Time for continuing education. The focus -- transition. A workshop geared specifically for those within two years of beginning a new call, which applies to me, and some tools/ideas for starting well.
You may wonder, as I suppose I did when I signed up, what about transition makes it necessary to focus an entire retreat around the process. Perhaps the short answer is that beginnings really do matter. First impressions make a difference. How someone starts out in a new place can set the tone for their whole time there.
I would like to think I began well almost six months ago. That those first days and weeks were intentionally positive. Yet, I know I made some mistakes (am still making some!). There was a lot going on when I began, not only at the church but in our personal lives. We were in a new state, new to us weather conditions, in a new place to live (which was actually someone else’s home using their things), meeting a new congregation, finding new colleagues, learning new rules, getting acquainted with a new worship space, discovering new expectations. As I write that I realize...that is a lot of NEW! Virtually everything was new and unfamiliar. And did I mention it was the beginning of Advent - just weeks from Christmas?! Can we say it was busy, busy?!
With all that said, perhaps I needed a transition workshop. To discover some things I could have done better, but hopefully some things it’s also not too late to start trying.
Blessings.
PS One thing is for certain - the setting could not have been more beautiful!
No comments:
Post a Comment