Professional Leaders Conference

In response to your feedback from last year’s PLC, we have scheduled for more rest and 
renewal in the afternoon on Tuesday. One of Tuesday afternoon’s sessions is now moved to Wednesday morning. Please plan to stay through the duration of PLC until 12:30 on Wednesday to hear the concluding presentation by Debie Thomas, as well as a musical workshop and bebop worship led by Erik Olson. 
 
Monday, September 18 

• 9:30 a.m.    Check-in - Hope Center
• 10:45 a.m.   Worship - Hope Center (Click here for the worship bulletin)
• 12:00 p.m.   Noon Meal - Dining Hall
• 1:00 p.m.     Presentation I - Hope Center
  • “Naming Our Hungers” with Debie Thomas  
    • We begin by naming what we need.  What we lack.  What we long for.  We refuse to pretend that everything is okay, and take time instead to listen deeply to the gnawing hunger and thirst that cries out for our attention.  What spaces have become arid?  What feels lifeless, precarious, tired?  In this first session, we will name the reality of the “drought,” and begin to imagine what replenishment might look like. 
• 2:30 p.m.  Free Time  
  • Social activities availabel at camp and in the local area.
  • Dinner with participant groups or on your own in the area.
  • Sign-ups for both available in the Hope Center lobby.
• 7:30 p.m.  Optional activities - Lutherdale
  • Campfire with camp song sing-a-long – Firepit by Hope Center 
    Games in Hope Center
• 8:30 p.m. Night Prayer - Firepit by Hope Center

Tuesday, September 19

• 8:10 a.m.  Breakfast - Dining Hall - For those staying overnight at camp
• 9 a.m.     Presentation II - Hope Center
  • “Rediscovering Joy” with Debie Thomas 
    • Poet Jack Gilbert writes that "we must risk delight," even in the face of the world's deep pain.  In this second session, we'll reacquaint ourselves with the things that give us true joy.  What feeds us by way of pleasure, laughter, beauty, awe, surprise, and delight?  We will engage our senses and write about the shapes, textures, colors, and sounds of authentic joy.
• 10:45 a.m.  Worship - Hope Center (Click here for the worship bulletin)
• 12:00 p.m.    Noon Meal - Dining Hall
• 1 p.m.   Bishop’s Time - Hope Center
• 2:30 p.m. Free Time
  • Social activities availabel at camp and in the local area.
  • Dinner with participant groups or on your own in the area.
  • Sign-ups for both available in the Hope Center lobby.
• 7:30 p.m.  Optional Activities - Lutherdale 
  • Campfire with camp song sing-a-long – Firepit by Hope Center
  • Games in Hope Center  
• 8:30 p.m.    Night Prayer - Firepit by Hope Center 

Wednesday, September 20

• 8:10 a.m.   Breakfast - Dining Hall  - For those staying overnight at camp
• 9 a.m.   Presentation III - Hope Center
  • “The Well at the Crossroads: Where Deep Gladness Meets Deep Need” with Debie Thomas 
    • In this last session, we'll reflect on the wisdom of theologian Frederick Buechner, who wrote that “vocation is the place where our deep gladness meets the world's deep need.”  Where is the fertile middle space where our own deep gladness meets the world’s hunger?  What does it look like to serve others from this abundant space, this overflowing well?  To ground our vocation in both gladness and need? We will use a series of writing prompts to find this space within ourselves and allow it to become an ongoing source of renewal as we live into our vocations as God's children. 
• 10:30 a.m.  Workshop - Hope Center
  • “Maximizing the ELW!” with Erik Olson
    • Examples include using the ELW to organize a hymn sing as pulpit supply, repurposing contents for alternate media (i.e. social media, meditation, bible study listening music, etc.) and DIY Cantata - an exercise in which everyone who attends leaves with their own personally arranged cantata. 
• 11:40 – 12:30   Worship - Hope Center (Click here for the worship bulletin)