Location: Green Lake Conference Center, Green Lake, WI 54941

School of Leadership: Innovating for Our Future

Tues., Sept. 29, to Thurs., Oct. 1

Green Lake Conference Center
W2511 WI-23, Green Lake, WI 

Open to all Clergy from Northern Illinois and Wisconsin.

Participants are eligible for 1 CEU for attending and participating in the School for Leadership. 

All clergy in the Northern Illinois and Wisconsin Conferences are expected to attend for learning and sharing. We welcome and encourage retired clergy to join us.

Lead Speaker: Rev. Dr. Kenda Creasy Dean

Online Registration 

Registration Fee: $200.00 per person includes meals for the participant
NIC clergy use code 'NIC' when registering for the $100 subsidy from the cabinet

Everyone needs to reserve their own lodging.
Rooms/lodging and rates can be viewed on the Green Lake Conference Center Website (www.glcc.org). Call directly at (920) 294-3323 for reservations and special rates.

• Room reservations must be made to guarantee lodging. We cannot guarantee lodging to people without a reservation.
• Do not wait to call and reserve your room at the Green Lake Conference Center. All rooms in the School for Ministry Room Block will be released on September 3, 2026.
• Room check-in is 4 p.m. and check-out is 10 a.m. Early check-in and later check-out times are subject to availability and 50% additional night's charge.
• Anyone who is commuting must call to make meal reservations and register as a day guest at least 2 weeks before the event.  They will be charged the $7/day facility fee and the meals they will be having here.

Childcare: Available upon request via registration and by emailing Eric Swanson before Sept. 3.

---

Purpose of the School for Leadership
To gather the community of clergy for renewal, mutual support, learning, and deepening our relationship with God.

The Northern Illinois and Wisconsin Conferences of The United Methodist Church are partnering to launch The School for Leadership, a new gathering for clergy who are ready to lead boldly in a changing church.
Together we will:

• Lean into the call for innovation in ministry 
• Learn from the teaching of Rev. Dr. Kenda Creasy Dean
• Grow in the fruitfulness of our ministries and congregations 

Recommended Readings for this event: 

• Refugia Faith: Seeking Hidden Shelters, Ordinary Wonders, and the Healing of the Earth by Debra Rienstra
• Picking Up the Pieces Picking Up the Pieces: Leadership after Empire by Kathleen McShane and Elan Babchuck

---

Schedule:

DAY ONE (Tues.)
1-2 p.m.: Registration
2 p.m.: Welcome and Worship with Bishop Schwerin                                    
2:30 – 4:30  p.m: Session 1: Time for Tabernacling:  Imagining a Resurrected Church
5-6 p.m.: Dinner/Free Time                                     

DAY TWO (Wed.)
7:30-8:30 a.m.: Breakfast
9 a.m.: Morning Devotion                                                                
9:15-11 a.m.: Session 2: Packing List: Oil and Tambourines
11 a.m.: Free Time
Noon- 1 p.m.: Lunch
1-2:45 p.m.: Session 3: The Cleft in the Rock: Refugia Leadership
2:45 – 3 p.m.: Break
3 – 4:45 p.m.: Session 4: Leading While Exhausted: Why You Need a "Staff"
4:45  p.m.: Sending Forth of Ministry Incubators                        
5 – 6 p.m.: Dinner

DAY THREE (Thurs.)
7:30 – 8:30 a.m.: Breakfast
9 a.m.: Devotion                                
9:15 a.m.: Session 5: Taking It Home 
11:30  a.m.: Holy Communion and Sending Forth