“At work, the potter sits before a lump of clay on the wheel. Her mind is on the clay, but she is also aware of sitting between her past experiences and her future prospects…the product that emerges on the wheel is likely to be in the tradition of her past work, but she may break away and embark on a new direction. Even so, the past is no less present.”
- Henry Mintzberg in “Crafting Strategy,” Harvard Business Review
The 2009 Annual Conference for the Society for the Advancement of
Continuing Education for Ministry will be held in Atlanta, Georgia,
March 6-8, at the Columbia Theological Seminary. In this year’s annual conference we will consider what it means to craft continuing education for ministry programs that honor tradition and embark on new directions. We will, individually and together, discern what is core to our identity to insure that the past is present in the future, and we will be intentional in considering new directions.
The design of the conference will also have this both/and focus. The
focus of the Annual SACEM conference is strengthening the practice of
continuing education for ministry in times of change. The 2009
conference will strive to continue the traditions and opportunities
enjoyed during past conferences - the banquet on Friday night, time to
build or renew relationships, networking and resource sharing,
meaningful worship, and presentations and workshop opportunities.
And we will embark on somewhat of a different direction – we will use
the process of Open Space to organize intentional conversations between
and among us. The pedagogy for this year’s conference will be highly
collaborative and will include the use of learning approaches such as
Harrison Owen’s “Open Space Learning ” and Parker Palmer’s “Circles of
Trust.” Our goal is to explore ways that we can build an effective
learning community focused on continuing education for ministry.
Leadership for the conference will include Russ Moxley, Ron Cervero,
and Kim Long. Ron Cervero is professor and head of the Department of
Lifelong Education, Administration and Policy at the University of
Georgia. He is the author of numerous books and articles on continuing
education. Ron is a long time friend of SACEM and brings a wealth of
knowledge about the practice of continuing in many professions
including ministry.
Russ Moxley has served as senior fellow of the Center for Creative
Leadership and has been a resource for the Lilly Endowment’s Sustaining
Pastoral Excellence initiative. He is the author of Leadership and
Spirit: Breathing New Vitality and Energy into Individuals and
Organizations (Jossey Bass, 2000). More information about Russ and his
work can be found at http://moxleyandassociates.com/index.html .
Kim Long is on the faculty at Columbia Seminary and teaches courses in
worship. She is a well known worship leader and preacher at camps and
conferences throughout the United States. Kim will be leading the
worship for the conference.
The Annual Conference registration fee is $175 per person through January 15, 2009, and $200 per person after that. There is no charge for the new directors who also register for the New Director's Workshop. Participants are expected to make their own lodging arrangements and more information on convenient hotels and a limited number of on-campus dormitor-style rooms available (Contact Sarah Erickson at Columbia Theological Seminary for details)