Healing Wounded Churches:
A Resource for Renewal
LEADER:
Rev. Dr. RUSS PARKER
To introduce the process of healing
wounded churches to church pastors,
leaders, interim and transitional ministers,
and seminarians (an ecumenical resource).
Every church has its own collection of stories,
issues and legacies which either bless the
church’s life and witness or puncture and
prevent the church from being the church
God has called it to be. This is why Jesus
talks to churches as demonstrated in the
book of Revelation and it is his audit of the
church’s spiritual health. He challenges us to
know our stories well and find life-giving ways
to celebrate the good and heal the wounds
that we carry as a faith community.
Topics will include:
Introduction on basic principles of Healing
Wounded History
Why does Jesus speak to churches?
Identifying the angel of the church
Group Work:
Reflecting on the angel of your church
The powers that shape our stories
Group Work: Identifying your church stories
The significance of founding stories in the life
of the church today
Representational Confession:
Taking ownership of what belongs to our church
Group Work: Applying Representational
Confession to our churches
Resources for healing the church:
The Christian Day of Atonement
The place of listening and blessing in healing
church wounds
The Power of Listening in Healing
Group Work: Learning to Listen
Rediscovering the Ministry of Blessing
Group Work: Practicing how to bless churches
Rev. Dr. Russ Parker was Director of the
Acorn Christian Healing Foundation,
Hampshire, UK, from 1995-2013. Russ’s
contribution as Director was to teach, write,
develop training materials and lead a
dedicated staff of over 20 people. Russ is
now Acorn's International Ambassador in
which he is responsible for developing
partnerships for listening and reconciliation
in 12 nations including Rwanda,
Burundi, Hong Kong and the United States.
Russ is the author of a number of books
which include: Healing Dreams, Healing
Death’s Wounds; Free to Fail, Forgiveness
is Healing, The Wild Spirit, Visions in the
Night, Healing Wounded History, and an
anthology of prayer poems for public and
private use Wild Spirit of the Living God.
His latest book, published in February 2014,
is Rediscovering the Ministry of Blessing.
Russ travels extensively around the UK and
abroad, lecturing and teaching on issues
connected with Christian Healing and
Healthcare, Reconciliation and Church
Transformation. He is currently the Project
Director of Healing Wounded Churches; with
a team he is developing a facilitator’s course
and manual, targeted for publication in 2015.
Russ was a Baptist pastor from 1972 –77,
ordained in the Church of England in 1981;
Assistant Curate in Bolton (1981 –1985),
Incumbent of Christ Church, Coalville (1985 –
1990), joined Acorn in 1990 and became
Director of Acorn in 1995. Russ was the Cofounder and Director of Christian Care and
Counsel, a Christian Counseling ministry
based in the East Midlands.
Russ is also a co-founder of the Community
of Aidan and Hilda, a dispersed, neomonastic Celtic community whose mother
house is situated on the holy island of
Lindisfarne. He is also a founding member of
the Fellowship of Christ the Healer (UK and
USA) which exists to resource leaders of
residential healing and healthcare initiatives.
He is co-founder of Wholecare, an initiative to
support and resource Christian healthcare
professionals within the National Health
Service in the UK. He has a post graduate
degree in Phenomenology and Theology from
Nottingham University in which his thesis was
entitled “Dreams as a Religious
Phenomenon”.
Russ was awarded a Doctor of Divinity from
Columbia Evangelical Seminary in the United
States in recognition of the standard of
scholarship in his book Healing Wounded
History and his outstanding contributions to
the Christian ministry of teaching and writing.
Russ is married to Roz and lives near
Farnham, Surrey. His hobbies are
photography and visiting Celtic holy places.
He supports Liverpool Football Club, whether
they are winning or losing!
HEALING WOUNDED CHURCHES
September 23-25, 2014
PLEASE PRINT and ENCLOSE DEPOSIT
.
Name:
____________________________________
Called
by:__________________________________
(this is what will appear on your name tag)
Address:_____________________________
____________________________________
Phone:______________________________
Email:_______________________________
Name of
Ministry/Church:_______________________
Schedule:
9:15 AM – 3:30 PM Daily
Tuesday, September 23 –
Thursday, September 25
HEALING WOUNDED
CHURCHES:
Lunch is included in the registration fee.
A RESOURCE FOR RENEWAL
Registration: $150
(Discount can be arranged for students or
seminarians.)
Participants are encouraged to research their
church’s story prior to this seminar, including: its
timeline, why and how it was founded, why it is
located where it is, and significant historical
milestones and current issues. It would be
beneficial for more than one person from a church
to attend for discussion purposes and group work.
This seminar is the first in a two part offering to
prepare those who will work with churches. The
second part will center on Learning to Listen, the
core of this healing process, and will be offered in
2015 for facilitators of this process and those who
assist in listening to individual stories.
Parking at St. Philip’s is on-street parking.
____________________________________
Dietary
Needs:______________________________
Deposit $75 each
$_________ enclosed
balance due at check-in
(cash or checks only)
For more information or questions, contact: Rev.
Paula Owens Parker at poparker99@comcast.net
or
Rev. Sandi Kerner at
bskerner@aol.com; (804) 794-6953
Eternal God, we give thanks for this church: here we
come to affirm your presence and declare your love;
here we come for healing and renewal;
here we come to dedicate ourselves to you.
Registration Payable to:
St. Luke’s Episcopal Church (“Healing
Wounded Churches” in the memo line)
May all who come here know this is a holy place, a
Mail to:
The Rev. Sandi Kerner
St. Luke’s Episcopal Church
2245 Huguenot Trail
Powhatan, VA 23139
and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God,
presence-filled place and that you give yourself to
them; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who is alive
now and for ever. Amen.
Prayer by David Adam, Radiance of His Glory,
Prayers for the Church Year
September 23-25, 2014
9:15 – 3:30 PM each day
Led by:
The Rev. Dr. Russ Parker
at
St. Philip’s Episcopal Church
2900 Hanes Ave.
Richmond, Virginia 23222
Hosted by:
The Rev. Phoebe Roaf,
The Vestry, and Members of
St. Philip’s