Transition to Practicing Ministry
February 25, 2008
Duke Divinity School has launched a series of seminars to help students with the transition from school to full-time ministry.
The seminars, which will be held this semester, focus on the needs of parish ministry, but several are also relevant for a variety of ministry settings. They are open to any Divinity School student. The locations of the seminars will be announced shortly before their dates. Lunch is provided.
The seminar series started Feb. 18 with “Nourishing the Body, Mind and Spirit: Healthy Boundaries for Life-Long Ministry” with Gary Glass, Ph.D., senior coordinator of outreach and developmental programming at the Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) at Duke University.
The next seminars in the series are:
• “Attending Faithfully to Finances: Managing Debt and Budgeting in the Lean and Early Years, Planning for Retirement Starts Today–Stewardship for Your Future,” Feb. 25, 11 a.m. – 1 p.m., 0013 Westbrook, with Gaston Warner, M.Div., B.A., director of University & Community Relations at Duke.• “Navigating Life as an Associate Pastor: Effective Ministry as a Team Member,” March 3, 11 a.m. – 1 p.m., Room 0013 Westbrook, with Rev. Alisa Lasater D’04, associate minister of Myers Park United Methodist Church (UMC), and Rev. Craig Kocher D’01, associate dean of Duke Chapel and director of Religious Life.
• “The Art of Ministry in the Midst of Church Conflict,” March 24, 10 a.m. – 1 p.m., Room 0015 Westbrook, with David Odom, executive director of Leadership Education at Duke Divinity.
Three seminars on the pastor’s role in the community will be held concurrently April 7 from 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. A panel discussion with all three presenters follows the individual seminars.
The seminars are:
• “The Church, Community and Economic Development - Ministry and Social Entrepreneurship Keys to Help Building Community Capacity,” with William H. “Bill” Lamar IV, M.Div., managing director of Leadership Education at Duke Divinity.
• “Rural Parish Life and Imaginative Ministry,” with Rev. Amy Coles D’92, pastor of Fairview United Methodist Church in Pinnacle, N.C.
• “Ministry Beyond the Parish: Faith-Based Non-profits and the Reign of God.”
A final workshop in this series will be announced later. “Everything You Wanted to Know about the Practice of Ministry” will provide students an opportunity to ask questions about ministry to a panel of ministers with various lengths of service.
To register for a seminar, contact Cheri Benjamin at cbenjamin@div.duke.edu, 660-3558 or 104 Westbrook.