Navigating Ministry During COVID-19
Online forum series for pastors
EMS offered the following online forum discussions for free to provide resources for pastors during this difficult time in ministry. You may watch the recordings below.
Past Webinars
Pastoral Care in the Time of Covid-19 and Beyond
Wednesday, April 15, 2020, 3:00 – 4:30 pm EDT.
This forum will include a facilitated discussion on grief/loss without physical presence, caring for others from a distance, caring for ourselves, etc.
Facilitators include Penny Dreidiger, ACPE Clinical Educator, Eastern Mennonite Seminary, and Sentara RMH Staff Chaplain; Eric Martin, Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community Supportive Living Chaplain; and Lonnie Yoder, Professor of Pastoral Care and Counseling, Eastern Mennonite Seminary.
Spiritual formation for pastoral resilience
Wednesday, April 29, 2020, 3:00 - 4:30 pm EDT
Signs of pastoral fatigue, spiritual practices to sustain the pastor
Facilitators include Sarah Bixler, Instructor in Formation and Practical Theology, Eastern Mennonite Seminary; and Hyacinth Stevens, Program Coordinator for MCC East Coast in New York City, Pastor at King of Glory Tabernacle in Bronx, New York, and African American Mennonite Women Association representative on the Mennonite Women USA board.
Understanding trauma and secondary trauma
Wednesday, May 13, 2020, 3:00 - 4:30 pm EDT
Supporting front-line responders and recognizing secondary trauma
Facilitators include Mary Thiessen Nation, Adjunct Professor, Eastern Mennonite Seminary; Carolyn Stauffer Associate Professor of MA in Organizational Leadership and Co-director of MS in Biomedicine, Eastern Mennonite University; and Sue Park Hur, Denominational Minister for Leadership Development, Mennonite Church USA.
Theological questions during anxious times
Wednesday, May 27, 2020, 3:00 - 4:30 pm EDT
Support for navigating theological issues associated with the pandemic
Facilitators include Andrew Suderman, Assistant Professor Theology, Peace, and Mission, Eastern Mennonite University; and Jennifer Davis Sensenig, pastor Community Mennonite Church, Harrisonburg, Virginia
Ethical issues of medical care
Wednesday, June 10, 2020, 3:00 - 4:30 pm EDT
Issues of access, justice and understanding the medical system during the pandemic
Facilitators include Donald Tyson, Professor of Nursing and Director of MSN Programs , Eastern Mennonite University; and Catherine Lee, MDiv, Hospice Chaplain, University of North Carolina Hospitals
Biblical resources for despair and hope
Wednesday, June 24, 2020, 3:00 - 4:30 pm EDT
Biblical literature that gives voice to human despair and theologically responsible use of scripture for hope in life and death
Facilitators include Nancy Heisey, Professor of Bible and Religion, Associate Dean Eastern Mennonite Seminary; Andrea Saner, Associate Professor of Old Testament and Hebrew Language Eastern Mennonite Seminary; Matthew Bucher, Pastor of Immanuel Mennontie Church, Harrisonburg, Virginia, and is a STAR (Strategies for Trauma Awareness and Resilience) certified trainer.
What Springs Up? Imagining Church Anew beyond COVID-19
Wednesday, July 8, 2020, 3:00 - 4:30 pm EDT.
The challenges of COVID-19 revealed much about who we are as leaders, who the church is and how the body of Christ comes together. As congregations resume in-person gatherings, will they return to the same ways they have always been? The COVID-19 crisis opens new opportunities for pastoral leaders to make shifts in congregational patterns. In this interactive forum, the theory of change and strategies for adaptive leadership will guide reflection on how pastoral leaders can lead congregations into new ways of being beyond COVID-19.
Facilitators include Sarah Bixler, Instructor in Formation and Practical Theology, Eastern Mennonite Seminary; and Hyacinth Stevens, Program Coordinator for MCC East Coast in New York City and Pastor at King of Glory Tabernacle in Bronx, New York.
