top of page

 3-5 hour Workshops

Our one day workshops are a great way to begin listening, learning and innovating. Each of these workshops use the 4-I change strategy of  Appreciative Inquiry  and can be done via video conferencing or in the physical presence of one another. We are always interested in designing new workshops, so if you think of a context you'd like to explore, please use the "contact us" tap and let's look into the possibilities! 

Contact us  for a more detailed look at any of the workshops. 

​

Lowering the Anxiety of Your Congregation

​

Are you worried about the anxiety in your congregation?

Do folks seem reluctant to try – just about anything new?

Do you want to know how to help?

 

Participants will:

  • Understand organizational anxiety.

  • Recognize early signs of conflict.

  • Create, establish, and maintain agreements for working together.

  • Learn the difference between mass media-based and relationship-based communication techniques.

    • Practice a relationship-based communication strategy.

  • Build on the prayer resources of your congregation.

  • Hear about the traps of magical thinking and discover strategic options.

​

Workshop length: 2 hours.

Available through Zoom: $275

Available in person: $275 plus travel expenses

Hopeful Frustration: Listening to Our Emotions

Since our brains are hardwired to hold on to the negative, frustration comes easily to most of us.  That’s neurobiology. But staying frustrated leads to cynicism, which is distancing and debilitating.  Let’s talk about emotions and how they layer and overlap.  What is under frustration? If we dig, can we find grief and then maybe hope?  In this conversation, we’ll learn about emotions and practice a meditation technique. My goal for you is the same as Nelson Mandela’s for all of us: “May your choices reflect your hopes and not your fears.”

​

Workshop length: 75 minutes

Available through Zoom for $225

Available in person for $225 plus travel expenses.

 

 

 

If frustration has a hold on you and the slippery slope toward cynicism is calling, this three hour workshop will give you some new skills to rekindle your hope.  

​

In the gospel of Mark, we meet a woman with a hemorrhage who suffered for 12 years. Like us, she was frustrated by what she could not control. She did not lose hope. Her hope was strong enough to motivate her to act. She touched Jesus’ clothes which caused him to stop and insist that she tell him “the whole truth.” Through journalling, one on one interviews, and a personal proposal process, this workshop will give you an opportunity to articulate the truth of a situation that frustrates you, to discover the loss and hope under the frustration, and, let hope guide you to constructive action for your future.

 

Augustine of Hippo said: “Hope has two beautiful daughters; their names are Anger and Courage. Anger at the way things are, and Courage to see that they do not remain as they are.”   Gather those who lead with you and schedule this workshop soon. 

​

Workshop length: 3 hours.

Available through Zoom for $600.

Available in-person for $600 plus travel time and expenses.

​

Hopeful Frustration: The Retreat

is also available as a retreat with 3 or 4 sessions and a worship service.

Prices start at $1200 for 3 sessions plus Travel time and expenses.

​

​

​

​

Hopeful Frustration: A Practical Process

Exploring Vitality

 

This four-hour workshop provides a taste of the eighteen-month congregational vitality process. It begins with participants exploring the Biblical basis for joining in God’s mission with their neighborhood.  With this basis established, the group uses the “4-I” change strategy of Appreciative Inquiry.  They practice the “Inquire” stage by interviewing one another asking the question: What do you treasure most about your congregation? They gather key words and emphatic phrases from the interviews and vote to discern which of these carry the most meaning for the group. They use these words and stories to “Imagine” a new future and then design and “Innovation” that helps the group take the first step toward that desired reality. By the end of the workshop they understand that the eighteen-month process will move through the 4-I cycle twice: the first will focus on discovering the core values of the congregation, and the second will live out their values by discovering neighbors willing to work with them for the good of the neighborhood they share.

​

Workshop length: 4 hours

Available through Zoom: $700

(fee waived if sign up for the Congregational Vitality Process).

​

​

bottom of page