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PATHWAYS' First Cohort is Off to a Great Start!
The inaugural group of the Southeast Conference's newest program of transformative theological education and leadership development, PATHWAYS, met for the first time in a face-to-face retreat in Flowood, Mississippi on October 22nd and 23rd. The group is comprised of members of Safe Harbor Family Church, which hosted the event, and Victory UCC in Stone Mountain. The seven PATHWAYS participants plus Facilitator (and Dean of PATHWAYS) Kathy Clark, spent the two days "stepping back" in order to explore "Self and Community in Context" as they embark on this journey into the future of learning, exploration, and discovery together. "This is an excellent group to be leading the way as we launch the PATHWAYS program. Each member brings wisdom and experience to the table, along with genuine enthusiasm and openness to new ways of thinking theologically and serving as the church." The two day retreat, which allowed the members to get to know one another in an intimate setting and to decide, among other things, on a group covenant for learning, interaction, and prayerful  mutual support, is followed up with community building in an online environment. Course 2, Re-imagining Adult Learning, will begin later this month and be fully online.
PATHWAYS is a hybrid model of ministry formation that builds on the highly successful Theology Among the People (TAP) program that has been training lay and licensed leaders in the Southeast Conference for over 12 years.
For more information about the PATHWAYS program or to inquire about new groups that are now forming,
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or visit our website. |
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TAP Graduates - Where Are They Today?
Meet Charmaine Johnson
Lay leader at Victory for the World UCC in Stone Mountain, GA
TAP Graduate
Seminarian, and Member in Discernment with the Georgia-South Carolina Association
Charmaine recently went on a trip to the Holy Land under the sponsorship of the Middle East Travel Seminar (METS). Read how this unique experience has helped her come alive for ministry in our midst.
“Becoming Alive”: A Reflection of the METS Pilgrimage
by Charmaine P. Johnson
Emory University - Candler School of Theology
“Don’t ask what the world needs.
Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it.
Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”
– Howard Thurman
The extraordinary and surreal pilgrimage to the Middle East has made an indelible imprint on my soul and has served as a catalyst for positive and permanent alteration and transformation of my worldview. This gradual change occurred during a plethora of sacred moments during this pilgrimage – moments of gratitude, contemplation, reconciliation, affirmation, revitalization and diversity of thought represented during dialogue with METS colleagues. This transformation has further assisted in helping me “come alive” and has confirmed my personal passions in Christian ministry.
My initial thought was to place the METS experience in a category coined as “phenomenal journeys.” However, after careful and cautious contemplation, another revelation of a different persuasion surfaced. It became evident that the METS experience was more than a journey. It was too significant, too sacred and too pivotal in quenching a part of my thirst to become fully equipped for Christian ministry to categorize it just as a journey. Therefore, I consider the METS experience to be a pilgrimage that allowed access to sacred places and sacred spaces in the physical sense as well as the spiritual sense and one that has been instrumental in generating an enhanced interpretation of what author, ethical and cultural critic and theologian, Howard Thurman, refers to as “coming alive.”
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