How Startup Retreats Support Your Congregation’s New Ministry
Please watch this short video (YouTube) [5 mins] to learn more about New England’s approach to Ministerial Startup Retreats.
Your primary contact on the New England Regional staff will work with your leaders to design a Startup Retreat that best meets your needs. Our goal is to create a space for you to name what most needs naming to best start this new ministry partnership.
Possible Components of a Startup Retreat
- Sharing more about your congregation, its stories, culture, hopes, and dreams.
- Surfacing patterns in the congregation’s relationship with ministers.
- Exploring dimensions and challenges of shared ministry.
- Setting intentions for integrating spiritual growth into your shared leadership.
- Clarifying roles and accountabilities (both explicit and informal) of the minister and board.
- Establishing boundaries around time, responsibilities, and communication methods.
- Clarifying the type of relationships and boundaries the minister will have with leadership.
Planning for a Startup Retreat (Things to Keep in Mind)
- Overall the total startup time would run about 4-6 hours - including meals! The timing of Startup Retreats is up to you and your leaders, but it’s best to plan for an intensive schedule that your congregational leaders have energy for.
- New England Regional staff have found that doing startups in two sessions can really be a benefit. This gives participants time to absorb and process as well as spreading the time commitment out.
- We’ve also found startups can work well virtually. Zoom breakout rooms and report back of small groups is a great way to have conversations and can be more accessible to more of the congregation as well as making it easier to have multiple sessions.
- New England Regional staff schedules are often fairly full in the Fall, so it’s helpful to us to get these on the calendar sooner rather than later. Boards often want to settle dates so they can get the event into people’s calendars. When your primary contact reaches out for a check-in, schedule your Startup Retreat as soon as possible.
- Similar workshops are recommended for religious educators and other staff although the focus and participants would be different. Contact your primary contact for information about this.