CONVO Chapters are 12-14 hours of intense group work of no more than 25 people.  The two hour sessions are spread over the four days with the same 25 people.  Registration for CONVO Chapters will be open until June 1.  At that time, any CONVO Chapter that has more than 25 people will be closed for registration.  Those with less than 25 people will remain open until they are full.  CONVO Chapters with more than 25 people will have their 25 participants chosen randomly (promise!).  Everyone will be notified by mid June if they have been randomly selected into the Chapter.  Those who were not randomly selected can choose another open Chapter or attend Short Stories.

#1  Religious Leadership in the 21st Century
Dr. Thomas Moore

"An ethical life is rooted in the realization that contributing to those around us and to humanity at large is more profoundly satisfying and fulfilling than any amount of self-serving. The high level of unethical behavior we see in our world is due to two factors: narcissism, or the failure to feel like somebody of value, and to lack of education and guidance in dealing with the powerful emotional complexes that stir us inwardly. Unethical behavior doesn't come from bad people but from ignorance about how to deal with a painful experience of life. Therefore, we can educate for a more ethical world, but we have to go deep. An appeal for ethical behavior does nothing. We have to address the deep issues that account for acting-out and a negative attitude toward the other."

#2  "Embodiment and Narrative"
Dr. Josh Searle-White and Dan Crozier

This an experiential workshop designed to help participants bring more energy to their ministry, to engage more fully and effectively with congregants, and to make their preaching more dynamic and alive.  Through a series of exercises, the participants will have the opportunity to explore areas of themselves that hold untapped potential and to find ways to broaden and deepen their capacity to share that potential with their congregation.

Josh and Dan are faculty members at Allegheny College in Meadville, PA.  Josh is a member of the UU Church of Meadville and has held a variety of leadership positions, including President and Vice President of the Board, Chair of the Ministerial Search Committee, and Co-Chair of the Worship Committee.  He is also an active UU storyteller and has given storytelling workshops at the 2003 and 2005 General Assemblies as well as at various congregational and district events in the U.S. and Canada.  His first book of stories, "Magic Wanda's Travel Emporium," was published by Skinner House Press in 2006.  Dan is an experienced actor, director and theatre professor; he has worked in television, film, at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, and a number of stages in New York City including The Public Theatre, LaMaMa and Dance Theatre Workshop. He runs the Allegheny College Summer Theatre Workshop.

#3  The Art, Spirit and Practice of Preaching
the Rev. Linda Olson Peebles and the Rev.  Dr. John Tolley

Have fun exploring the many moods, styles, techniques, and secrets of preaching.  Guest masters of the art will participate, and everyone will have the chance to experiment with their voices, bodies, hearts, minds and spirit.   The sessions will help new ministers increase their confidence; support mid-career ministers in breaking some habits, and starting some new ones; and encourage experienced ministers, both those who want to launch into text free preaching, and those who feel the need to get back to a text that is more to the point.  

This series of experiences is designed and facilitated by the Rev. Dr. John Tolley and the Rev. Linda Olson Peebles.  Dr. Tolley is Associate Professor of Ministry and the Arts at Meadville/Lombard Theological School.  He holds a PhD in educational theater, and has inspired many ministers, religious educators, and congregations to enrich their ministry through learning how to use diverse means of communication "to speak in depth and scope to all the people they serve."   Rev. Peebles is Minister of Religious Education at the UU Church of Arlington, Virginia, and brings her background of performance art, music, and multiple media to the creation of worship

#4 When Disaster Strikes will you be prepared to assist? Do you know what do to, who to go to, how to help and not hinder?
The Unitarian Universalist Trauma Response Team

If you think that you are called to be a crisis/trauma responder with the Unitarian Universalist Trauma Response Team this workshop is for you. This intensive training will prepare you to respond. It will address the spiritual and pastoral components of responding in times of disaster. We will share experiences and stories and give you hands on training. When you finish this workshop, if you still feel that call, you will become part of the UUTRM team. It is then that you may be called on to respond to our UU congregations, colleagues, or to the needs of the larger communities when disaster strikes. Responders are needed in many areas- hands on at the site or offering nurture, support and care from other locations.

Fulfilling the Promise of Pastoral Care - CANCELLED  
Meadville/Lombard Theological School

#5  "Conflict Transformation: A New Source for Learning"
Rev. Dr. Terasa Cooley, Mass Bay District Executive

What were you taught about conflict?  To avoid it? To try to make it go away? Is conflict in a congregation a sign that it is deeply polarized, wounded or unhealthy?  What if we were to think about conflict as an inherent condition of life that has something to teach us, rather than as something to be feared?  

Rather than mediating or trying to resolve conflict, the transformation model teaches us ways to mine conflictual situations for life wisdom.  Utilizing family systems theory, communication methods and research about group dynamics, this workshop will encourage us to understand our personal response to conflict, as well as teach us skills for encountering conflict in healthy ways in our congregations. 

#6 The Art of Worship
the Rev. Eric Wikstrom, UUA Ministry & Professional Leadership  

Weekly services of worship are the single most consistent activity in which Unitarian Universalists engage in order to "Tell a tale, Touch a Life, and Transform the world."  In September 2008 the UUA created an Office of Worship and Music Resources (as part of the Ministry and Professional Leadership group) with the mission of discovering, developing, and disseminating the resources needed to deepen the experience of worship in our congregations.  Many wonderful and exciting things are happening each week in Unitarian Universalist congregations across the country, yet often one congregation doesn't know what the next is doing.  This chapter will bring out some of the best practices in UU worship today, taught by the people who are in the sanctuaries doing it!

In the four days of this workshop I hope to offer an introduction to some of the best worship and music from the research done in my office; to have the people who do it best, offer introductions to multigenerational worship; the creation of festivals and special services; the collaborative integration of music, words, and silence; and the care and feeding of lay worship programs; and to conclude with a session dedicated to moving forward-individually, within our own congregations, and as a movement.

#7 Spiritual Direction 
the Rev. Carl Scovel and the Rev. Marta Flanagan

An introduction to spiritual direction, each session will consist of presentation, reflection through journaling and dyads, and real-play direction followed by discussion.

We will consider such issues as: as-lived religious experience, the aims of spiritual direction, the work of direction, who directs?, the soul-set of the director, the covenant between director and directee, and opportunities for future training. This seminar is intended for the inquirer and novice, but may be useful to others as well.