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Leader Retreats & Workshops
"The great enemy of the Lord Jesus Christ today is work that insists upon endless energy and activities, but no private life with God. The emphasis is put on the wrong things.... An active Christian worker too often lives to be seen by others while it is the innermost personal area that reveals the power of a person's life."
Oswald Chambers
Blessed, Broken, Given
1/2 day, full day, or overnight retreat
"I've never seen our ministry staff go such deep places in such a short period. Thanks!!! You have really made a big dent in our staff's culture. I look forward to having you back in the future to reinforce what was gained." Executive Pastor
"The retreat you brought to our staff yesterday was perfect. You showed you really 'get it' -- the unique pressures our staff faces...but not only that, you showed us a way of hope." Pastor
How do I learn to live under God's grace so I can extend that grace to the world around me, including those to whom I minister?
Blessed, Broken, Given follows a path that begins with receiving and leads to giving. As leaders we must learn to live from day to day beneath God's loving grace so we can richly minister that grace to others. Three themes from Jesus' last supper help us forward:
Jesus took bread and he: blessed it...broke it...and gave it
As his Father's beloved child, Jesus lived with conscious intention under his Father's blessing. Under this blessing Jesus allowed himself to be broken in preparation to being given as life-giving bread to the world. In what ways are we also unconditionally blessed and lovingly broken in order to be given as a nourishing and healing presence for those we serve? Teaching, personal time, and group reflection around these themes stir new and fundamental changes in how we understand our Father, ourselves, and our service in Christ. |
Staff Prayer Day
Speak Lord, Your Servant is Listening
1/2 day or full-day retreat
"These retreats have changed my paradigm forever - learning to value rest, listening, time with God... If not for these retreats, I would not have found a way to continue in ministry." Pastor
Staff days of prayer are restful, listening settings where those who serve God so faithfully in ministry can come away for some much needed personal refreshment. Oswald Chamber's insight that "the greatest competitor of devotion to Jesus is often service for Him" helps shape these days. For their soul's health, leaders must reject a creeping identity as God's "religious employees" and reclaim their place as beloved children. Since leaders tend to replicate in their followers what they experience themselves, these days help pastors, staff, and lay leaders nourish intimacy with God in their own souls so their lives can be an invitation to fullness in Christ.
As Jesus' followers we are the home of the Holy Spirit. As leaders, our challenge is to bring "listening postures" into our lives that allow us to be in touch with the Spirit's voice. The retreat stirs encounters with God around these themes resulting in 1) a time of often overdue personal re-connection with God's voice and presence in our lives, and 2) a greater bonding between staff members as they share together their mutual love in Christ and their journey on his path. Deepened relationships travel back into the church setting as staffs serve together in the future out of a renewed and deeper place. Staffs are also provided with personal and group takeaway activities that enhance ongoing encounter with God, both individually and as a ministry team. |
Care of the Minister's Soul -
God's Invitation, My Response
90 minute workshop
"Beware of anything that competes with loyalty to Jesus Christ. The greatest competitor of devotion to Jesus is service for Him... The one aim of the call of God is the satisfaction of God, not a call to do something for him." Oswald Chambers
As a ministry leader, what would it mean to care for your soul at this time? Do you feel permitted to do so? The challenge of respecting our need for personal refreshment in Christ in the middle of demanding ministry settings will be explored. Time will be given to listening for God's invitation to personal nourishment and renewal, and for pondering our response. We can only extend to others what we experience ourselves in Christ. This workshop gives permission to busy ministry leaders to nourish their own souls in God. |
Understanding Spiritual Formation
in Adults
90 minute workshop
"An excellent spiritual trainer! This workshop helped me so much personally to understand the Spirit's work. Thank you for arranging this teaching for us!" --Ministry Leader
How are adult hearts formed? What experiences anchor believers deeply in Christ leading to practical daily transformation? This workshop probes 6 key stages of faith development in adults, contrasting religious information with inward spiritual formation. Beyond simply conveying more info about God, how can leaders help those who are in personal crisis, facing brokenness, exhausted by religious performance, experiencing doubt, hitting the wall in life, etc. to move toward fruitful surrender, trust, and a yielded place in Christ? Engaging and stirring, this workshop helps group leaders get in tune with the phases of faith development their members are experiencing and guide them forward in life-giving next steps with God. A variety of helpful ministry resources are highlighted. |
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The Presenter
Joel Warne is the founder of WellSpring Life Resources, Inc. and the author of Soul Craving: An Invitation to the Feast and How to Eat Your Bible: God's Word as Food for Your Soul spiritual life resources. These materials draw from Joel's 30 years of leading groups, workshops, and retreats around the theme of weaving a more rich experience of God, through Jesus Christ, throughout every area of life. Joel and his wife Gerri live in Plymouth, Minnesota and are the parents of three grown children. |  |
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