Leadership Topic of Annual Retreat

Group shot from the 2009 clergy retreatFor three summery, warm days in mid-September, the clergy of the Diocese of Saskatchewan gathered at St Peter’s Abbey in Muenster for our annual retreat. Surrounded by the bustle of this year’s agricultural harvest, we gathered to rest, renew our relationships, and inspire one another in the spiritual harvests happening in our parishes and missions.

We gathered from Meadow Lake in the west, to Hudson Bay in the east, and La Ronge in the north, and many points in between. This year saw an increase in the number of Cree clergy at the retreat, with representatives from the James Smith, Shoal Lake, Montreal Lake, and Red Earth reserves, to name but a few. We were also joined by the Rev’d Joanne Beacon, the new Protestant Chaplain at the Saskatchewan Penitentiary in Prince Albert.

The Retreat leader and guest speaker this year was the Rev’d John Paul Westin, Rector of St. Thomas’ Church in St. John’s, Newfoundland, in the Diocese of Eastern Newfoundland and Labrador. John Paul’s topic for the five sessions was “Lead where you are.” He described powerfully the challenges in leading in a time of “seismic change,” when the only constant in our world seems to be change, and at an ever increasing rate. He challenged the clergy to be intentional in our own spiritual growth, and that our conversion needs to be continual. The final two talks spoke of cross-shaped leadership, leading others by leading up, across and down. Throughout his talks, John Paul included examples from Biblical characters, and pointed his hearers to tools like Leadership.com or the Natural Church Development process.

No retreat would be complete without the annual soccer match. This year’s broke with the past division of Evangelicals vs Anglo-Catholics, in favour of the Relationalists vs Propositionalists. By the end of the pleasantly injury-free match, the Propositionalists were very clear that they had prevailed by at least a dozen goals, while the Relationalists expressed a greater concern that all who wished to participate were included and worked together. Click here for more photos from the soccer match.

 

For three summery, warm days in mid-September, the clergy of the Diocese of Saskatchewan gathered at St Peter’s Abbey in Muenster for our annual retreat. Surrounded by the bustle of this year’s agricultural harvest, we gathered to rest, renew our relationships, and inspire one another in the spiritual harvests happening in our parishes and missions.

We gathered from Meadow Lake in the west, to Hudson Bay in the east, and La Ronge in the north, and many points in between. This year saw an increase in the number of Cree clergy at the retreat, with representatives from the James Smith, Shoal Lake, Montreal Lake, and Red Earth reserves, to name but a few. We were also joined by the Rev’d Joanne Beacon, the new Protestant Chaplain at the Saskatchewan Penitentiary in Prince Albert.

The Retreat leader and guest speaker this year was the Rev’d John Paul Westin, Rector of St. Thomas’ Church in St. John’s, Newfoundland, in the Diocese of Eastern Newfoundland and Labrador. John Paul’s topic for the five sessions was “Lead where you are.” He described powerfully the challenges in leading in a time of “seismic change,” when the only constant in our world seems to be change, and at an ever increasing rate. He challenged the clergy to be intentional in our own spiritual growth, and that our conversion needs to be continual. The final two talks spoke of cross-shaped leadership, leading others by leading up, across and down. Throughout his talks, John Paul included examples from Biblical characters, and pointed his hearers to tools like Leadership.com or the Natural Church Development process.

No retreat would be complete without the annual soccer match. This year’s broke with the past division of Evangelicals vs Anglo-Catholics, in favour of the Relationalists vs Propositionalists. By the end of the pleasantly injury-free match, the Propositionalists were very clear that they had prevailed by at least a dozen goals, while the Relationalists expressed a greater concern that all who wished to participate were included and worked together.