Seeing Differently – An Introduction to Systems Thinking is the first Expanding Your Ministry Toolbox course of 2024. It will be held from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 13, on Zoom. (Don’t worry, there will be breaks and a time for lunch.)
Bowen Family Systems Theory, developed by Dr. Murray Bowen, is a different way of looking at relationships, self, and even congregations. This course will include an introduction to the eight concepts of the theory as we explore what insight this may provide for congregational life and leadership. For those who wish to learn more in advance of this course, suggested books are Roberta Gilbert’s The Eight Concepts and Peter Steinke’s How Your 21st-Century Church Family Works.
Course leaders are Dana Runestad and Jennifer Long. Dana Runestad is a pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), where she has served in a variety of congregations and staff positions. She has studied Natural Systems Theory, spending three years in the post-graduate program at the Bowen Center in Washington D.C, where she has also participated in their Faith Leaders Seminar. Jennifer Long is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ, currently serving an ELCA congregation. She has participated in the Advanced Clergy Clinic in Family Systems and spent five years in the Postgraduate Program at the Bowen Center for the Study of the Family.
The registration deadline is Thursday, Jan. 11. Cost per person is $40, due with registration. To register online and pay with a credit card, use the form below. To pay by check, you will find the registration form here to be completed and mailed in with your payment.