We are excited to announce that January 20-23, 2016 the Samaritan Counseling Center of the Capital Region will be offering a training for Transitional Ministries in Latham, N.Y. Please see the description below. To register or for more information and future trainings click here.
The face of interim ministry has changed drastically over the past 25 years. From short term, fill the pulpit situations to long term positions requiring system assessment skills and emotional intelligence, interim ministry has become TRANSITIONAL MINISTRY. Congregations need help transitioning between pastors and also in navigating the swiftly changing landscape of ministry in the 21st Century.
S.T.E.P. provides the only evidence based approach to the many transitions churches are encountering.
Why guess what is going on within a system? Is it safe to make an assessment from opinions within the system? Your own experience from working with churches is that no one person holds all the answers. Make evidence based,strategic interventions so the system can transition to new leadership, a new size, or a new situation.
How much energy is in the church you are working with?
How flexible is the church?
What are the core component of this church’s identity?
What, where, and who are the stressors?
How do you plan the transitional phase for the church? What elements are included if you are a short term, mid-term, or long term transitional minister?
Where is the best place to intervene in an already existing group?
What issues will bring the church together? Which ones will create a rift?
Program Description
Phase 1 – Core Competencies
The First Part of the training addresses the skill of accurately assessing a system. Without a good assessment of the system, no effective interventions can be designed. Learn how to determine who knows who, who influences who, and who’s who to how the system typically reacts to stress, where the covert power is, how the communication is controlled and everything in between. Phase 1 is a 4 day 3 night schedule that includes training each evening.
Phase 2 – Modules
The second part of the training is an array of modules addressing different topics. You can choose ala carte style the module(s) that will best suit your needs. Each of the modules offered by the Samaritan Counseling Center will be 4 hours. Two of the courses* are required if you wish to receive the Samaritan Counseling Center’s Endorsement of Transition Training Completion. Each of the modules offered by Samaritan Counseling Center costs $100. There are other modules offered by the CRTC (Capital Region Theological Center) which will vary in price and structure.
Modules will include but not be limited to:
- *Boundary Awareness, David Olsen, PhD
- *Emotional Intelligence, Keli Rugenstein, PhD
- The Differentiated Leader, James Fenimore, PhD
- Church Size Transitioning, Keli Rugenstein, PhD
- Managing the Dangers of Leading, Keli Rugenstein, PhD
- Use of Technology in Ministry
- Translational Leadership Training
- Lombard Mennonite Conflict Resolution, CRTC
- Denomination Specific Polity and Theology
- Ecumenical Polity and Theology, multiple presenters
Phase 3 – Coaching
The third part of the S.T.E.P. Training is one year of coaching while you are serving in transitional ministry. There is a coaching session each month. Your first coaching session will be individual. The remaining eleven sessions will be with a small group of no more than four. Coaching sessions will address issues that each person in the group is facing so each participant will benefit from the experiences of the others. This program ensures a minimum of 60 contact hours. The cost when beginning the training is $1300 and that includes both Phase 1 and Phase 3.