Opportunity for self-directed study
Written by GBOD Nashville Monday, 22 November 2010 12:35
United Methodist leaders and pastors will have three unique opportunities for a week of self-directed study, worship and prayer during 2011 at the General Board of Discipleship (GBOD) Learning Center and the adjacent Vanderbilt University Divinity School campus.
Called Leave for Leaders, the sessions are designed to give leaders time to breathe, to reflect and to seek God’s call for their life and ministry.
“Ideally, Leave for Leaders is for a leader or pastor who needs to work on something, whether it's a sermon series or planning or just to reflect on the future of their ministry,” says Steven W. Manskar, Director of Wesleyan Leadership at GBOD. “It gives them five days to get away from wherever it is they are serving to concentrate on a goal or a project, or on their own future.”
Times for the three sessions—Jan. 31-Feb. 4, April 25-29 and Oct. 24-28—were selected to avoid traditionally busy times on the church calendar, Manskar says.
Study leave participants will have full access to the Vanderbilt University Divinity School Library and lectures in classrooms by select Vanderbilt Divinity School faculty through a partnership with the Turner Center for Church Leadership. In addition, they may also audit courses and meet privately with Divinity School faculty.
One-on-one consultations with GBOD staff from Upper Room Ministries, Leadership Ministries, New Church Starts (Path 1) and Youth Peoples Ministries (DMYP) will also be available to participants.
The program’s registration fee is $485 with four nights lodging at the Scarritt-Bennett Center near the campus, or $230 for persons who want to secure their own lodging. Both fees include daily lunch Monday-Friday and a banquet on Thursday evening. Each session will be limited to 20 people to allow maximum time for interaction with leaders and other participants
Ideal candidates for Leave for Leaders will have a clear proposal and will plan their time to include many aspects of the Nashville experience. Each hour spent studying, auditing a class, meeting with GBOD staff or Divinity School faculty, worshipping or researching is worth 0.1 Continuing Education Units. Twenty hours of study are expected during the week, for a minimum award of 2.0 CEU.
“We want to make it clear to the participants that they can spend as little or as much time with each other as they want during the five-day program,” Manskar says. “The only time we've scheduled for them to come together—and they don't even have to do that—is for morning prayers, lunch and the Thursday dinner.”
In addition to Manskar, Craig Kennet Miller, Director of Pastoral Leadership at GBOD, will guide participants during Leave for Leaders.
For more information, contact Manskar by phone at (877) 899-2780, ext. 1765, or by e-mail at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , or Miller at (877) 899-2780, ext. 7081 or e-mail at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Or click here for more information online.
GBOD’s mission is to support annual conference and local church leaders for their task of equipping world-changing disciples. An agency of The United Methodist Church, GBOD is located at 1908 Grand Ave. in Nashville, Tenn. Visit www.gbod.org for more information or call the Communications Office at (877) 899-2780, Ext. 1726.
