Registration Deadline - April 3, 2021

Virtually join consultant, coach, author and spiritual director Susan Beaumont on April 10, 2021 for this lay event. Learn how to identify your point of focus during a season of uncertainty, lead with a different lens during this time and how to include discernment in your leadership work.

How to Lead When You Don’t Know Where You’re Going

How do you lead an organization stuck between an ending and a new beginning—when the old way of doing things no longer works but a way forward is not yet clear? Such in-between times are called liminal seasons—threshold times when the continuity of tradition disintegrates and uncertainty about the future fuels doubt and chaos. In a liminal season it simply is not helpful to pretend to understand what needs to happen next. But leaders can still lead.

Who can attend?

This laity learning event contains material with a focus for laity, local church leaders and leadership teams. Clergy who choose to attend are strongly encouraged to attend with a lay person to support in using materials within your local church setting post-event.

For Certified Lay Servants, this training will be considered an advanced course offering. See registration for more information on expectations for advanced course credit.

Schedule

Leading in a Liminal Season (9-11 a.m.)
During this workshop, Susan introduces liminality and explore the challenges and opportunities facing organizations in liminal space. Explore the leadership stance and three spiritual shifts needed for this unique season.

Moving from Decision Making to Discernment (11:30 a.m.-1 p.m.)
Most congregations rely on rational decision making to guide their leadership choices. Discernment is an attentiveness to God that, over time, develops into a shared sense of God’s intention for us and our community now. During this workshop, explore the challenge of working with discernment in group settings during times of high anxiety and uncertainty.

Coaxing Order Out of Chaos (1:15-2:45 p.m.)
In this final session, learn more about inviting meaning making, finding new purpose, and fostering innovation.

Workshop Materials

To supplement your learning, you are encouraged to purchase and read Susan’s book prior to the event.
How to Lead When You Don’t Know Where You’re Going: Leading in a Liminal Season

This book can be found in paperback and eBook format on various platforms.
How to Lead When You Don't Know Where You're Going: Leading in a Liminal Season: Beaumont, Susan: 9781538127681: Amazon.com: Books

Supplemental handouts and the Zoom link will be provided one week prior to the event.

Susan Beaumont

Susan has worked with hundreds of congregations and denominational bodies across the United States and in Canada.

She is known for her ground-breaking work in the leadership dynamics of large congregations.

Before establishing her own practice, Susan worked for nine years as a Senior Consultant with the Alban Institute. Susan has also served on the faculty of two business schools, teaching graduate level courses in leadership, management and organizational behavior. She has corporate experience in human resource management and organizational development. She currently teaches at Wesley Theological Seminary.

Susan is the author of How to Lead When You Don’t Know Where You’re Going: Leading in a Liminal Season, and Inside the Large Congregation. She is co-author of When Moses Meets Aaron: Staffing and Supervision in the Large Congregation.

Rev. Beaumont is an ordained minister within the American Baptist Churches, USA.

Susan’s educational background includes a M.B.A. from Northwestern University and a M.Div. from McCormick Theological Seminary. She is a graduate of the Shalem Institute Spiritual Guidance program.

Susan is known for engaging the best of business practice, filtered through the lens of careful theological reflection. She moves easily between discernment and decision making, and nurtures the soul of the leader along with the soul of the institution.

View Susan's Bio On Her Website →