Continuing Education

Renewing our spirits and refreshing our skills--we need to do both if we are to be effective in ministry.

Recognizing the importance of education and formation, the Board of Ordained Ministry has increased the amount of funding for individual continuing education. Each clergy member may apply for Ministerial Education Fund grants up to $2000 in a quadrennium. Application materials are available from the Rev. David Murphy, Board of Ordained Ministry Treasurer.

In designing a plan for continuing education and choosing courses or events, the Board recommends that a pastor consult with a mentor, spiritual director, and the Staff Pastor Relations Committee. While the responsibility for educational choices is the pastor's own, each of these may offer insight into the pastor's strengths and growing edges, and into the needs of the ministry setting.

Some opportunities within Troy Conference:

Clergy Soul Care - a yearlong series of retreats. Contact Meredith Vanderminden faithdev@troyac.org

Building Community in a Diverse and Changing World - A Faithful Approach to Diversity and Race - a weekend retreat experience, Dec.r 7-9, at Christ the King Spiritual Life Center in Greenwich, New York. This event will be led by the Rev. Eric Law, an Episcopal priest and founder of the Kaleidoscope Institute, Contact Ilah Walser to register--registration opens Sept. 1 and numbers are limited.

Some Opportunities beyond Troy Conference:

Festival of Homiletics2008--Minneapolis, MN
May 19-23, 2008
Leaders will include: Barbara Brown Taylor, Frederick Buechner, Garrison Keillor.
Information at http://www.goodpreacher.com/festival/

Need to learn a new language to reach out to communities in your area?  Weekend language immersion courses in New York Hudson Valley:  www.giveusaweekend.com

--Do you have ideas to share?  Events you have experienced, or plan to attend, that others should know about? 

Email the information to conferenceminister@troyac.org and they will be added to this page

Some ideas for reading in areas of current interest:

  • The Wolf Shall Dwell with the Lamb by Eric Law
  • Meeting God at the Boundaries--Cross-Cultural Clergy Appointments by Lucia Ann McSpadden
  • The Gospel According to Starbucks by Leonard Sweet
  • Christianity for the Rest of Us by Diana Butler Bass
  • Managing Transitions--Making the Most of Change by William Bridges
--Do you have other titles you'd like your colleagues to know about?  Email conferenceminister@troyac.org