Visitors Weekend
Visitors Weekend: Exploring Mutual Ministry
April 27, 27 & 29, 2012
LifeCycles Companion Training
April 30 – May 1, 2012
Visitors Weekends are designed to offer an opportunity for persons to experience community life as lived from the baptismal covenant in the Diocese of Northern Michigan (also called Mutual Ministry, Total Ministry, Local Collaborative Ministry, and Baptismal Ministry).
We find wisdom in these words from a congregation that practices mutual ministry:
“For a long time and in many places, we have allowed ourselves to be communities gathered around a minister rather than being ministering communities. …. Mutual ministry is a commitment to recognize that we all share in Christ’s ministry. It is a process as we listen prayerfully together, as we discern various gifts, and as we become more and more in touch with ministry as a way of life, living out our ministries in the church and in daily life.”
“One of the ways the process is lived out is through the creation of various ministry support teams that help us discern what God is calling us to do individually and collectively, matching our gifts to our calls. In a mutual ministry congregation, clergy are part of the team, not the directors or sole providers of ministry. Pastoral care, Christian formation, preaching, leading, teaching, and spiritual guidance are shared by all the members.”
The Weekend begins with a Friday morning orientation session in Marquette, followed by morning and afternoon sessions, with an informal evening meal. We strongly recommend using Thursday as a travel day.
On Saturday, the group participates in a gathering with members of several congregations who have experienced Mutual Ministry first hand, including storytelling, questions and answers, and general discussion. Saturday evening is spent with members of host congregations, and on Sunday morning a Eucharist is experienced with the local community. In the evening, a debriefing session is held during supper, with special emphasis on relating the experience to one’s home setting.
For those not staying for the LifeCycles Companion Training, it is recommended that Monday be reserved as a travel day for the return trip.
There is a registration fee of $175 per visitor for the Weekend. For further information, contact Jane Cisluycis at the Diocesan Office: 131 E. Ridge St., Marquette, MI 49855 (906-228-7160 /800-236-0087), or by email:[email protected].
LifeCycles Companion Training
LifeCycles. On behalf of the LifeCycles partnership, the Diocese of Northern Michigan is hosting its annual workshop for the training of LifeCycles companions. Companions are integral to the LifeCycles process, helping to form LifeCycles groups, guiding groups through the process, modeling appropriate leadership, and mentoring new leaders.
Workshop participants will:
-Become familiar with and comfortable with LifeCycles materials
-Meet with members of existing LifeCycles groups in Northern Michigan to experience LifeCycles sessions
-Have opportunities to lead and reflect on LifeCycles sessions, thereby gaining a thorough practical knowledge of the pedagogical and ecclesiological underpinnings of the materials
-Learn how to creatively and comfortably adapt LifeCycles to their circumstances and context
-Return to their Dioceses with an established relationship with the LifeCycles partnership
Training fee is $150 per person if registered by April 1st , $175 after that. Preferred hotels rates are $57 + tax; most meals on your own. For more information, contact Jane Cisluycis at the Diocesan Office:
131 E. Ridge St., Marquette, MI 49855 (906-228-7160; 800-236-0087), or by email: [email protected].
For more information please visit the website.