Register Now! 2023 Clergy Retreat & Boundary Training
Clergy Retreat
Authorized Ministers in the Kansas-Oklahoma Conference can attend our annual clergy retreat, or boundary awareness training, or combine both offerings for an extended retreat and learning event! Gather for a fun and relaxing time with colleagues in Lindsborg, Kansas — only one hour north of Wichita. We’ve reserved the entire space at the local Dröm Sött Inn (“Sweet Dreams” in Swedish), with opportunities to visit local shops and galleries, ride a quadricycle (or just walk the beautiful Meadowlark Trail), and learn how to get the most out of your cell phone camera with a National Geographic photographer. The peaceful environment of Lindsborg offers a place to recharge while we share in support and build relationships with one another.
Space is extremely limited for this event. Limited room sharing is available for a $50 per person, per night reduction in cost. Contact Rachael Pryor for details.
Additional off-site rooms may be opened at nearby (walking distance) vacation rentals if registration exceeds capacity. Please join the event waitlist to be considered for this option.
Registration for both events includes one “Marks of Ministry” self-assessment using a tool newly created and about to launch through Eden Seminary. At the retreat, we’ll have time for casual conversation about these Marks and how they can help shape our understanding of our ministry goals. Boundary training participants will dive deeper into the Marks with our guest speaker.
The concluding session of the retreat will overlap with the opening session of boundary training, from 2:30-4:30 p.m. on Monday 8/21. The session will focus on maintaining boundaries of one’s identity outside of the identity as a clergy person.
Boundary Training
Our 2023-2025 cycle of boundary awareness training will focus on clergy accountability, and a better understanding of the unique way accountability happens as a peer-to-peer process in the United Church of Christ. Building relationships of trust strengthens the support we can offer one another through the Committee on Ministry, in the event that we are struggling with boundary concerns, but also hopefully long before those concerns rise to the level of COM involvement.
Our guest presenter, Kristina Gutiérrez, will address recent trends in clergy fitness reviews and the changing landscape of stress and conflict in ministry settings.
Kristina Ricketts Gutiérrez
Kristina Ricketts Gutiérrez graduated with a B.A. in Political Science and International Studies from The Ohio State University, and an M.Div. and D.Min. from Northern Baptist Seminary. She was ordained as an American Baptist clergy in 1988. In 1992, she moved to San Juan, PR, and worked as counselor and teacher in a local Baptist school until 1996 when she was commissioned as a career missionary with International Ministries (ABC). She has served in the areas of Theological Education and Lay Leadership Development in Bolivia, Chile and Nicaragua. While in Nicaragua, she taught at the Baptist Seminary and Baptist University (UPOLI) in Managua, established a chaplains’ ministry and clinical pastoral education program at the Baptist Hospital in Managua, and developed courses for the empowerment of women through the UPOLI. After coming back to the U.S. on home assignment in 2007, she left International Ministries and has been working as a pastoral counselor at Midwest Ministry Development Service in Columbus, Ohio, and as an Associate Chaplain at Doctors Hospital. She is a Spiritual Director and has an Applied Professional Enneagram Certification with The Enneagram Institute.