Virtual CAFÉ
IMN VIRTUAL CAFÉ
IMN is more than an interfaith association of transitional colleagues working with congregations during times of transition. IMN is a community of practice. Members have knowledge, expertise, stories, successes, and challenges to share about working effectively with congregations during times of transition. The IMN Member Support Team offers a new opportunity for IMN Members to be in community with one another.
The IMN Virtual Café is a monthly opportunity to share a conversation about a transitional topic. Open to settled clergy, interim clergy, lay leaders, transitional clergy, and judicatories. Using Zoom video conferencing, or your telephone, you will be in a topic-specific 90-minute conversation with your colleagues and a host with experience on that topic.
Next offering is now available:
Wednesday, July 17, 3:00 – 4:30 pm Eastern Time
Topic: Supporting Congregational Transition in the Interim Time
Join Keith and other IMN Denomination staff members who resource congregations in their area, often dealing with change, bring questions about the Interim Ministry Network:
- What might intentional interim ministers provide? What makes that effective?
- What education is available for new interim ministers? What kind of learning does IMN foster?
- Who else can benefit from principles of systems theory? Where can I develop expertise around applied practices of transitional leadership?
This conversation is specifically for those whose role provides oversight or support for pastoral leadership in congregations.
Host: Keith Kron has been the Director of the Transitions Office since 2010 for the Unitarian Universalist Association. Keith also serves on the IMN Board of Directors and Fundraising Task Force.
Upcoming Topics
The Transition Team
Closing a Church/Mergers
Self-Care
Agreements and Contracting (Repeat of May 1st)
Conflict
After Pastor: Breaking of Trust
Boundaries
Management of Staff
Asking Good Questions to Engage Your Congregation
More to come….
COMMIT NOW TO BE A PART OF AN IMN VIRTUAL CAFE’
Register Below:
These offering are FREE to PAID IMN members. The first 15 members registering for each IMN Virtual Café are guaranteed a spot in the conversation. Others after the first 15, will be saved for future dates of the topic. To register click on the topic below and add to cart. Complete the information on the shopping cart and SUBMIT.
Ellen Goudy will contact you in a separate email with the call accessing details.
JOIN OR RENEW MEMBERSHIP
Education
Education Opportunities
The education of clergy and congregations in the interim time has proven to be essential in the life of the congregation. IMN seeks programs that enhance this ministry for the clergy and the lay leaders. Many programs are developed around the framework of the Fundamentals of Transitional Ministry training. Time to time IMN will partner with other organizations to bring to its visitors and membership a well rounded curriculum.
Current Education Opportunities:
- The (FTM) Fundamentals of Transitional Ministry is run year round in different cities and countries.
- In Partnership with the Center for Congregational Health the Art of Consulting Program is offer 1 to 2 time per year.
- IMN Annual Conference is held once a year in various locations. Offering Keynote speakers and a series of workshop offerings.
Future Education Opportunities
- On-line Virtual Cafe will feature topic driven conversations.
- On-line Webinars
- Continuing Education are 1 to 2 day seminars on a specific topic.
Healing Spiritual Wounds: Reconnecting with a Loving God After Experiencing a Hurtful Church
Click on book image to order.
Healing Spiritual Wounds: Reconnecting with a Loving God After Experiencing a Hurtful Church
by Carol Howard Merritt
An effective plan to help those suffering from wounds inflicted by the church find spiritual healing and a renewed sense of faith.
Raised as a conservative Christian, minister and author Carol Howard Merritt discovered that the traditional institutions she grew up in inflicted great pain and suffering on others. Though she loved the spirituality the church provided, she knew that, because of sexism, homophobia, and manipulative religious politics, established religious institutions weren’t always holy or safe. Instead of offering refuge, these institutions have betrayed people’s hearts and souls. “People have suffered religious abuse,” she writes, “which can be different from physical injury or psychological trauma.”
Though participation and affiliation in traditional religious institutions is waning, many people still believe in God. Merritt contends that many leave the church because they have lost trust in the institution, not in God. Healing Spiritual Wounds addresses the church’s dichotomous image—as a safe space and as a dangerous place—and provides a way to restore personal faith and connection to God for those who have been hurt or betrayed by established institutions of faith. Merritt lays out a multistage plan for moving from pain to spiritual rebirth, from recovering theological and emotional shards to recovering communal wholeness.
Merritt does not sugarcoat the wrongs institutions long seen as trustworthy have inflicted on many innocent victims. Sympathetic, understanding, and deeply positive, she offers hope and a way to help them heal and reclaim the spiritual joy that can make them whole again.
Reviews:
“An amazing resource… emotionally intense, beautifully written, and courageously honest, and the exercises are just what you need. Healing Spiritual Wounds helped me.” (Brian D. McLaren, author of The Great Spiritual Migration)
“Healing Spiritual Wounds provides validation and comfort for anyone feeling alone within or abandoned by the church. In this much-needed book, Merritt offers practical ways to explore the sources of our brokenness. A generous guide to reconnecting with a loving God.” (Meredith Gould, author of Desperately Seeking Spirituality: A Field Guide to Practice (Liturgical Press))
January 31
January 31
(with inclusive language)
God called forth a people
and we responded to God’s call,
‘Rebuild this ancient ruin,
restore My city walls.’
As we built, brick by brick
we discovered the cornerstone
and as we let God mould and fashion us,
God built us up in love.
Now we have seen,
and we have heard,
that our God is great
for a wilderness has been transformed
into God’s holy place.
-Celtic Daily Prayer 2002
Prayer and Readings from the Northumbria community
