Board University presents Well-Being Respite, a unique online opportunity for members that supports wholeness.
— Well-Being Respite attendee
Well-Being Respite is a unique online opportunity to step away from your daily routine and come to the well for spiritual renewal, mental stimulation, thoughtful conversation, and meaningful engagement with colleagues in life and ministry as you contemplate God's movement in our individual and collective experiences.
Available to all Benefits Plan members*, Well-Being Respite is a virtual space to pause, learn, reframe, and connect. Each of these four monthly offerings focuses on a different dimension of wholeness — financial, spiritual, vocational, and health — and how the current landscape shapes our understanding and application of it.
Each respite is comprised of the following:
The event concludes with a charge and blessing as you return to the rhythm of your day.
*Includes all active and retired plan members and their spouses, including surviving spouses.
Scheduled topics and primary presenters for each respite are as follows. Registration for each respite will open a few weeks prior to the event. Check back for your opportunity to register for these unique online opportunities that support wholeness.
| Date | Registration | Primary
presenter | Wholeness dimension |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 19 | Registration closed | Dr. Jessica Young Brown | Emotional |
| August 18 | Registration closed | Rev. Nancy J. Duff, PhD | Spiritual |
| September 15 | Registration closed | Tiffany Willis | Financial |
| November 17 | Register now | Mindy McGarrah Sharp, PhD | Spiritual |
Recordings of Well-Being Respites are available as standalone courses in Board University's e-learning content library, which you can access by logging into Benefits Connect.
November 17, 1 - 4 p.m. ET
As the holiday season approaches, families, congregations, and communities will be making decisions about if, how, and when to celebrate. At the core of those gatherings is our deep desire to come to the tables of fellowship and eucharistic celebration and to be reconciled with one another when we do. Join Dr. Melinda McGarrah Sharp, Associate Professor of Practical Theology and Pastoral Care at Columbia Theological Seminary, and a panel of colleagues in ministry for an exploration of Dr. John Paul Lederach’s framework for conflict transformation. Dr. Lederach’s conflict transformation approach is not simply “How do we end something not desired?” It is, “How do we end something destructive and build something desired?” This model has a deep reach, enabling us to deal with immediate crises and address long-term change as we are offered both solutions and possibilities for relational and social change.
Dr. Mindy McGarrah Sharp is the Associate Professor of Practical Theology and Pastoral Care and Director of the Master of Arts in Practical Theology Program at Columbia Theological Seminary.
Dr. McGarrah Sharp’s scholarship and research has focused on globalization, postcolonialism and various facets of postcolonial and intercultural pastoral theology. She has also taught courses and offered lectures addressing the importance of deep listening, conversation, racial healing and justice, and conflict transformation. She is also a trained clinical ethicist, United Methodist layperson, and returned Peace Corps Volunteer.
Dr. McGarrah Sharp holds a PhD in Psychology and Culture and a Master of Arts from Vanderbilt University, a Master of Arts in Religion from Yale Divinity School, and a Bachelor of Arts in Religious Studies from University of Virginia.
These events are offered at no cost to Benefits Plan members, including all active and retired plan members and their spouses, including surviving spouses.
Email us with any questions.