Transition Ministers Chapter Retreat
Monday, April 22, 5pm Central Time - Friday, April 26, 10:30am Central Time
Mt. Olivet Retreat Center - In Person and On-Line
7984 257th Street West, Farmington, MN 55024
Making Meaning in a Changing World: “SPIRITUAL PRACTICES for TRANSFORMATION”
Registration is now open for the 2024 Transitional Ministry Seminar! The theme for this year’s seminar is “Making Meaning in a Changing World: Spiritual Practices for Transformation.”
The registration form is available here: https://uua.wufoo.com/forms/m1ptiyz9066nnco/
An updated schedule for the 2024 Transitional Ministry Seminar is in the Google Drive folder supplied to us by the UUMA. The folder can be found here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1r5l0qs1aE2SdTAcDXO9eeWm58ndeB8_s?usp=sharing
Please note that participation is expected of Transition Ministry Chapter members in the sessions at 1pm Central on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday; that is, the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) session, the self-directed learning groups, and the chapter meeting, respectively. Sometimes there are unavoidable emergencies, which is why our chapter charter says we are required to attend self-directed learning groups at least every other year.
The Transition Ministry Seminar is of particular interest to UU ministers in transitional roles such as Interim and Developmental, and registration is open to any Fellowshipped member of the UUMA. The Transition Ministry Seminar is a collaborative effort of the leadership team of the Transition Ministers Chapter of the UUMA and the Transition Team staff of the UUA.
This year’s seminar will be online with an in-person retreat option at the Mount Olivet Retreat Center in Farmington, Minnesota: https://mtolivetretreat.org/ The online seminar will begin on Tuesday, April 23, at 10am Central and will conclude on Thursday, April 25, at 5pm Central. In-person participants will have retreat time together beginning with arrival in the afternoon on April 22 and ending with departure after breakfast on April 26. A current draft schedule is available in the Google Drive folder supplied to the Transition Ministers Chapter by the UUMA.
Following worship at 10am Central on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, presenters will offer programming related to our theme each day at 11am Central. We are pleased to welcome the Transforming Hearts Collective on Tuesday, Rev. Michelle Favreault on Wednesday, and Rev. Erika Hewitt on Thursday as our theme presenters. Descriptions of each presentation are forthcoming; please continue to watch your email over the coming weeks.
We are excited about this year’s model of an online seminar with an in-person retreat option. We have learned over the past four years that online programming is vital for providing professional development and collegiality to transitional ministers with a variety of life situations and family responsibilities. We must continue to include robust programming that can be accessed from anywhere with an internet connection in order to put our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion goals into practice. All of our theme presenters for this year’s seminar will be leading their sessions from off-site, ensuring that our core programming is equally accessible to attendees no matter their location. We plan to have small groups both online and in-person, making the most of each platform.
Another learning from the past few years is that colleagues who specialize in transitional ministry (and who are able to travel) deeply crave the kind of connection that is possible with a central hub for in-person programming. The Mount Olivet Retreat Center has every amenity we could hope for to support spiritual growth and collegial connection, it is located in a state with a positive record of inclusion, and it comes highly recommended from other colleagues. Being able to offer both meaningful online participation and a central hub for a retreat experience is complicated and requires both chapter resources and member cooperation. We hope that you will join us in making this experiment a success.
We are aware that this seminar falls during the week of Passover. The Transition Ministers Seminar necessarily follows the schedule of the UUA search cycle, such that the recommended week for Candidating and the last preparations before Interim search fall at the same time. This calendar is set several years in advance by the Transition Team UUA staff and there are multiple constraints that go into this selection. It is our hope that spiritual deepening with the seminar will fit into your plans for this week of liberation and reflection, and we share the dilemma of having multiple commitments to parish, family, and personal growth due to the timing. We hope to be able to offer some options for learning more about Passover during the seminar, led by Jewish colleagues or hosted by local Jewish congregations.
For additional spiritual deepening, we have time set aside at 1pm Central on Tuesday and Thursday for small group spiritual practices led by chapter members. We already have offers for in-person small groups on nature photography and mask making. We can imagine a number of creative possibilities for online small groups. Please let the planning team know if you would like to offer a spiritual practice small group!
Registration is open immediately. For the in-person retreat experience, fees range from $560 for a hostel-style dormitory to $850 for a hotel-style room with no roommate. For the virtual experience (online only), the registration fee is $250. All of the in-person options are inclusive of meals and meeting rooms as well as lodging. A limited number of $200 scholarships are available; if you plan to apply for one, please select deferred payment and indicate your scholarship request on your registration form. There are also two positions open for on-site tech coordinators that each come with a $200 registration discount. The deadline to register if you are requesting a scholarship is March 26. The general deadline to register is April 9. Here is the registration link: https://uua.wufoo.com/forms/m1ptiyz9066nnco/
Additional information about logistics such as small groups, sharing transformation information with each other, health policies, the chapter business meeting, and more will be forthcoming. Please register as soon as you can, as some of this information will be sent directly to those who have registered.
We look forward to reconnecting with you throughout these weeks of registration and preparation for the seminar. Please share this information widely with UUMA colleagues who may be interested. If you have any questions, please email transitions@uua.org or josephmcherry@gmail.com to reach the UUA staff or the Chapter President, respectively.
