90 MINUTE WEBINARS
Equipping, Supporting, and Empowering Transitional Leaders
Ensuring a smooth transition for everyone involves equipping, supporting, and empowering transitional leaders. IMN webinars provide a unique perspective by highlighting the insights of these leaders. They draw upon their personal experiences to tackle challenges and foster innovative solutions as a result.
All webinars sessions will be presented on the Zoom video conferencing format, for 90 minutes (some webinars may require two 90 minutes sessions). Click on the down chevron of each tab for description and leader. Participants will register for each session separately. Once registration is complete, webinar information will be sent to you by email.
Webinar information, including but not limited to, date, times, topic or presenter are subject to change.
June 30, 2026 GRIEF RECOVERY AND THE TRANSITION PROCESS
GRIEF RECOVERY AND THE TRANSITION PROCESS
Rev. Sarah Shirley
June 30, 2026
1-2:30 pm Eastern
The Grief Recovery Method (The Grief Recovery Handbook, John James and Russell Friedman) understands grief to be a normal and natural human response to a change in a familiar pattern of behavior. Transition follows and brings many changes, some welcome, others not, and most understood and experienced in varying ways by the people who participate in the congregational system.
This webinar introduces a variety of ways employing the Grief Recovery Method in the transition process can support the work of the congregation as well as offering a potential lay-led grief ministry.
The Rev. Sarah Shirley is a retired priest from the Episcopal Diocese of Washington currently serving as Rector of St. Andrew’s Anglican Church in Riberas del Pilar, Chapala, Jalisco, Mexico. Sarah leverages her experience and training as spiritual director and coach to support clergy in personal and professional transition. She is a certified Grief Recovery Outreach Specialist and Master Financial Coach, is trained in Gallup Strengths Coaching, Professional Coaching (University of Miami), and interim ministry (Interim Ministry Network). She is founder of Military Saves/Veterans Saves (www.militarysaves.org, www.veteransaves.org), social marketing campaigns to encourage personal financial savings.
Chaplain Sarah served 20 years in the Air Force, retiring at the end of 2019 as Senior Chaplain of the Florida Air National Guard. She spent 15 of those 20 years on active duty in Texas, Florida, Maryland, Oman, and Afghanistan. She serves as volunteer chaplain for the The Episcopal Church its the USA as chaplain to the Office of the Bishop Suffragan for Armed Forces and Federal Ministries (AFFM). Sarah has been active with AFFM since 1998 when she was first endorsed for military chaplaincy. She also serves as chaplain and board member for American Legion Post 7 in Chapala, and or Whistleblowers of America, headquartered in Pensacola, Florida, United States. Before entering holy orders, Sarah managed non-profit organizations and local political campaigns in Illinois and Minnesota, and taught marketing, world religions and hospitality management at colleges in the United States and Europe.
August 11, 2026 Faith-filled Governance
Faith-filled Governance
Creating a culture where every voice matters.
Rev. Cynthia Vemillion Foster
August 11, 2026
1-2:30 pm Eastern
In our spiritual communities, we tend to focus on… well, the spiritual. This is, after all, why we exist. And yet, we are also entrusted with many practical concerns. Buildings must be maintained, finances stewarded, staff supported, and decisions made with clarity and care. Governance is not separate from our spiritual work—it is one of the most meaningful expressions of it.
Faith Filled Governance invites us to see board leadership not as a sacred calling. Rather than choosing between spirit and structure, we are invited into a dynamic dance in which God’s purpose partners with wise and thoughtful practices. In this space, discernment informs decision-making, transparency builds trust, and accountability becomes an act of love.
Participants will be invited to imagine governance not as something that pulls us away from our spiritual mission, but as something that protects, sustains, and strengthens it. When we lead with both faith and skill, we create communities where vision is clear, resources are honored, and ministry can flourish with confidence and joy.
Ultimately, Faith Filled Governance is about alignment—allowing our practices to reflect our deepest beliefs, so that what we build with our hands is guided by what we know in our hearts.
Rev. Cynthia Vermillion-Foster- An ordained Unity minister since 1997, Cynthia has served Unity ministries in both the US and in Canada. Her passion for systems thinking and adaptive leadership has led her to pursue consulting, mediation and transitional work. Openheartconsulting.net
In 2018, Cynthia completed the Interim Ministry Network’s training, and has served on their Board of Directors since 2024. She has served several communities as a transitional minister and has recently completed a 2-and-a-half-year assignment with Unity Church of the Hills in Austin, TX.
In addition to Interim Network training, Cynthia is a certified Healthy Congregations Facilitator, and has two certifications from Conrad Grabel University’s Peace Studies Program:
Conflict Management and Congregational Leadership
Conflict Management and Mediation
Cynthia was Director of Member Services for Unity Worldwide Ministries from 2016 to 2021, where she oversaw all aspects of ministry services, including ministry development, consulting and transitional services, conflict transformation, ethics, ministry employment, and credentialing.
Cynthia’s first career was as a ballet dancer. The metaphors of dance and movement continue to inspire Cynthia on the spiritual journey, which she views as an ongoing dance of discovery, growth, and transformation.
September 17, 2026 SHOULD WE DO A CAPITAL CAMPAIGN NOW?
SHOULD WE DO A CAPITAL CAMPAGIN NOW?
Rev. Michael Erwin
September 17, 2026
1-2:30 pm Eastern
This workshop explores how capital campaigns fit into the larger process of congregational change. We’ll outline the basic phases and timeline of a campaign, and clarify the distinct roles of pastors, lay leaders, and consultants. Participants will receive a simple readiness checklist and conversation guide to use the next time someone says, “We should do a campaign.” You’ll leave better equipped to ask wise questions about timing and capacity, and to respond with a clear, grounded “yes,” “not yet,” or “no” about whether a capital campaign makes sense in this season.
Rev. Michael Erwin is a capital campaign consultant and transitional pastor who specializes in helping congregations fund their next chapter of ministry. Ordained by the Presbytery of Greater Atlanta and holding ministerial standing in the United Church of Christ, he leads Church Campaign Services and serves as Executive Director of Good Samaritan Home, a philanthropic foundation. Michael has guided numerous mainline congregations through readiness studies and capital campaigns, helping leaders ask better questions about timing, capacity, and how projects serve the church’s mission.Do you have a specific topic in mind for a workshop?
We would gladly research and organize it. Please send an email to [email protected] .
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