Sometimes congregations find themselves in soul-wrenching pain. Maybe it’s because a conflict has escalated to the point that there seems to be no way forward. It could be that a trusted leader has been accused of misconduct, and members feel both shock and a profound lack of safety. Or it might even be that the extreme political divisiveness of the past decade has become so entrenched that there are two distinct congregations sitting in the same sanctuary on Sunday mornings. These situations can be profound disruptions to our individual and collective spiritual lives, prompting us to ask hard questions of God and stretching our abilities to love our fellow (all-too-human) reflections of God’s image. When this is the case, something more than conflict resolution or a call to reconciliation is required. What we need is soul repair. This webinar will define soul repair and offer practical steps and resource recommendations for working toward it. 

Resources from this webinar:

• Presentation link
• Soul repair article that includes copious links to relevant resources
• Worshipful work article that describes how to incorporate more discernment into meetings
• My website
• My Substack
• My scheduler (note especially the free 30-minute coaching sessions on offer as part of International Coaching Week in May)

Rev. Laura Stephens-Reed is a Professional Certified Coach (PCC) through the International Coaching Federation (ICF) and has coached pastors and churches in seventeen denominations. She specializes in working with pastors on starting and ending positions well, navigating the call system, developing an authentic leadership style, supervising staff, building resilience, planning for sabbatical, managing time, and leading processes. She also enjoys mentoring coaches working toward their ICF credentials. 

An ordained minister since 2002, Laura has served congregations in a variety of settled and interim roles, including pastor, associate pastor, and minister with age-specific groups. She earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Tennessee and her Master of Divinity from Candler School of Theology at Emory University. She is currently enrolled in the Doctor of Ministry program at Lexington Theological Seminary. 

You can learn more about Laura’s coaching at laurastephensreed.com and read her weekly writing on practical ministry matters at laurastephensreed.substack.com.