Thriving in Bi-Vocational Ministry
Thriving in Bi-Vocational Ministry is our continuing education program. It provides pastoral leaders with safe, collaborative cohorts in which to learn, develop, or hone practical skills for ministry. Regular offerings include topics in preaching, pastoral care, Biblical interpretation, church administration, and spiritual formation.
Participants are integrated into peer learning communities where difficulties can be processed, successes celebrated, and experiences and resources can be shared. Iona cohorts provide participants with the techniques and supportive relationships they need to develop their competency, confidence, and stamina for ministry.
Eligible participants are locally-formed priests, deacons, or lay leaders in the Iona Collaborative network of dioceses or graduates of affiliated local schools of formation, including BKSM, or Stevenson School for Ministry. If you are currently a student at a local school, please wait until you graduate to register for a cohort. Current cohort participants may only register for one course at a time.
Registration for the Spring 2025 Session Is Now Closed
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Spring 2025 Course Offerings - Courses Full for 2025
Spiritual Formation
Entering Divine Love
- Course Open
COURSE FULL for 2025
Rebecca Sokoll, a Brooklyn-based psychotherapist, suggests setting aside date nights “to foster connection with an important person in their life.” Date Nights with God is a weekly practice to foster connection with God and to provide space for participants to support one another as they explore their evolving identity as clergy. The ten-week course will use creative activities, contemplative prayer, and writing to facilitate presence and availability with God and with one another. Materials for creative activities will be provided by the instructors and no aptitude or identification as a “creative” person is needed. This class is for ordained clergy, both deacons and priests. The instructors are bi-vocational priests serving small parishes in The Diocese of Texas.
Instructor: The Rev. Terry Pierce and the Rev. Rhonda Rogers
Day/Time: Tuesdays, 6:30p-8:00p Central
Dates: February 4-April 8
Spiritual Formation
The Spiritual Journey
- Course Open
COURSE FULL for 2025
The purpose of this 10-week, online class is to train lay leaders to serve as teachers, mentors, or, perhaps, spiritual directors for people who want to connect at a deeper level with the divine power and presence of God. This series will demonstrate that what we call “the spiritual journey” involves more than becoming familiar with a variety of Christian spiritual traditions and practices. Participants will be invited to do some in-depth, personal reflection about what we call spiritual transformation, which is a process that we don’t control, but is led by the Holy Spirit.
Instructor: The Rev. Craig MacColl
Day/Time: Thursdays, 3:00p-4:30p Mountain
Dates: February 6-April 10
Spiritual Formation
Called to Lead, Called to Serve
- Course Open
COURSE FULL for 2025
This weekly discussion-based course will introduce a circular model for understanding vocations, with weekly guided reflections on aspects of the circle in light of biblical narratives of calling. While we will discuss practices of discernment, the course is not intended for discerning new vocations as much as becoming aware of how we might deepen in our understanding and practice of our current vocations. Later sessions will engage questions of helping others discern their callings, and discerning the calling of a congregation. The course is appropriate for all orders—lay, deacon, and priest—and is especially relevant for people serving bi-vocational and small churches.
Instructor: The Rev. Jane Lancaster Patterson, Ph.D.
Day/Time: Tuesdays, 4:00p-5:15p Central
Dates: February 4-April 8
Social Justice
Choosing Justice & Making Amends in Biblical and Modern Witness
- Course Open
COURSE FULL for 2025
The course will address the challenges of slavery, racism, and reparation in The Episcopal Church through careful engagement with the Christian scriptures. Starting with the complicated biblical witness on slavery, the course will consider what we should do with the positive use of the language of enslavement that appears in both the scriptures and the BCP. The course will draw direct links between the biblical treatment of slavery and modern affirmation of it in the Anglican and Episcopal Churches and will discuss the interpretive approaches available for rejecting the language and paradigms of slavery. The course will also consider biblical texts linked to racism and address interpretive approaches oriented around anti-racism. Finally, students will consider the biblical witness on making amends for corporate sins and the sins of previous generations, and discuss how these biblical imperatives relate to modern reparations movements.
Instructor: Dr. Jolyon G. R. Pruszinski
Day/Time: Fridays, 1:00p-2:15p Eastern
Dates: February 7-April 11
Preaching & Theology
Haven for Homilists: Exegeting for Sermons - Lent & Holy Week
- Course Open
COURSE FULL for 2025
A combo of lecture-based discussion and workshop activities on the Year C lectionary Gospel readings during Lent (from Ash Wednesday to the Triduum) focusing mostly on exegeting Luke and John with the goal of improving the process and content of homiletical production. Participants will learn about the communities of Luke and John to better ground their homilies in the different perspectives of these two evangelists and do practical exercises that will facilitate their actual preaching of the Lent and Triduum texts and create continuity from major liturgy to major liturgy. Some attention will be given to the non-gospel lectionary readings as well.
Instructor: Prof. Greg Zuschlag, Ph.D.
Day/Time: Thursdays, 5:00p-6:15p Central
Dates: February 6-April 10
Pastoral Care
Pastoral Care Lab
- Course Open
COURSE FULL for 2025
Join colleagues in ministry in honing your capacity to provide pastoral care for those entrusted to you. This course will review the basic skills needed for providing competent and caring pastoral care and focus on caring for the following populations: those experiencing Grief & Loss, Seniors, members of the LGBTQIA community, those with dementia or other memory loss, and caring for the Caregiver. We will review & engage Family Systems Theory and work/life balance. This course will focus on building students’ skill sets to help others effectively, ethically, and safely when providing pastoral care. This course is ideal for people who are new to or are leaning into their roles as providers of pastoral care.
Instructor: The Very Rev. Cindi Brickson
Day/Time: Mondays, 7:00p-8:30p Central
Dates: February 3-April 7
Pastoral Care
Trauma-Informed Pastoral Care
- Course Open
COURSE FULL for 2025
As caregivers who are often on the front lines of emotional and spiritual support, clergy and lay caregivers need to be equipped with a deep understanding of trauma and its profound effects on the body, mind, and spirit. By becoming trauma-informed, pastoral caregivers can better serve their communities with sensitivity, compassion, and wisdom. This course will cover the neurobiology of trauma, recognizing signs of trauma, effective listening and communication skills, setting healthy boundaries, and creating safe spaces for spiritual exploration and growth. By the end of this course, you will understand not only the “what” and “why” of trauma-informed care but also the “how” – the practical steps you can take to make a meaningful difference in the lives of those who are hurting.
Instructor: The Rev. Sarah Knoll, ACPE
Day/Time: Mondays, 7:00p-8:30p Central
Dates: February 3-May 4 (no class April 13 and 20)
Previously Offered Courses
Creation Care
Living In An Icon: Growing Closer to Creation and to God
- Course Closed
Fall 2024 COURSE FULL
This introductory course in Contemplation and Care for Creation is facilitated by members of the Center for Deep Green Faith who believe that the root cause of the environmental crises we face is spiritual in nature. When we are estranged from God’s presence in the world around us and from nature, we harm the planet we call home. This certificate course draws on the age-old resources of orthodox Christianity for the spiritual connections to God’s creation that heal and renew both humanity and creation. Using the contemplative exercises found in Living In An Icon (Robert Gottfried & Frederick W. Krueger), our cohort will gather via Zoom to share our experiences of growing closer to God and creation through time spent in contemplation of nature.
Instructor: Deacon Joey Clavijo
Day/Time: Every Other Thursday, 2:00p-4:00p CDT
Dates: September 12-November 21
Church Administration
Nuts & Bolts of Small Church Ministry
- Course Closed
Fall 2024 COURSE FULL
This course is designed for priests and/or lay people serving in the primary role of leadership in a small congregation. This cohort will provide training in the ins and outs of running a parish liturgically, pastorally, and administratively as well as support and resources for ministry particularly focused on the church calendar in this season of the year. Participants will learn effective methods of church administration, basic principles in pastoral care, and helpful ideas for liturgy. Cohort members will explore both big-picture topics and practical details such as what organizational systems work best for their church, how to plan for the bishop’s visit, and/or what stewardship in a small church looks like. The content of the course will also be shaped, in large part, to the specific needs of members of the cohort.
Instructor: The Rev. Canon Leyla King
Day/Time: Wednesdays, 2:00p-3:30p CDT
Dates: September 11-November 13
Deacon Support
Calling All Deacons
- Course Closed
Fall 2024 COURSE FULL
An open dialogue by and with deacons in the early stages of their ministry. Over ten weeks, we will hear each other’s stories of our personal faith journey, our calls to ordained life, and each other’s hopes and expectations moving forward. Together, we will explore the influences of Body-Mind-Spirit that attract us, engage us, and enable us. We will travel together to uncover our gifts and resources and acknowledge our challenges and limitations. By sharing our stories, we can more effectively integrate what we do with what we believe and what we say. We will learn how to encourage others by building healthy relationships with family, clergy, peers, and parishioners. Through these connections, we can discover untapped spiritual resources, such as irony, poetry, humor, and the creative spirit within.
Instructor: Archdeacon Roger Saterstrom
Diocese of Tennessee
Day/Time: Wednesdays, 4:00p-5:00p CDT
Dates: September 4-November 6
Spiritual Direction
Soul Care for Lay Leaders
- Course Closed
Fall 2024 COURSE FULL
Please join us for a weekly Group Spiritual Direction. We will create a welcoming, safe space for lay leaders to share their awareness of God in their lives with others in a spiritual community. We will support and respond with prayerful listening to each person’s lay ministry through mutual agreement. This contemplative gathering of kindred souls will witness and discern God’s movement in each other’s ministry.
Instructor: Aneya Elbert
Day/Time: Mondays, 5:30p-6:30p CDT
Dates: September 9-November 4
Biblical Interpretation
"Under the Boot" or "In the Belly?" Mark & Luke vs. Empire
- Course Closed
Fall 2024 COURSE FULL
After introducing the communal-contextual exegetical approach to Gospels that counters standard and problematic interpretations of Jesus, we will dedicate ourselves to an extensive comparison and contrast of how Mark and Luke tailor their retellings of the Jesus story in a way that addresses the pastoral needs or their respective communities, especially in light of how each community’s demographic make-up and social location is impacted by its relationship to the Roman Empire of the day. The aim of this course is homiletical and pastoral, and affords students the opportunity to analogize from the original Gospel communities and their concerns to our present communal contexts and issues, especially as it relates to how Christian communities ought to relate to the “polis.”
Instructor: Prof. Greg Zuschlag, MDiv., PhD, JD
Day/Time: Thursdays, 5:00p-6:15p CDT
Dates: September 12-November 14
Pastoral Care
Loss, Death & Dying: Helping Parishioners Through the Painful Process of Dying
- Course Closed
Fall 2024 COURSE FULL
As Christians, we can experience a different kind of hope and peace as we navigate the waters of death and the chaos that can often happen in families or relationships. The church has a history of writers who faced this dilemma of life and death with courage, and they left readers vast documents and texts to read and study. We will explore the works of these writers, and consider what they might mean for Christian spirituality. Short videos and readings will be supplied, and group engagement will be encouraged for the benefit of all who attend. Illness and death are difficult topics, but ones that all people will face when life comes to a close. Christian leaders can be skilled in gently carrying others during this crucial time with hope in the presence and peace of God.
Instructor: Sally Lombardo, DMinn., Chaplain
Day/Time: Mondays, 5:30p-6:30p CDT
Dates: September 9-November 11
Preaching & Theology
The Gospel of John & Preaching
- Course Closed
Fall 2024 COURSE FULL
There is no lectionary year that focuses on the Gospel of John, but passages from John are assigned at some very important points in the church year such as Christmas, Good Friday, and Easter day; and John lends its unique flavor to stretches of all seasons across the three year lectionary cycle. Passages from John can sometimes feel difficult to preach, because once John has spoken what else is there to say? In this course, we will pay close attention to some of the key passages from John that shape the church year, and learn strategies for letting John’s Word speak anew to our present-day questions and predicaments.
Instructor: The Rev. Dr. Jane Patterson
Day/Time: Tuesdays, 4:00p-5:15p CDT
Dates: September 10-November 12
For questions about any of these courses, please contact Rebecca Hall, Programs Director, rebecca.hall@ssw.edu.
These courses are part of the wider Thriving in Ministry Initiative generously funded by
Lilly Endowment, Inc., Trinity Wall Street, and Iona Collaborative.
