Leaders in a New Era of Ministry
Since March of 2020 ministry in every situation changed dramatically. The #PandemicPastoring Report offerings findings from research with over 100 clergy and lay leaders in 20+ denominations. It reveals that ministers and churches are facing a new era, characterized by: a great renegotiation of jobs and shifting part-time and full-time roles, different needs and expectations for volunteers, new hybrid and digital modes of connection, overwhelming yet often unnamed grief, and much needed discernment about the purpose of church. What do we most urgently need in response to these changes? The "Collaboration" workshop will explore three ways clergy and lay leaders can work together to 1) deepen understandings of shared ministry and including similarities and differences between volunteer/lay and paid/clergy ministers, opening the way for better collaboration; 2) creating shared rituals for personal and collective grief; and 3) expanding hope and imagination to craft "future stories" that meet the new era of ministry with love, sustainably, and grace. All participants receive the 30-page #PandemicPastoring Report download and a study guide to use with their churches.
Led by:
Eileen Campbell-Reed | Visiting Associate Professor of Pastoral Theology and Care at Union Theological Seminary, New York City