Wonderful Retreat Opportunity
WORKSHOPS FOR A NEW WORLD OF MINISTRY
LIVING IN LENT
A Day of Renewal and Retreat
Friday, March 16, 9:30-2:30
Laguna Beach Top of the World Retreat
Led by Rev. Mary J. Scifres, Worship Author & Consultant
& Rev. B. J. Beu, Worship Author, Spirituality Specialist, & UCC Pastor
Register today by emailing Mary.
For more details, visit Mary’s website.
$50 Early Registration included lunch & materials
Regular registration of $55 begins on March 5, and space is limited
Come, find rest and renew your soul as B. J. Beu and Mary Scifres lead us in meditation and worship, quiet conversation and reflection, journaling and celebrating our connection to the great mystery. We will sing, drum, listen, share our stories, experience the texture of silence, and find God at the center of it all. Lunch and snacks will feed our bodies while the retreat feeds our souls. Come celebrate the gift of life, new and renewed, even as we live through the Season of Lent.
ABOUT YOUR WORKSHOP LEADERS
Rev. Mary J. Scifres, United Methodist Pastor and Abingdon Press Author, has been a national consultant, preacher, teacher, and coach in worship, visioning, leadership, and church growth for more than two decades. Having served churches across the nation, Mary brings a broad perspective and diverse understanding of both church and culture.
Mary is author of “Searching for Seekers: Ministry with a New Generation of the Unchurched,” “The Abingdon Worship Annual,” “Prepare!” and “The United Methodist Music and Worship Planner.”
Rev. B. J. Beu serves as pastor of Neighborhood Congregational Church in Laguna Beach, CA. where he lives with his wife, Mary Scifres, and their son, Michael. Before coming to Laguna in 2008, Beu spent 13 years as pastor in the Pacific Northwest Conference. For the past ten years, Beu and Scifres have been the authors and editors of “The Abingdon Worship Annual.”
ENJOY A LAGUNA RETREAT
Top of the World Retreat is our home in Laguna Beach. Located on both Shady Lane and Top of the World Drive, this multi-level home includes view- and garden-retreat-decks for your enjoyment. Workshops take place in the spacious living area, and lunch is served in the adjacent dining room, with seating both outside and in.
Our Top of the World Retreat Home offers comfortable space and time to learn, reflect, and retreat. Situated above the Laguna Wilderness Canyon, this sacred space provides lovely vistas and a quiet place for conversation, contemplation, and education.
Lunch includes salad, grilled chicken, and bread. Light snacks, coffee, tea, and filtered water will be available throughout the day as well.
Come early or stay late to walk the nearby park or canyon paths or stroll through the Old Top of the World neighborhood. Just down the hill, enjoy the quaint ambiance and lovely beaches of Laguna, complete with two public paved trails, dozens of beach accesses, five city parks, and one county park. Art galleries, shops, restaurants, and hotels abound in Laguna Beach.
Located in the heart of southern California, Laguna can be the starting point for a fun family vacation or a relaxing retreat. Fly into nearby Orange County Airport (SNA) and arrive in Laguna in less than half an hour. Disneyland and Knotts Berry Farm are only 30 minutes away, Legoland only 45 minutes away, and the sights of either San Diego or L.A./Hollywood are within 70 miles. Click here for Laguna Beach lodging and recreation information.
As always, private or group coaching sessions are available on Thursday evening before the event or Friday evening & Saturday morning after the event. Contact Mary for more details.
Look for Additional 2012 OFFERINGS
Led by Rev. Mary J. Scifres
Worship Author, Consultant, & Coach
“Connecting Church and Culture”
Look for Workshops on…
“Relational Preaching”
“Successfully Seeking Seekers”
“Creating Worship Creatively with a Team”
“Visioning for Structure that Works”
Pre-Register today by emailing Mary. For more details, visit Mary’s website.
Last Year’s Workshops Reached Almost 200 Church Leaders
See what you missed… But remember all courses available as HouseCalls by request!
Advancing Change: Implementing and Sustaining Change in the Church
A Workshop for Leaders, Pastors, Dreamers and Visionaries
The reality of change in the church is a constant in the shifting sands of today’s world. In this advanced workshop on change, Scifres will introduce tools for implementing and sustaining change in your church or organization. Scifres will introduce a variety of methods for building a change-ready church. Hands-on examples will allow participants to strengthen and test your skills for guiding and leading change in community.
Pastors and church leaders can transform the need for change into an opportunity for growth and vitality with the right skills and attitude. This workshop helps to provide just that skill-set. For most of us know that whether we effectively change and guide our churches through the change process often determines whether we remain vital leaders or find ourselves looking for other work!
Prior attendance at “Changing Church” is strongly advised for this workshop. DVDs and workshop materials from “Changing Church” are available for purchase, for those who need the background materials prior to May 20.
Schedule a class today by emailing Mary. For more details, visit Mary’s website.
Changing Church: A Challenge and a Chance
A Workshop for Leaders, Pastors, Dreamers and Visionaries
The reality of change in the church is a constant in the shifting sands of today’s world. Whether we effectively manage that change and guide our churches through the change process often determines whether we remain vital leaders or find ourselves looking for other work! Pastors and church leaders can transform this challenge into a chance for growth and vitality with the right skills and attitude. As churches address our changing world, they become places of transformation and spiritual renewal.
Workshop leader and coach Mary J. Scifres will enrich and strengthen our leadership skills as she explores change in our culture and the opportunities it affords to transform lives as we adapt to the changing world around us. Scifres offers practical tools for managing change and guiding our churches into new ventures. Together, we will explore the impact of our changing culture and the ways an adaptive church can offer powerful and meaningful ministry in our world.
21st Century Worship: Emerging, Engaging, Enlightening
A Workshop for Pastors, Preachers, and Worship Leaders
Understanding and Integrating New Ideas & Elements of Worship
Worship terms and styles seem to shift as quickly as favorite television shows these days. Postmodern, Emergent, Taize’, Traditional, Seeker, Praise… What do these terms mean? Do they really help define us? Can they enhance our ability to reach people in worship? Workshop leader, coach, and consultant Rev. Mary J. Scifres will enrich our worship leadership as she explores these changing faces of worship with their unique terms and styles and teaches us how to integrate new elements of worship into existing styles of worship.
Together, we will explore the impact of our changing culture and the ways worship addresses the spiritual needs that people are experiencing today. We will envision how our worship and preaching ministries connect us most effectively with the world around us. This exploration will include discussion of the worship needs of postmodern Gen Xers (30- and 40-somethings) and Millenials (teens and young adults). Bring your ideas and questions to this engaging and enlightening conversation!
Worship and Ministry in a Postmodern World
A Workshop for Pastors and Church Leaders
What in the world is a postmodern world? “Postmodern” is simply a “label” that can help us categorize and understand the shifting worldview of people both in and outside of our church walls. As we explore the changing views of reality and values in our world today, we can design and lead worship that reaches and connects with people in transformative ways. With new understanding, we can transform lives by addressing the spiritual needs arising in the world around us.
Workshop leader and coach Mary J. Scifres will enrich and strengthen our worship leadership and ministry skills as she explores postmodernism in both church and culture. In this advanced workshop to follow “21st Century Worship,” Scifres will offer practical tools for understanding young adults with postmodern attitudes and to further develop worship, ministries, and preaching that can reach these people while continuing to serve the spiritual and pastoral needs of our current congregations.
Creative Worship invites us to involve all of our senses, address a variety of spiritual needs, and incorporate diverse spiritual approaches. Exploring the various spiritual types and diverse backgrounds that people bring to worship, we will discuss creative ways of designing worship in today’s changing world.
Join us as we explore ways to create worship that is truly:
- Inclusive, reaching out to as many people in as many ways as possible
- Multisensory, involving all of our senses in worship
- Multicultural, integrating the diversity of our community, our world, and its amazing gifts into worship
- Welcoming, including diverse spiritual approaches to allow more people to connect to the Holy.
New Moon Retreat and Day of Renewal
A Pre-Lenten Time of Rest and Reflection
Co-Led by B. J. Beu and Mary Scifres
ABOUT YOUR WORKSHOP LEADER
Rev. Mary J. Scifres, United Methodist Pastor and Abingdon Press Author, has been a national consultant, preacher, teacher, and coach in worship, visioning, leadership, and church growth for more than two decades. Having served churches across the nation, Mary brings a broad perspective and diverse understanding of both church and culture.
Mary is author of “Searching for Seekers: Ministry with a New Generation of the Unchurched,” “Prepare!” and “The United Methodist Music and Worship Planner.” Mary and her spouse B. J. Beu co-author and edit “The Abingdon Worship Annual,” both having an equal passion for worship that inspires and challenges, renewing and strengthening us on the journey of life and faith. B. J.’s background in Native American spirituality and recent passion for healing ministry merges with Mary’s orthodox training in formal worship and personal affinity with contemporary and non-traditional forms of worship.
ENJOY A LAGUNA RETREAT
Top of the World Retreat is our new home in Laguna Beach. Located on both Shady Lane and Top of the World Drive, this multi-level home includes view- and garden-retreat-decks for your enjoyment. Workshops take place in the spacious living area, and lunch is served in the adjacent dining room, with seating both outside and in.
Our Top of the World Retreat Home offers comfortable space and time to learn, reflect, and retreat. Situated above the Laguna Wilderness Canyon, this sacred space provides lovely vistas and a quiet place for conversation, contemplation, and education.
Lunch includes a full meal, freshly prepared–along the lines of salad, grilled chicken, and bread. Light snacks, coffee, tea, and filtered water will be available throughout the day as well.
Come early or stay late to walk the nearby park or canyon paths or stroll through the Old Top of the World neighborhood. Just down the hill, enjoy the quaint ambiance and lovely beaches of Laguna, complete with two public paved trails, dozens of beach accesses, five city parks, and one county park. Art galleries, shops, restaurants, and hotels abound in Laguna Beach.
Located in the heart of southern California, Laguna can be the starting point for a fun family vacation or a relaxing retreat. Fly into nearby Orange County Airport (SNA) and arrive in Laguna in less than half an hour. Disneyland and Knotts Berry Farm are only 30 minutes away, Legoland only 45 minutes away, and the sights of either San Diego or L.A./Hollywood are within 70 miles. Click here for Laguna Beach lodging and recreation information.
$55 includes lunch & materials
($50 bonus early registration)
.5 CEU Credit Available for additional $5
Top of the World Retreat
28825 Top of the World Drive
Laguna Beach, CA 92651
949-715-4630
maryscifres@gmail.com
Register Today! Checks to Mary Scifres at above address
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