Convocation on the Rural Church

All the Shifts: Leading Congregations Today

Presented by Mark Ramsey and Elizabeth Lynn

We will explore a deeper understanding and navigating pastoral leadership in the midst of the shifting trends of church vitality, giving and generosity in congregations, building needs and challenges, faith formation, and missional call.  What does it feel like and how do any of us lead a congregation when so much seems totally up for grabs?  As part of this exploration - what makes for better conversations among congregation members and church boards?  How can we all ask deeper, better questions that lets us discern together God’s leading?

Elizabeth Lynn directs special projects for Lake Institute on Faith & Giving. Mark Ramsey leads the Ministry Collaborative, a network of 1500 pastors and churches that seeks to build trust and leadership focus. Together, Elizabeth and Mark write a blog called "Digging a Deeper Well" that is focused on resources for church boards.

Falling Into Our Love Memories

Presented by Fatimah Salleh

This workshop will offer a practice around engaging our sacred stories around love--the love we have experienced and the love we are called to pour out.

Rev. Dr. Fatimah S. Salleh was born in Brooklyn, New York to a Puerto Rican and Malaysian mother and an African-American father. Dr. Salleh received her Ph.D. in Mass Communication from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She also earned a master's degree from Syracuse University in Public Communication and a master's in Divinity from Duke University. She launched A Certain Work in 2018 to provide racial equity consultation and training for organizations and churches. In 2021, she launched Curanopy, a religious non-profit, to focus on wellness and well-being for clergy and activists. She is married to Eric Sorensen and they are the parents of four children. She is the author of Love Memory: A Memory and A Practice released in late 2023.

Making Our Way in the Wilderness: A Holistic Approach

Presented by Ismael Ruiz-Millán

This workshop offers valuable insights to help participants navigate through the wilderness on their journey towards embracing God's new thing. By learning practical ways to maintain homeostasis in their personal, congregational, and communal lives, attendees will be better equipped to lead others towards God's desired destination.

Ismael Ruiz-Millán is an ordained elder in the North Carolina Conference and has served in local churches and in extension ministry for 20 years. He has developed classes, seminars, workshops and learning opportunities on pastoral care, missions, leadership, reconciliation, and cultural humility. He currently serves as Heritage District Superintendent and is the incoming executive director of Connectional Ministries of the North Carolina Conference.

New Free Church Resources from Everything Happens

Presented by Brenda Thompson

Everything Happens with Kate Bowler develops year-round spiritual formation resources such as liturgical devotionals and discussion materials, in order to bear Christian witness to the power of empathy. In this age of heightened anxiety, fragile democracy, geopolitical unease, and fracturing denominations, our medium-sad (we say tongue-in-cheek) resources provide much needed honesty and community in a culture that insists “everything will work out if you only try/pray/work harder!” Instead, we work to nurture courage, hope, interdependence, and empathy, making the case for a resilient Christian faith that can withstand life’s ups and downs. But we need your help! Become a Beta Tester for our new offerings, as we work to develop resources that we hope will be useful in your congregation and for your community.

Rev. Brenda Thompson writes curriculum and provides pastoral care for the Everything Happens community with Kate Bowler. She has been in ministry for 20 years in roles such as youth pastor, missions minister, and non-profit executive director. Brenda received her Master of Divinity from Duke Divinity School.

Intro to Restorative Yoga

Presented by Gwen Heginbotham

Need some time just to breathe? Join me for an introduction to restorative yoga. You will learn about its poses, breath exercises, and some added prayers and meditations. Whether you are new to yoga, an experienced practitioner, or simply looking for an acceptable chance to lie on the floor, this workshop is for you. You will leave with resources to continue your restorative yoga practice at home, and ideas for incorporating some of these tools with your congregations. Please bring your own mat if you have one. A few extras will be available.

Gwen Heginbotham is the creative director for the Everything Happens Project at Duke Divinity School and a RYT-200 certified yoga instructor. She has taught vinyasa, yin, and restorative yoga for two years. She has a Master in Spiritual Formation from Friends University and is a youth director and elder at her church. 

Clergy Practices for Flourishing Mental Health in 2024: Hot Off the Press

Presented by Rae Jean Proeschold-Bell and Logan Tice

How do clergy create and maintain flourishing mental health in our current climate? Building on its 2014 Clergy Flourishing Study, the Duke Clergy Health Initiative has analyzed in-depth interviews from 2021-2023 and systematically identified clergy behaviors and ministry conditions related to flourishing mental health versus less-than-flourishing mental health profiles. We will share with you hot-off-the-press insights on flourishing in United Methodist ministry. Workshop participants will be invited to react to the findings and engage with each other to arrive at concrete tips for not just surviving but flourishing in the current environment.

Rae Jean Proeschold-Bell, Ph.D., is a psychologist, director of the Duke Clergy Health Initiative, and professor of global health at Duke University. Through partnership with both the North Carolina and Western North Carolina UMC Conferences, Rae Jean has led behavioral trials, including the Spirited Life Holistic Health study and the Selah Stress Management study, which resulted in evidence-based well-being practices tailored for UM clergy. Additionally, Rae Jean directs the Clergy Health Initiative Longitudinal Survey— one of the most extensive surveys of clergy health ever conducted. This 15-year project, involving over 2,000 North Carolina United Methodist clergy and eight survey waves, is paired with in-depth interview data for a combined deep understanding of the multifaceted challenges clergy face over time and how best to navigate and address them. 

Logan Tice, M.A. has extensive experience in longitudinal survey research, supervision, and data collection management. Since 2019, Logan has been the Research Program Leader for the Clergy Health Initiative, managing the longest and most comprehensive longitudinal survey of clergy health and well-being; as well as the portfolio of occupational well-being qualitative, quantitative, and intervention studies. She conducts high-level research management that cuts across projects, including attending to staffing, finances, and ethics regulations. Prior to coming to Duke, Logan spent 4 years at RTI, supervising a team of 20 collecting data on postsecondary institutions through the US Department of Education – the idea being to make sure people who spend money on postsecondary education are actually graduating and getting to benefit – and 4 years at NC State managing lab studies for Dr. Thomas Hess in the Psychology Department. She has a master’s in psychology from UNC-Greensboro and a bachelor’s from NC State.

Discerning Hope in Liminal Spaces 

Presented by Nina Balmaceda and Yvette Pressley

In this workshop, participants will learn about liminality and the importance of relational covenants. They will also discover the intrinsic value of lament as a spiritual practice, and its essential role in the discerning process for hope and transformation. Participants will also engage in a practical exercise to strengthen relational covenants that they can use to help congregants process difficult emotions and challenges in their local church. 

Dr. Vilma “Nina” Balmaceda is the associate director of the Duke Center for Reconciliation and an administrative faculty at Duke Divinity School, where she directs the Certificate in Conflict Transformation and Reconciliation, the Americas Initiative for Transformation and Reconciliation, and codirects the Certificate on Faith-based Advocacy, Organizing, and Social Transformation. Nina also serves as president/CEO of Peace and Hope International (PHI), a faith-based peacebuilding nonprofit dedicated to preventing and confronting violence and other forms of injustice through local teams serving in marginalized communities in Latin America. 

Nina earned her Ph.D. in Political Science, her master’s degrees in International Peace Studies and in Government and International Studies at the University of Notre Dame, and a Licentiate in Law at the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru. 

Dr. Yvette Pressley is a spiritual formation instructor for the Doctor of Ministry program at Duke Divinity School in Durham, N.C. She is also a consultant whose teaching and practical ministry focus on the work of interracial and intergenerational dialogue and engagement toward reconciliation. Most recently, she served as the project coordinator for the Certificate in Conflict Transformation and Reconciliation (CCTR) at the Center for Reconciliation (CFR) at Duke. 

Dr. Pressley is also a certified Family Group Conference Facilitator, Conflict Transformation and Reconciliation instructor, and a conference and workshop speaker.
She graduated from the University of South Carolina in 1987 with a B.A. in Journalism and Mass Communications. In 2010, she earned a Master of Arts in Theological Studies from Erskine Theological Seminary in Due West, S.C. In December 2021, she graduated from Duke Divinity School with a Doctor of Ministry degree.