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BKSM's summer session offers a variety of continuing education opportunities, whether you are ordained, a current seminarian, or a lay leader. These topics are not part of the regular schedule of courses offered at BKSM and vary from year to year.
These classes will be offered both face-to-face (masks and distancing required) and on Zoom. Face-to-face participation will be capped at eight, unless CDC guidelines permit us to lessen physical distancing requirements.
When you register, you will indicate your preference for attending in person or on Zoom. If the face-to-face option fills up, we can add you to a wait list, if that is your preference.
The cost for summer courses is $100. Breakfast and lunch are on your own, though drinks (coffee, tea, soft drinks, water) are provided throughout the day. The Jim Upton Scholarship is available for any lay student, and other scholarships may be available for current students and diocesan clergy. Please email the Very Rev. Don Compier, BKSM dean, for more information
All summer courses are considered "audited" classes, meaning there are no grades or papers (in most cases), though your participation will be noted on a transcript.
Stress Management for Clergy and Lay Leaders
Saturday, June 5, 2021
9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m., with an hour for lunch (on your own)
Being a leader in any organization can be stressful. Leadership in the church has unique stressors that can make it more stressful than leadership in other organizations. Church leaders need to be a non-anxious presence, which in many cases is not easy to do. Managing stress can be helpful in accomplishing this. Learning to manage stress can be very beneficial for church leaders, both for themselves and for the churches they serve. This course is designed to help church leaders identify the effects of stress on mind, body and spirit and how it can be managed in positive ways.
About Your Instructor
Leading during Conflict
Saturday, June 26, 2021
9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m., with an hour for lunch (on your own)
Providing leadership to an organization in conflict can be very stressful. This is especially so when that organization is the Church. In this class, we will look at what steps leaders can take to effectively deal with conflict. We will use the case study method to practice those steps and to reflect on what we have learned. Hopefully this will reduce the stress when we must deal with conflict and make us more effective in dealing with it.
Your Instructor:
PREPARE/ENRICH Facilitator Training
Saturday, June 26
9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m., with an hour for lunch (on your own)
For more than thirty-five years, PREPARE/ENRICH has been the #1 guide for helping couples prepare for marriage as they explore and strengthen their relationship. The program is built on a solid research foundation and can significantly improve a couple's relationship. This course provides an excellent opportunity for you to add a vital skill to you ministry toolkit for both marriage prep and couples counseling. During this course, you will learn how to:
You Instructor
Engaging in Meaningful Conversation Amid Disagreement
Saturday, July 10
9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m., with an hour for lunch (on your own)
In this highly polarized and contentious time, we find it increasingly difficult to have meaningful conversation with people with whom we disagree, be it in our families, among our friends and co-workers, or within our church circles. How do we better navigate such conversations as followers of Jesus? This course, back by popular demand, offers a variety of perspectives and approaches, grounded in both theology and interpersonal communications.
Your Instructor:
The Sacred Journey: Spiritual Autobiogrophy (Zoom only)
Thursdays, July 15, 22, 29 & August 5
6:30-8:00 p.m.
This course will move us closer to understanding our spiritual formation by writing a reflective personal essay about our spiritual experience. Telling one’s own spiritual journey is central to ministry, and when it can be articulated well, others learn how to tell their spiritual journey. First, we will look at the history of spiritual autobiography, to understand what unique issues have arisen in different eras and to see what universals seem central. Many fine authors have offered models, such as St. Augustine, Julian of Norwich, John Bunyan, Kathleen Norris, or Anne Lamott. We will look at brief excerpts from such Christian writers plus a few outside the Christian tradition. We will write responses and then compose our own personal autobiographical essays, getting direct feedback from other members of the class. New writers should not be shy. This class is for all.
Your Instructor
Healing Our Community's Broken Heart
Saturday, July 24
9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m., with an hour for lunch (on your own)
Scripture tells us we were created in the image of God. A God who is a God of community. Thus, we were created in and for community and intended to belong in relationship. When a public figure dies or a natural disaster occurs the community grieves together. But how do we wrap our minds and spirits around the fact that over half a million people (and counting) have died of Covid-19? In this interactive class we will examine how communal grieving offers benefits that we cannot get when we grieve by ourselves. In this class we will
Your Instructor
Nurturing the Spiritual Life of the Child
Saturday, July 31
9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m., with an hour for lunch (on your own)
Forming our children in the faith is a critical task of the church. Children have distinct spiritual needs at different ages and our approach to their formation must change as they move from one stage of development to the next. This course provides an introduction to a child led method of Christian formation in the Episcopal Church using a hands-on Montessori approach. Topics covered include the developmental stages of childhood, the relationship between the child and God, the prayer of the young child, and the role of the adult. You will see examples of materials used with children and theological drawings prepared by young children.
Your Instructor
These classes will be offered both face-to-face (masks and distancing required) and on Zoom. Face-to-face participation will be capped at eight, unless CDC guidelines permit us to lessen physical distancing requirements.
When you register, you will indicate your preference for attending in person or on Zoom. If the face-to-face option fills up, we can add you to a wait list, if that is your preference.
The cost for summer courses is $100. Breakfast and lunch are on your own, though drinks (coffee, tea, soft drinks, water) are provided throughout the day. The Jim Upton Scholarship is available for any lay student, and other scholarships may be available for current students and diocesan clergy. Please email the Very Rev. Don Compier, BKSM dean, for more information
All summer courses are considered "audited" classes, meaning there are no grades or papers (in most cases), though your participation will be noted on a transcript.
Stress Management for Clergy and Lay Leaders
Saturday, June 5, 2021
9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m., with an hour for lunch (on your own)
Being a leader in any organization can be stressful. Leadership in the church has unique stressors that can make it more stressful than leadership in other organizations. Church leaders need to be a non-anxious presence, which in many cases is not easy to do. Managing stress can be helpful in accomplishing this. Learning to manage stress can be very beneficial for church leaders, both for themselves and for the churches they serve. This course is designed to help church leaders identify the effects of stress on mind, body and spirit and how it can be managed in positive ways.
About Your Instructor
- The Rev. Arthur Rathbun has been an ordained priest for 57 years. He holds a BS in Psychology from Penn State, an MDiv from General Theological School, and an MS in Counseling from Kansas State University. Fr. Art has taught Stress Management at K-State for 25 year and has lectured widely on this topic around the country. Additionally, he has had advance training from Menningers and other places in self-regulation training. Fr. Art worked for 30 years at the Kansas State University Counseling Center. In addition to serving as vicar of many small church and as a college chaplain, Fr. Art was the dean of Christ Cathedral, Salina. He has been a colloquium facilitator for third-year students on the priest track at Bishop Kemper School for Ministry for the past nine years.
Leading during Conflict
Saturday, June 26, 2021
9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m., with an hour for lunch (on your own)
Providing leadership to an organization in conflict can be very stressful. This is especially so when that organization is the Church. In this class, we will look at what steps leaders can take to effectively deal with conflict. We will use the case study method to practice those steps and to reflect on what we have learned. Hopefully this will reduce the stress when we must deal with conflict and make us more effective in dealing with it.
Your Instructor:
- The Rev. Arthur Rathbun (see bio above)
PREPARE/ENRICH Facilitator Training
Saturday, June 26
9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m., with an hour for lunch (on your own)
For more than thirty-five years, PREPARE/ENRICH has been the #1 guide for helping couples prepare for marriage as they explore and strengthen their relationship. The program is built on a solid research foundation and can significantly improve a couple's relationship. This course provides an excellent opportunity for you to add a vital skill to you ministry toolkit for both marriage prep and couples counseling. During this course, you will learn how to:
- Administer the online assessment
- Interpret couples' reports
- Provide useful feedback to couples
- Guide couples' exercises
- Teach proven relationship skills
- Work more effectively with couples
You Instructor
- The Reverend Andrew T. O'Connor has served as the Rector of Good Shepherd Episcopal Church in Wichita, KS (Diocese of Kansas) since September 2009. A graduate of Boston College and Virginia Theological Seminary, he previously served parishes in the Diocese of Los Angeles. He has been a certified PREPARE/ENRICH Facilitator for 15 years and has used the program successfully with a diverse array of premarital couples; he became a certified Facilitator Trainer in 2016. He is married to Heather Killpatrick-O'Connor and has five children, Liam, twins Lucian & Hannah, Holly, and Harper.
Engaging in Meaningful Conversation Amid Disagreement
Saturday, July 10
9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m., with an hour for lunch (on your own)
In this highly polarized and contentious time, we find it increasingly difficult to have meaningful conversation with people with whom we disagree, be it in our families, among our friends and co-workers, or within our church circles. How do we better navigate such conversations as followers of Jesus? This course, back by popular demand, offers a variety of perspectives and approaches, grounded in both theology and interpersonal communications.
Your Instructor:
- The Rev. Arthur Rathbun (see bio above)
The Sacred Journey: Spiritual Autobiogrophy (Zoom only)
Thursdays, July 15, 22, 29 & August 5
6:30-8:00 p.m.
This course will move us closer to understanding our spiritual formation by writing a reflective personal essay about our spiritual experience. Telling one’s own spiritual journey is central to ministry, and when it can be articulated well, others learn how to tell their spiritual journey. First, we will look at the history of spiritual autobiography, to understand what unique issues have arisen in different eras and to see what universals seem central. Many fine authors have offered models, such as St. Augustine, Julian of Norwich, John Bunyan, Kathleen Norris, or Anne Lamott. We will look at brief excerpts from such Christian writers plus a few outside the Christian tradition. We will write responses and then compose our own personal autobiographical essays, getting direct feedback from other members of the class. New writers should not be shy. This class is for all.
Your Instructor
- Tim Bascom, husband of Bishop Cathleen Bascom (Episcopal Diocese of Kansas) is the author of five books. His newest, Climbing Lessons, is a collection of 40 brief autobiographical narratives about the bond between fathers and sons. Bascom is also author of a novel, a collection of essays, and two prize-winning memoirs about years spent in East Africa as the son of missionaries. His essays have won prizes at The Missouri Review and Florida Review, being selected for the anthologies Best Creative Nonfiction and Best American Travel Writing. He received his MFA degree from the University of Iowa, and he directed the Creative Writing Program at Waldorf University before returning to Kansas and becoming Director for the Kansas Book Festival.
Healing Our Community's Broken Heart
Saturday, July 24
9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m., with an hour for lunch (on your own)
Scripture tells us we were created in the image of God. A God who is a God of community. Thus, we were created in and for community and intended to belong in relationship. When a public figure dies or a natural disaster occurs the community grieves together. But how do we wrap our minds and spirits around the fact that over half a million people (and counting) have died of Covid-19? In this interactive class we will examine how communal grieving offers benefits that we cannot get when we grieve by ourselves. In this class we will
- examine how through acknowledgement, validation and witnessing, communal grieving allows us to experience a level of healing that is deeply and profoundly freeing;
- share resources for support;
- and allow time and materials for participants to design a memorial for use in their own communities.
Your Instructor
- With over thirty years of experience in hospice and healthcare chaplaincy, The Rev. Tom Baker has offered a supportive presence in times of crisis and at the end of life. He has led countless grief groups and offered two popular summer classes for Bishop Kemper School for Ministry on grief. Currently, he is honored to serve as the rector at St. Aidan’s Episcopal Church in Olathe, KS.
Nurturing the Spiritual Life of the Child
Saturday, July 31
9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m., with an hour for lunch (on your own)
Forming our children in the faith is a critical task of the church. Children have distinct spiritual needs at different ages and our approach to their formation must change as they move from one stage of development to the next. This course provides an introduction to a child led method of Christian formation in the Episcopal Church using a hands-on Montessori approach. Topics covered include the developmental stages of childhood, the relationship between the child and God, the prayer of the young child, and the role of the adult. You will see examples of materials used with children and theological drawings prepared by young children.
Your Instructor
- Margaret Schaefer is a Catechist from the Diocese of Nebraska focusing on the formation of very young Christians. She is trained in the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd and has worked with children in several Episcopal Churches for over 20 years. Margaret is married to the Rev. John Schaefer, rector of St. Andrews Omaha. They have 2 adult children, Daniel and Rebekah. Margaret also works as an attorney at Legal Aid of Nebraska.