Camp cohort completes the Sustaining Ministerial Excellence Advanced Seminar

Church of the Brethren Newsline
April 8, 2017

Brethren Academy for Ministerial Leadership
SMEAS Camp Cohort at final retreat, March 2017.

A release from the Brethren Academy for Ministerial Leadership

The fourth and final retreat for the Camp Cohort of the Sustaining Ministerial Excellence Advanced Seminar took place March 19-22 at Quaker Hill Retreat Center in Richmond, Ind. Congratulations to Barbara Wise Lewczak of Camp Pine Lake, Northern Plains District; Karen Neff of Camp Ithiel, Atlantic Southeast District; Linetta and Joel Ballew of Camp Swatara, Atlantic Northeast District; Jerri Wenger of Camp Blue Diamond, Middle Pennsylvania District; and Wallace Cole of Camp Carmel, Southeastern District.

They are pictured here with Janet Ober Lambert, the director of the Brethren Academy for Ministerial Leadership, and Julie M. Hostetter, the cohort facilitator and former executive director of the academy.

The Sustaining Ministerial Excellence Advanced Seminar, which is funded by the David J. and Mary Elizabeth Wieand Trust, is the successor to the Sustaining Pastoral Excellence program funded by Lilly Endowment Inc.

The Camp Cohort’s final retreat included a session on “How Appropriate Use of Technology Can Enrich Your Outdoor Ministry Programs” led by Dan Poole, Bethany Seminary coordinator for Ministry Formation and director of Educational Technology, and Ryan Frame, computing specialist at Bethany Seminary and Earlham School of Religion. Hostetter led sessions on “Reframing Perspectives for Leadership” and “Visioning, Planning, and Evaluating.” Ober Lambert led a session on “Campfire Stories.” Joel Winchip, executive director of the Presbyterian Church Camp and Conference Association in North Carolina, met with the group via Zoom to talk about “The Ecumenical Future of Outdoor Ministry.”

The group celebrated the completion of the program with a special meal, the receiving of continuing education certificates and gifts, story sharing, and picture taking. Participants also shared updates on their in-context projects and shared a closing worship service that included communion.

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