Keynotes and Consulting
to inspire new ways to help your congregation.
Keynotes or Zoom Conversations
Everyone on our team is open to the possibility of speaking at your event. We can develop a keynote for your context on any of the following topics:
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Hopeful Frustration: Listening to Emotions -- with Marj Funk-Pihl.
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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.”
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Embracing God’s Future without Forgetting the Past -- with Michael Girlinghouse
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A conversation about grief, loss, nostalgia and congregational life. Most congregations can remember a time in the past when there were families and children in full pews. We will learn how to work through our grief over the loss of the “glory days” and learn how we can draw strength, courage and vision for the future from our memories of days gone by.
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Creative Tension - with Michael Girlinghouse
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Wherever two or three are gathered in Jesus’ name, there will be differences of opinion, disagreement and a diversity of perceptions and experiences. Guaranteed. The question is not whether or not there is conflict in congregational life, but how we work through the inevitable conflicts that arise and use them creatively to strengthen and grow our ministries.
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Consulting
The Rev. Dr. Marj Funk-Pihl offers the following services to strengthen the vitality of congregations:
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Strategic Planning: Discovering your congregation's purpose and setting mission goals accordingly.
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You and Pastor Marj work to design, implement and evaluate a process specific to your context.
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Pastor Marj evaluates your existing vitality process and makes recommendations for improvements
The Rev. T. Conrad Selnick is available to work with congregations, or organizations in Strategic Planning.
Coaching
The 18-month vitality processes includes coaching both during the implementation of the process and for 3 sessions afterward. Coaching after the 1 day workshops can be arranged.