For Boundaries Training Info:
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NRIT and MT Synod In-Person Classes Coming this Fall:
Enhancing Worship with Art:
Music, Design, Visual Elements and Themes.
Led by Pr. Julie Long
-September 9th, 10am to 3:30pm at New Hope Lutheran in Great Falls
-September 23rd, 10am to 3:30pm at Zion Lutheran in Glendive
-October 7th, 10am to 3:30pm at Northridge Lutheran, Kalispell
10am to 3:30pm Lunch provided (free-will offering to defray costs)
Come, explore, learn and share ideas for music, liturgy and enhancing church spaces to emphasize worship and sermon themes. This workshop will involve singing a variety of songs and liturgies from “Evangelical Lutheran Worship”, “All Creation Sings” “Lutheran Book of Worship”, “With One Voice”, as well as from other resources and composers.
In addition to music, ideas will be presented using our senses to enhance worship spaces to highlight seasonal and sermon themes included in the Revised Common Lectionary and Narrative Lectionary. You are invited to bring resources and ideas to share with others. Continuing Education Credits available for rostered leaders and LPAs.
Julie is a retired ELCA pastor, now living in Missoula. She attended seminary through the
T.E.E.M. program, after retiring from a 30-year career in Forensic Science at the Montana State Crime Lab. Julie was ordained in 2014. She served nearly 10 years at Our Savior’s LutheranChurch in Broadus MT, first as a Synodically Authorized Minister (SAM) and then as their “called” pastor. She has been active in music ministry throughout her life as a vocalist, pianist, organist and choir director as well as holding volunteer and staff positions in music and worship leadership and planning. Julie has served as a music and worship resource for the Montana Synod, leading workshops and instructing in the LPA program. Currently, she provides pulpit
supply and serves as the Synod Candidacy Coordinator.
5 Hours Continuing Ed/$25
Click Here to Register
Montana Rural Ministry: Hope and Possibility
Led by Dr. Mark Yackel-Juleen
St John's Lutheran Church - Great Falls
October 11th and 12th.
Believing that the future of rural ministry is ecumenical and also knowing that there are hopeful possibilities for rural ministry in Montana, we’d like to invite both pastors and lay people to this ecumenical gathering as a time to ask questions and envision the future.
Our leader will be Dr. Mark Yackel-Juleen:
Rev. Dr. Mark Yackel-Juleen is a leading authority on congregational ministry in small congregations and rural contexts and serves as Director of the Center for Theology and Land at Wartburg Theological Seminary in Dubuque, Iowa. He is also the Chair of the Rural Ministry Network of the United States and Canada and the International Rural Churches Association. Prior to coming to Wartburg, Mark led rural congregations in southwestern Minnesota for 17 years, founded and led the ministry of Shalom Hill Farm, and consulted with hundreds of rural congregations
Retreat Details:
Wednesday Oct. 11
Start after lunch (to allow travel time)
Welcome, introductions and presentation 1pm – 5pm (with plenty of discussion and small group time)
Supper 5-6:30pm
7pm – 8:30pm Judicatory Panel “What is Possible?”
Ecumenical Evening Prayer
Thursday Oct. 12
Breakfast on your own
8:30 – 11:30 Presentation
Ending
$25 for Registration. Participants are responsible for their own housing. (More information to come).
7 Hours Continuing Education
Click Here to Register
Led by Dr. Mark Yackel-Juleen
St John's Lutheran Church - Great Falls
October 11th and 12th.
Believing that the future of rural ministry is ecumenical and also knowing that there are hopeful possibilities for rural ministry in Montana, we’d like to invite both pastors and lay people to this ecumenical gathering as a time to ask questions and envision the future.
Our leader will be Dr. Mark Yackel-Juleen:
Rev. Dr. Mark Yackel-Juleen is a leading authority on congregational ministry in small congregations and rural contexts and serves as Director of the Center for Theology and Land at Wartburg Theological Seminary in Dubuque, Iowa. He is also the Chair of the Rural Ministry Network of the United States and Canada and the International Rural Churches Association. Prior to coming to Wartburg, Mark led rural congregations in southwestern Minnesota for 17 years, founded and led the ministry of Shalom Hill Farm, and consulted with hundreds of rural congregations
Retreat Details:
Wednesday Oct. 11
Start after lunch (to allow travel time)
Welcome, introductions and presentation 1pm – 5pm (with plenty of discussion and small group time)
Supper 5-6:30pm
7pm – 8:30pm Judicatory Panel “What is Possible?”
Ecumenical Evening Prayer
Thursday Oct. 12
Breakfast on your own
8:30 – 11:30 Presentation
Ending
$25 for Registration. Participants are responsible for their own housing. (More information to come).
7 Hours Continuing Education
Click Here to Register
Gallatin Valley Interfaith Association (GVIA) is excited to sponsor
Faith Over Fear
Thursday, October 5th
10:30 am to 4:30 pm
Hope Lutheran Church in Bozeman, MT
GVIA's "Faith Over Fear" Training, from 10:30 AM - 4:30 PM is for clergy and church member spiritual leaders from faith communities across Montana. Afterward, our local church members and clergy are invited to a Celebratory Dinner from 5:30-7:30 PM graciously hosted at Hope Lutheran Church by GVIA. Both of these events are free due to a Shoulder to Shoulder Campaign grant.
During this training you will:
This event is free. Pre-registration Required.
Click Here to Register
Faith Over Fear
Thursday, October 5th
10:30 am to 4:30 pm
Hope Lutheran Church in Bozeman, MT
GVIA's "Faith Over Fear" Training, from 10:30 AM - 4:30 PM is for clergy and church member spiritual leaders from faith communities across Montana. Afterward, our local church members and clergy are invited to a Celebratory Dinner from 5:30-7:30 PM graciously hosted at Hope Lutheran Church by GVIA. Both of these events are free due to a Shoulder to Shoulder Campaign grant.
During this training you will:
- Build stronger local multi-religious networks
- Improve skills and confidence to speak against anti-Muslim/anti-other rhetoric and discrimination
- Increase community discussions to effectively counter anti-Muslim and other descriminations
This event is free. Pre-registration Required.
Click Here to Register
The NRIT Winter Theological Conference at FLBC
January 29th - 31st (starts the 29th with supper and ends at lunchtime on the 31st)
Words of Wonder:
Using Writing to Nurture our Relationships with the Bible, our Congregations, and God.
Workshop led by writer and college professor Dr. Kaethe Schwenn
Session One: Questions, Doubts, Dreams and Epiphanies: Writing Our Way into Deeper Understanding of Our Faith Journeys.
This session will give us time to take stock of where there we are right now in terms of our own relationship to God. Pastors are sometimes not permitted the space or grace for their own doubts or fears about God; similarly, we might feel awkward about admitting a new closeness to God or an epiphany moment. And yet, being honest with ourselves about where we are with our faith is crucial if we want to help others on their own journeys.
Session Two: The Voice of “We” in Liturgy
In this session we’ll explore ways to use the voices of congregants within liturgy. Participants will get the chance to practice a possible congregational writing exercise for use in Advent or Lent and then will have the chance to develop their own writing prompt or exercise for use in their home church.
Session Three: Who Do You Say That I Am?: Using Writing to Imagine our Way into the Bible
One way to deepen our relationship with scripture is to truly imagine our way into it. In this session, we’ll look at a few examples of writers who have imagined their way into Biblical moments and characters and then we’ll try it ourselves. Is this practice useful? How? Might it be dangerous? Why?
Kaethe Schwehn is the author of the post-apocalyptic novel The Rending and the Nest, the poetry collection Tanka & Me, and a memoir, Tailings. Her poems and prose can be found in journals such as Crazyhorse, Pleiades, jubilat, Witness, Minnesota Review, and the anthology Fiction on a Stick. She has been the recipient of a Minnesota Book Award for Creative Nonfiction, a Minnesota State Arts Board Grant, a Loft Mentor Series Award, the Donald Justice Poetry Prize, and a Best of the Net Anthology award. Schwehn studied creative writing at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and the University of Montana and earned a B.A. from Gustavus Adolphus College. She currently teaches composition and creative writing at St. Olaf College.
Retreat takes place at Flathead Lutheran Bible Camp, Lakeside MT
Cost (includes food and lodging): $265 per person
Deadline to register: January 15
Click Here to Register
January 29th - 31st (starts the 29th with supper and ends at lunchtime on the 31st)
Words of Wonder:
Using Writing to Nurture our Relationships with the Bible, our Congregations, and God.
Workshop led by writer and college professor Dr. Kaethe Schwenn
Session One: Questions, Doubts, Dreams and Epiphanies: Writing Our Way into Deeper Understanding of Our Faith Journeys.
This session will give us time to take stock of where there we are right now in terms of our own relationship to God. Pastors are sometimes not permitted the space or grace for their own doubts or fears about God; similarly, we might feel awkward about admitting a new closeness to God or an epiphany moment. And yet, being honest with ourselves about where we are with our faith is crucial if we want to help others on their own journeys.
Session Two: The Voice of “We” in Liturgy
In this session we’ll explore ways to use the voices of congregants within liturgy. Participants will get the chance to practice a possible congregational writing exercise for use in Advent or Lent and then will have the chance to develop their own writing prompt or exercise for use in their home church.
Session Three: Who Do You Say That I Am?: Using Writing to Imagine our Way into the Bible
One way to deepen our relationship with scripture is to truly imagine our way into it. In this session, we’ll look at a few examples of writers who have imagined their way into Biblical moments and characters and then we’ll try it ourselves. Is this practice useful? How? Might it be dangerous? Why?
Kaethe Schwehn is the author of the post-apocalyptic novel The Rending and the Nest, the poetry collection Tanka & Me, and a memoir, Tailings. Her poems and prose can be found in journals such as Crazyhorse, Pleiades, jubilat, Witness, Minnesota Review, and the anthology Fiction on a Stick. She has been the recipient of a Minnesota Book Award for Creative Nonfiction, a Minnesota State Arts Board Grant, a Loft Mentor Series Award, the Donald Justice Poetry Prize, and a Best of the Net Anthology award. Schwehn studied creative writing at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and the University of Montana and earned a B.A. from Gustavus Adolphus College. She currently teaches composition and creative writing at St. Olaf College.
Retreat takes place at Flathead Lutheran Bible Camp, Lakeside MT
Cost (includes food and lodging): $265 per person
Deadline to register: January 15
Click Here to Register
See Below for Other Recommended Educational Opportunities and
Online Classes for Pastors and Lay Leaders:
Boundaries - Leaderwise
We are recommending this particular training for Montana Synod pastors and LPAs who are due for boundaries training. It is offered 4 times a year, online. (Once you have completed a boundaries training, please send proof of completion to the MT Synod office.)
LeaderWise’s online boundaries training workshop is lively and interactive, full of reflection and conversation. Attendees have given us feedback that our boundaries training was a great experience, AND caused them to re-evaluate some of their own practices.
This live online boundaries training is 5 total hours split over 2 consecutive days (2.5 hours each day). Following the first session, participants are asked to engage in a bit of reflection work in preparation for the second session. This online boundaries training will be conducted via secure Zoom video conferencing.
Future Boundaries Training sessions in 2023 are scheduled for:
-May 22 & 23 from 4:30 pm to 7:00 pm Central
-August 22 & 23 from 9:30 am to 12:00 pm Central
-October 11 & 12 from 1:30 pm to 4:00 pm Central
Click on the words below to be taken to the Leaderwise website. You will register directly with them.
Boundaries Training — LeaderWise
Faith + Lead Live Webcast Classes (including on-demand replay)
To learn more go to: https://faithlead.org/academy/live-learning
For Classes Offered by Leaderwise, go to:
Workshops & Programs — LeaderWise
NRIT Digital Courses
Church Budgets 101: FREE Resource for Pastors, Treasurers and Councils
-Financial statement basics – How to read. What to look for.
-Mechanics & controls – Protecting the pastor, staff, volunteers. Avoiding scandal and suspicion.
-Presentation and communication – Celebration of God’s gifts. Abundance vs. scarcity.
Dave Scholten currently serves as the Treasurer to the Montana Synod. He is trained as an LPA and holds degrees in economics and finance. Dave runs an audit and consulting business for financial institutions throughout the western US and is noted for clear and effective communication of financial matters. “Economics impacts nearly every aspect of our life, sometimes as a daunting challenge, other times as an expression of love and joy. The stewardship (management and use) of God’s gifts is an expression of how we live out our faith. It is an outward sign of our inner priorities and attitudes.” Dave believes that a church budget should reflect our mission and how we serve God joyfully, rather than be a burden and weight we end up serving.
Click Here to Register
Leading Holy Conversations amid Polarization:
Equipping Followers of Christ to Communicate in Faith-filled Ways
We live in a time when it is nearly impossible to communicate with one another with any depth. Our conversations, whether in person or on social media, can descend into angry retorts, judgmental suspicion, reactive demonization, and hateful dehumanizing until there seems nothing left to do but retreat into same-thinking groups or go to battle with the so-called “enemy.”
How do we as followers of Christ and leaders in Christ’s Church respond to such challenges that intrude into our congregations and ministries? Do we say nothing and try keep everyone happy? Do we engage in the same divisive rhetoric? Do we leave the church altogether? Or do we seek different approaches designed to lower the anxiety level, build up community, and equip us to love one another into faith-filled communication? This workshop will offer various tools, guidance, and methods so that you can better lead healthy and effective conversations in your communities.
Class is led by Rev. Dr. Laurie Jungling, Bishop of the Montana Synod, ELCA.
Once you purchase this class, you will own it and can download it and watch at any time.
All registration fees from this class go to NRIT for hosting, administration and advertising expenses
Cost: $30
3.5 Contact hours of continuing education.
Click Here to Register
Equipping Followers of Christ to Communicate in Faith-filled Ways
We live in a time when it is nearly impossible to communicate with one another with any depth. Our conversations, whether in person or on social media, can descend into angry retorts, judgmental suspicion, reactive demonization, and hateful dehumanizing until there seems nothing left to do but retreat into same-thinking groups or go to battle with the so-called “enemy.”
How do we as followers of Christ and leaders in Christ’s Church respond to such challenges that intrude into our congregations and ministries? Do we say nothing and try keep everyone happy? Do we engage in the same divisive rhetoric? Do we leave the church altogether? Or do we seek different approaches designed to lower the anxiety level, build up community, and equip us to love one another into faith-filled communication? This workshop will offer various tools, guidance, and methods so that you can better lead healthy and effective conversations in your communities.
Class is led by Rev. Dr. Laurie Jungling, Bishop of the Montana Synod, ELCA.
Once you purchase this class, you will own it and can download it and watch at any time.
All registration fees from this class go to NRIT for hosting, administration and advertising expenses
Cost: $30
3.5 Contact hours of continuing education.
Click Here to Register
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
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
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.
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.