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Ventures in Christian Discipleship announces upcoming courses

By Kendra Flory

The Ventures in Christian Discipleship program at McPherson College has announced programs for April, May, and June. Registration for all courses and more information, including presenter bios, is available at www.mcpherson.edu/ventures. Continuing education credit is available.

“Deep Compassionate Listening”

The April offering from the Ventures in Christian Discipleship program at McPherson College will be “Deep Compassionate Listening” to be held online Saturday, April 15 from 12:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. Central Time and taught by Dr. Barbara Daté.

We are at a juncture where many relationships within families, our congregations, communities and neighborhoods are conflicted and we all feel tensions.  We wonder what our options are when we feel caught in the middle or feel misunderstood or relationships get frayed or broken. The good news is that there are many options! Even better, if we increase the tools we have available in our toolboxes to use and use them, it can make a big difference! The platinum tool is deep compassionate listening and the best news is that even 3-year-olds can be taught to use it.

This skill development workshop will explore some understanding of human behavior in a mini-lecture, a description of “micro-paraphrasing”, illustrated with vignettes what conversations look like with no skills used and then examine what it sounds like with skills and finally analyze the difference. We will also provide some individual written practice, some easy interactive dyadic practice of a simple short topic and finally spend the last hour working in small groups (Triads) with each person practicing via sharing, using the micro-paraphrasing skill and scribing followed by intensive analysis of the skill practice. We will close with a debrief of what was observed, learned and cover any final puzzlements.

“Beyond Burned Out to Boundaries and Balance”

The May offering from the Ventures in Christian Discipleship program at McPherson College will be “Beyond Burned Out to Boundaries and Balance,” a course rescheduled from last fall. The course will be held online Tuesday, May 9 from 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. Central and taught by Jen Jensen.

An increasing number of congregations are being served by ministers in part time capacities. This structure creates both opportunities and tensions around congregational roles and tasks. Incorporating recent research on resilience in leadership published by the Seattle School of Theology and Psychology, Jen Jensen will invite congregational leaders to consider how to build resilience and care for one another to create healthy balance in congregational patterns.

Screenshot of the trailer for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Black Panther Films as Metaphor: Lessons about Race, Colonialism, Violence, and Identity in Wakanda”

The June offering from the Ventures in Christian Discipleship program at McPherson College will be “Black Panther Films as Metaphor: Lessons about Race, Colonialism, Violence, and Identity in Wakanda,” to be held online Monday, June 5 from 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. Central Time and taught by Dr. Steve Schweitzer.

The MCU film Black Panther (2018) engages in complex topics such as race, colonialism, violence/nonviolence, and issues of identity in explicit and surprising ways. The sequel, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022), continues to explore these themes. The two films provide a helpful metaphor and entry point for such theological questions being raised both in the wider culture and within the church.

Continuing education credit is available. During the registration process, you will have the opportunity to pay for CEUs and give an optional donation to the Ventures program. If you are unable to attend the course in real-time, your CEU payment will be converted to a gift toward the Ventures Program unless you tell the college differently within two weeks of the course offering.

All previously held Ventures courses are available through the archive at www.mcpherson.edu/ventures/courses. They are a wealth of insight and information. These recordings are now eligible for CEU credit through the Brethren Academy for Ministerial Leadership. If you desire CEU’s, please work directly with the Academy to fulfill their requirements.  

— Kendra Flory is advancement assistant at McPherson (Kan.) College.

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