Bishop’s Convocation 2023

Cultivating Communities of Wounded Healers
Presenters: Rev. Dr. Elaine Heath & Rev. Dr. Charles Kiser

October 5, 9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. at ULS Gettysburg with online option

$65 in person at ULS, Gettysburg (lunch provided)/$50 online
Registration opens at 8:30 a.m.

After receiving and being trusted with the stories of LGBTQIA+, women and BIPOC people of faith who experienced harm at the hands of the church, Dr. Charles Kiser and Dr. Elaine Heath bring those stories into conversation with the death and resurrection of Jesus and find in the gospel a God who shares the experience of the traumatized. The result is their book Trauma-Informed Evangelism: Cultivating Communities of Wounded Healers, where they propose a new kind of evangelism—one based not on fear and coercion but on witnessing the unconditional love of God.

  Elaine Heath is an Author, Speaker, Retreat Leader, Consultant – We are at the forefront of a new reformation, one that is freeing the Christian faith from the sinful structures of patriarchy, racism, classism, many phobias, and exploitive forms of mission and evangelism. The new reformation is all about the emergence of a generous, hospitable, equitable form of Christianity that heals the wounds of the world. I believe much of the work for the church in the years ahead must focus on healing the wounds inflicted by Christendom so that the beauty and inclusive goodness of the Gospel can be heard, seen, and experienced. My work as an author, speaker, retreat leader, and consultant focuses on helping leaders and organizations lean into the healing, liberating, and spiritually transformative journey into which God is calling the church in this new era. Along with my spouse and several friends I live at Spring Forest, a new monastic community in rural North Carolina, where I serve as Abbess. We tend a forest and small regenerative farm, and we have a range of ministries that support immigrants. We also hold retreats for small groups and individuals. Our broader new monastic community beyond the farm is called The Church at Spring Forest. I have served in pastoral and academic ministry, including serving as the McCreless Professor of Evangelism at Perkins School of Theology, and Dean of Duke Divinity School, and am the founder of Neighborhood Seminary and co-founder of the Missional Wisdom Foundation. I’m the author of thirteen books, including, Trauma Informed Evangelism (co-authored with Charles Kiser), Loving the Hell Out of Ourselves: A Memoir (co-authored with Jeanine B. Heath-McGlinn), God Unbound, and The Mystic Way of Evangelism. You can connect with Elaine’s work at elaineaheath.org.

  Charles Kiser is a pastor and theologian with Storyline Christian Community in Dallas, Texas, a network of missional communities he helped to form. He is passionate about creative expressions of Christian community, contemplative spirituality, and healing spiritual trauma. Kiser has a DMin in Contextual Theology from Northern Seminary and serves as a faculty member of Neighborhood Seminary. You can connect with Charles’ work at charleskiser.com.

Schedule for the Day:

9:00 – 10:15 a.m. Worship in chapel/Church of the Abiding Presence

10:30 – 11:45 a.m. Session 1: Responding to Religious Trauma (remain in the chapel)

12:00 p.m. Lunch in the Refectory

1:15 – 2:30 Session 2: Becoming Wounded Healers (in chapel/Church of the Abiding Presence)

2:30 – Bishop’s closing remarks & sending

Registration closes September 28, 2023. Please make checks payable to Lower Susquehanna Synod with Bishop’s Convo in the memo line. Mail to Lower Susquehanna Synod, 1959 Market Street, Camp Hill, PA  17011.