Leadership Courses
To register, click on the images below:
May 3, 2025
10:00am - 4:00pm EST
Our ministry is guided by the respect we have for our congregants & by their having entrusted us with their spiritual well-being. When we do not respect their separateness or use their vulnerabilities to satisfy our personal needs, we have violated boundaries & betrayed a sacred trust. Healthy boundaries are a gift. They are helpful guidelines that give shape to our relationships. In ministry situations boundaries clarify who is the congregant and who is the mentor, not in a hierarchical way, but in a manner that prevents the unhealthy merging of individuals. Boundaries create safe spaces & help to build trust over time. (From Faithtrust Institute)
May 10, 2025
12:00pm - 4:00pm EST
Boundaries to keep parishioners safe are essential and rightly emphasized in introductory boundary courses. This course is a supplemental course for those in placements and ministry to identify when, cope with, and move forward in instances of parishioners, colleagues, and leaders monopolizing time, misusing power, manipulating through donations or compensation, and bullying, to empower clergy to stay healthy and strengthen their ministry for and with ALL people to whom they are called to serve.
July 29, 2025
12:00pm - 4:00pm EST
In this one day course we will review concepts that are key to racial justice and look at how we can apply that knowledge to serving our respective communities through our own unique gifts and dreams. The first part of the day we will review concepts such as power, intersectionality, identity/positionality, how the various levels of oppression function, and allyship. The second half of the day we will reflect on our personal gifts, skills, and dreams and how these relate to our unique calling to serve others and work towards justice. We will work in groups in order to share, brainstorm and receive feedback and discern next steps.
Spirtual Formation
June/July 2025
This course emphasizes personal contemplative prayer as vital for both our relationship with God and effective ministry. It covers Biblical teachings, the early desert fathers’ & mothers’ contemplative tradition, and the spirituality, theology, and psychology of prayer. The course also explores various Christian prayer practices such as lectio divina, Ignatian prayer, centering prayer, Christian meditation, and the awareness examen, with a particular focus on BIPOC perspectives on contemplative practice.
Lay Reader Courses
The Essex Deanery Lay Leadership Training Classes: Lay Leadership Courses for 2025 and early 2026
These clases will be held in person at Canterbury College. Classes run from 10:00am - 2:30pm with 30 minutes for lunch.
We have partnered with Canterbury College for the courses, and they are providing us with the technology support to run the classes by zoom.
Please join us for one or all of the following classes:
Sat Feb 15th Systematic Theology: What is systemic theology? How do we use it? Facilitator Rev. Elise Chambers
Sat Mar 15th Prayer/Rule of Life: Facilitator Rev. Kimberly Myer
Sat May 17th Biblical Studies
Sat Sept 20th Church History
Sat Nov 15th Liturgy
Sat Jan 17th, 2026 Preaching
Sat Mar 21st, 2026 Preaching
Please contact Rev. Elise Chambers if you would like to attend: elisechambers@diohuron.org. If you have a class you would like offered that would be benficial for the laity or one you would like to facilitate, please contactRev. Kimberly Mayer: kimmyer@diohuron.org or Rev. Elise Chambers: elisechambers@diohuron.org.