Winter Thursdays (and 1 Tuesday) With NRIT
Jan-Feb 2021
GRIEF
A Class in 3 Sessions
Class 1 Thursday, January 21 from 10am to Noon: Complicated Grief
Class Outline:
-Introduction and overview
-Current thinking about grief theories
Stages of grief –Elizabeth Kubler-Ross
Tasks of mourning – Wm Worden and Alan Wolfelt
Dual Processing model – Stroebe & Schut
Disenfranchised grief – Kenneth Doka
-If this is normal, why do I feel like I’m going crazy?
Normal manifestations of grief
-Complicated Grief
Power Point presentation (30 minutes or less)
-Resources, websites, books.
-When does someone need to see a counselor?
-Questions or discussion of difficult situations.
Class 2 Tuesday, January 26: 1pm to 3pm: Loss, Grief and Nostalgia in Congregational Life
Grief is a complex experience that includes emotional, social, spiritual and physical dynamics. It is our common human response to loss. In this time of change, uncertainty and upheaval, many are dealing multiple losses both individually and as congregations which result in grief upon grief. Join us on Tuesday, January 26 from 1-3 PM, for a two hour Zoom workshop about how loss and grief impact congregational life during this unsettled time… and how our nostalgic memories can help us face it.
Our teacher for class 2 is Rev. Michael Girlinghouse, who has been the Bishop of the Arkansas-Oklahoma Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America since 2011. Prior to becoming bishop, he served congregations and campus ministries in Wisconsin, Nebraska, South Dakota and Oklahoma, and taught courses in Death and Dying at the University of South Daktoa and the University of Oklahoma. He is a devotional writer and author of Embracing God’s Future without Forgetting the Past (Fortress, 2019). He lives in Tulsa, OK with his wife Terrie and their dogs Melbie and Shyanne.
Class 3 Thursday, February 4 10am to Noon: Traumatic Grief
In parish ministry pastors and LPAs will experience traumatic deaths of members in their settings. It might be a motor vehicle crash, a sudden heart attack, an accidental drowning, or a rapidly declining Covid-19 patient. Pastor Grant Barnett Christenson, co-pastor at Christ the King, Bozeman and an on-call chaplain at Bozeman Health; will share his wealth of experience on the unique dynamics of traumatic grief and how to address them compassionately and thoughtfully in the parish and clinical settings. He will also share how to mitigate the corrosive effects of traumatic grief upon a pastor and congregation when tragedy strikes.
A Class in 3 Sessions
Class 1 Thursday, January 21 from 10am to Noon: Complicated Grief
Class Outline:
-Introduction and overview
-Current thinking about grief theories
Stages of grief –Elizabeth Kubler-Ross
Tasks of mourning – Wm Worden and Alan Wolfelt
Dual Processing model – Stroebe & Schut
Disenfranchised grief – Kenneth Doka
-If this is normal, why do I feel like I’m going crazy?
Normal manifestations of grief
-Complicated Grief
Power Point presentation (30 minutes or less)
-Resources, websites, books.
-When does someone need to see a counselor?
-Questions or discussion of difficult situations.
Class 2 Tuesday, January 26: 1pm to 3pm: Loss, Grief and Nostalgia in Congregational Life
Grief is a complex experience that includes emotional, social, spiritual and physical dynamics. It is our common human response to loss. In this time of change, uncertainty and upheaval, many are dealing multiple losses both individually and as congregations which result in grief upon grief. Join us on Tuesday, January 26 from 1-3 PM, for a two hour Zoom workshop about how loss and grief impact congregational life during this unsettled time… and how our nostalgic memories can help us face it.
Our teacher for class 2 is Rev. Michael Girlinghouse, who has been the Bishop of the Arkansas-Oklahoma Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America since 2011. Prior to becoming bishop, he served congregations and campus ministries in Wisconsin, Nebraska, South Dakota and Oklahoma, and taught courses in Death and Dying at the University of South Daktoa and the University of Oklahoma. He is a devotional writer and author of Embracing God’s Future without Forgetting the Past (Fortress, 2019). He lives in Tulsa, OK with his wife Terrie and their dogs Melbie and Shyanne.
Class 3 Thursday, February 4 10am to Noon: Traumatic Grief
In parish ministry pastors and LPAs will experience traumatic deaths of members in their settings. It might be a motor vehicle crash, a sudden heart attack, an accidental drowning, or a rapidly declining Covid-19 patient. Pastor Grant Barnett Christenson, co-pastor at Christ the King, Bozeman and an on-call chaplain at Bozeman Health; will share his wealth of experience on the unique dynamics of traumatic grief and how to address them compassionately and thoughtfully in the parish and clinical settings. He will also share how to mitigate the corrosive effects of traumatic grief upon a pastor and congregation when tragedy strikes.
Vital Congregations: What are they and how do they do it?
Most people connected with a congregation wonder at some point how their congregation is doing and how it is and how it can be a center for God’s mission. Doctors check “vital signs” as indicators of health or illness. What are the signs of life and health in congregations? This can be an anxiety producing question. We worry sometimes about “survival”. We yearn and grieve for days that are past and wonder about what God is doing, could be doing in the days to come. And, then, there is the pandemic…. There are layers of grief to peel back. But there are also signs of hope and life and dare we even say, new life, in congregations today!
Pastor Peggy Paugh Leuzinger, Director for Evangelical Mission in the Montana Synod will offer insight and perspective to engage the questions about signs of vitality and life in congregations and seek to open us up to focusing less on ourselves and our fears and more on what God is doing. We will hear about the Faithful Innovation process that will be opened for congregations in the Montana Synod to participate in so that your congregation can learn to listen to God, to one another and to your community.
Thursday, February 11 10am to Noon
2 Contact Hours
FREE
Click Here to Register
Other Continuing Ed Opportunities for 2021
Empowering Communication Workshops for Clergy
Facilitators: Rev. Joel Westby and Rev. Leslie Ritter-Jenkins
As pastors, we have asked
Empowering Communication is both a skill set and spiritual consciousness that helps us answer these questions. It is not only consonant with Christianity, but in our experience, is a path that liberates the power of love within ourselves and in our relationships.
In the four workshops, clergy will learn tools that support congregational vitality and help heal in the world.
We have studied and practiced Nonviolent Communication, also known as Empowering Communication cumulatively for 30 years and found it invaluable in our work with staff, committees, worship, pastoral visiting, counseling, and self-care.
Four Empowering Communication Workshops for Clergy are being offered January 18 – February 12.
Facilitators: Rev. Joel Westby and Rev. Leslie Ritter-Jenkins
For information and registration follow this link: https://empoweringcommunicationinc.net/workshops-for-religious-leaders
Continuing Ed Credits available from NRIT
Empowering Communication Workshops for Clergy
Facilitators: Rev. Joel Westby and Rev. Leslie Ritter-Jenkins
As pastors, we have asked
- How do we move Jesus’ life and teaching out of the Bible and into the church?
- How do we nurture respect and care, and truth and transparency in the congregation when conflict arises?
- How do we take care of ourselves so that we can show up in all of our church work with integrity?
Empowering Communication is both a skill set and spiritual consciousness that helps us answer these questions. It is not only consonant with Christianity, but in our experience, is a path that liberates the power of love within ourselves and in our relationships.
In the four workshops, clergy will learn tools that support congregational vitality and help heal in the world.
We have studied and practiced Nonviolent Communication, also known as Empowering Communication cumulatively for 30 years and found it invaluable in our work with staff, committees, worship, pastoral visiting, counseling, and self-care.
Four Empowering Communication Workshops for Clergy are being offered January 18 – February 12.
Facilitators: Rev. Joel Westby and Rev. Leslie Ritter-Jenkins
For information and registration follow this link: https://empoweringcommunicationinc.net/workshops-for-religious-leaders
Continuing Ed Credits available from NRIT
NRIT Digital Courses
Introduction to the Old Testament:
The Old Testament is challenging literature for Christian leaders. This course will persuade students that the Old Testament is not only a helpful companion in ministry, but that it is also invaluable. All lectures are given with preaching, teaching, and pastoral care in view. These lectures will provide crucial information on Israel's history and narratives, prophetic literature, wisdom literature, and why Scripture matters in the first place.
Class is divided into the following sections that can be watched at your convenience:
1. Course Introduction
2. Creation, Exile and Return
3. Prophetic Imagination
4. Wisdom Literature
5. Why Scripture Matters
Your instructor is Dr. Michael Chan, Assistant Professor of Old Testament at Luther Seminary. Dr. Chan did his Ph.D. work at Emory University and the University of Helsinki. The author of several books. Dr. Chan's research focuses on developing resources for Christian leaders, apocalyptic literature, and the prophets.
Developed to be used both as training for LPAs and as a resource for study in your congregation. (Digital Download)
Cost: $70
5 Contact hours of continuing education.
Click Here to Register
The Old Testament is challenging literature for Christian leaders. This course will persuade students that the Old Testament is not only a helpful companion in ministry, but that it is also invaluable. All lectures are given with preaching, teaching, and pastoral care in view. These lectures will provide crucial information on Israel's history and narratives, prophetic literature, wisdom literature, and why Scripture matters in the first place.
Class is divided into the following sections that can be watched at your convenience:
1. Course Introduction
2. Creation, Exile and Return
3. Prophetic Imagination
4. Wisdom Literature
5. Why Scripture Matters
Your instructor is Dr. Michael Chan, Assistant Professor of Old Testament at Luther Seminary. Dr. Chan did his Ph.D. work at Emory University and the University of Helsinki. The author of several books. Dr. Chan's research focuses on developing resources for Christian leaders, apocalyptic literature, and the prophets.
Developed to be used both as training for LPAs and as a resource for study in your congregation. (Digital Download)
Cost: $70
5 Contact hours of continuing education.
Click Here to Register
An NRIT Digital Offering: download onto your computer or stream online
In Memory of Her: Voices of Biblical Women
With Dr. Kathryn Schifferdecker
This class explores anew the books of Ruth, Esther, and Song of Songs. These small Old Testament books are often overlooked in Christian preaching and teaching, yet they contain hidden treasures: great stories, beautiful poetry, humor, and strong women's voices. Come explore these gems of the biblical narrative and re-acquaint yourself with the themes found in them: love, loyalty, beauty, courage, and faith.
You can purchase this class now and watch at your convenience in the coming months. The format allows you to watch in any time increment you choose and also allows you to return to sections you’ve already watched or go back and forth between sessions.
$70 to purchase class
4.5 Contact hours of continuing education. (And no travel costs!)
Click Here to Register
In Memory of Her: Voices of Biblical Women
With Dr. Kathryn Schifferdecker
This class explores anew the books of Ruth, Esther, and Song of Songs. These small Old Testament books are often overlooked in Christian preaching and teaching, yet they contain hidden treasures: great stories, beautiful poetry, humor, and strong women's voices. Come explore these gems of the biblical narrative and re-acquaint yourself with the themes found in them: love, loyalty, beauty, courage, and faith.
You can purchase this class now and watch at your convenience in the coming months. The format allows you to watch in any time increment you choose and also allows you to return to sections you’ve already watched or go back and forth between sessions.
$70 to purchase class
4.5 Contact hours of continuing education. (And no travel costs!)
Click Here to Register
n NRIT Digital Offering: download onto your computer or stream online
An Introduction to the New Testament
with Dr. James Aageson
The New Testament documents are central to the Christian faith and to historic Christianity. By ecumenical consensus among all Christian traditions, the New Testament is central to the faith, life, and worship of the church. It is the word of God and it conveys the word of God. Even as the New Testament is central to all Christian traditions, interpretations of these texts often vary widely. This makes for a rich and fascinating tapestry of readings in the history of New Testament interpretation. This course is an introduction to the New Testament designed for a general audience and for lay people who may be preparing themselves for congregational leadership.
You can purchase this class now and watch at your convenience in the coming months. The format allows you to watch in any time increment you choose and also allows you to return to sections you’ve already watched or go back and forth between sessions.
$75 to purchase class
6.5 Contact hours of continuing education. (And no travel costs!)
Click Here to Register
An Introduction to the New Testament
with Dr. James Aageson
The New Testament documents are central to the Christian faith and to historic Christianity. By ecumenical consensus among all Christian traditions, the New Testament is central to the faith, life, and worship of the church. It is the word of God and it conveys the word of God. Even as the New Testament is central to all Christian traditions, interpretations of these texts often vary widely. This makes for a rich and fascinating tapestry of readings in the history of New Testament interpretation. This course is an introduction to the New Testament designed for a general audience and for lay people who may be preparing themselves for congregational leadership.
You can purchase this class now and watch at your convenience in the coming months. The format allows you to watch in any time increment you choose and also allows you to return to sections you’ve already watched or go back and forth between sessions.
$75 to purchase class
6.5 Contact hours of continuing education. (And no travel costs!)
Click Here to Register
An NRIT Digital Offering: download onto your computer or stream online
St. Paul:
From Saul of Tarsus to the Apostle of the Lutheran Reformation
with Dr. James Aageson
Apart from Jesus, Paul is arguably the most important figure in the history of Christianity. Paul and his legacy have continually shaped, fed, and challenged the church from the first century to the twenty first. Paul’s letters form the theological heart of much of the New Testament, and along with the memory of his ministry, they have continued to be read, preached, theologically interpreted, and applied to contemporary ethical issues.
You can purchase this class now and watch at your convenience anytime in the coming months. The format allows you to watch in any time increment you choose and also allows you to return to sections you’ve already watched or go back and forth between sessions.
$65 to purchase class
4 Contact hours of continuing education. (And no travel costs!)
Click Here to Register
St. Paul:
From Saul of Tarsus to the Apostle of the Lutheran Reformation
with Dr. James Aageson
Apart from Jesus, Paul is arguably the most important figure in the history of Christianity. Paul and his legacy have continually shaped, fed, and challenged the church from the first century to the twenty first. Paul’s letters form the theological heart of much of the New Testament, and along with the memory of his ministry, they have continued to be read, preached, theologically interpreted, and applied to contemporary ethical issues.
You can purchase this class now and watch at your convenience anytime in the coming months. The format allows you to watch in any time increment you choose and also allows you to return to sections you’ve already watched or go back and forth between sessions.
$65 to purchase class
4 Contact hours of continuing education. (And no travel costs!)
Click Here to Register
FREE RESOURCE FROM THE MONTANA SYNOD
SERVING ON THE CONGREGATION'S COUNCIL
Church councils provide positive leadership within a congregation. As a support to your council, we have prepared five short videos, ranging from five to ten minutes, that are intended as an introduction to the work of councils and their role within the church.
Click Here to Register
On the next page, you will need to provide contact information, including an email. Then click on the "submit" button and you will be taken directly to the five videos, plus an introduction.
We hope you find the videos helpful in leading to deeper conversation about what it means to be church together.
Free Resource from NRIT
SYRIA IN THE BIBLE AND IN THE EARLY CHURCH: A HERITAGE AT RISK
This class was recorded a few years ago and is being re-released as a free resource
For years, the Republic of Syria has been ravaged by a civil war with severe humanitarian consequences. The displacement of millions of people, the dislocation of families to refugee camps, and the plight of those trying to reach Europe to escape the horrors of war are known to us all. We also are aware of the tragic loss of Syria’s rich cultural heritage at the hands of ISIS and by those who profit from the looting and sale of antiquities.
The loss of antiquities and the humanitarian tragedy are not unrelated. As Dr. Amr al-Azm, a former official in the Syrian Ministry of Antiquities who now teaches Middle Eastern History and Archaeology at Shawnee State University in Ohio, reminds us: “A people without a history is a lost people . . . and history without people is meaningless.” Not only the Syrians, but we too are deeply invested in Syria’s history as evidenced by the bible and in the history of the early church. The loss of Syria’s cultural heritage, then, is not only a tragedy for the Syrian people, but a tragedy for us as well.
In this NRIT digital presentation we will explore the importance of ancient Syria for the bible and the church and will attempt to convey some sense of the threat posed by the Syrian civil war to our common cultural heritage.
Thomas R. Lee served for many years as Lutheran campus pastor at the University of Montana, Missoula, where he also—as a faculty affiliate—taught biblical Hebrew and Aramaic in UM’s Religious Studies Department. He has served parishes in Livingston, MT, and also in Lynden, WA, and prior to his retirement, was an associate to the bishop for the Montana Synod. During the 1980s and into the 1990s he served on the staff of two archaeological projects in the Kingdom of Jordan and one in the Republic of Syria. He has a PhD in Near Eastern Religions and Languages from the University of California, Berkeley, and the Graduate Theological Union.
Click Here for the Video: https://vimeo.com/162538939/c62acb4bb9
Available DVDs at the Synod House
(Click Here)
NRIT Digital Education Store
(Click Here)
Northern Rockies Institute of Theology is a continuing theological education ministry of the Montana Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
NRIT exists to provide and promote lifelong learning for the people of the Montana Synod (and their neighbors) , for the purpose of equipping them in their lives of ministry.
For more information about NRIT click here.
NRIT exists to provide and promote lifelong learning for the people of the Montana Synod (and their neighbors) , for the purpose of equipping them in their lives of ministry.
For more information about NRIT click here.