Ignite Leadership
Meet Our Team!
Tenneson Woolf
Participative Leadership Expert
Tenneson is a facilitator, workshop leader, speaker, and writer based in Lindon, Utah. He designs and leads meetings in participative formats, and has practiced participative forms of leadership for 20+ years. Recently, he has worked with faith communities, educators, and public health leaders. His lineages include The Berkana Institute, The Circle Way, and The Art of Hosting.
Larry McCulloch
Executive Director—La Foret
Larry is a retired senior leader in several high tech companies and a longtime member of the UCC. Following retirement, Larry accepted the challenge of applying sound business practice in outdoor ministry, and now thrives in providing a place of sanctuary for all at La Foret. Under Larry, La Foret has seen increased revenue, a stable workforce, and engaged customers. Larry and his wife Janet have three grown children and two grandchildren, and are members of Plymouth Congregational in Fort Collins.
Rev. Sue Artt
Conference Minister—Rocky Mountain Conference, UCC
After decades serving as an executive with Mobil Oil, the Sue was called to ministry in the wake of the 1999 Columbine High School shootings. She attended Eden Theological Seminary before serving St. Paul UCC in Nashville, Illinois. Sue is Moderator of General Synod 31, which convenes in Baltimore in June 2017. She joined the Rocky Mountain Conference in 2013 in a transitional Conference Minister role, and was installed as settled Conference Minister in August of 2016.
Rev. Todd Smiedendorf
Senior Pastor—Washington Park UCC (Denver)
Todd is passionate about the evolution of the church and about potent ways of being and leading church. After time as an Associate, Interim, and Campus Minister, Todd is now Senior Minister of the Washington Park UCC in Denver. He is a veteran retreat leader, trained in advanced shadow work, and a certified 4Gateways Coach. He lives in Boulder with his wife, Allison.
Rev. Erin Gilmore
Associate Conference Minister—Rocky Mountain Conference, UCC
Erin has worked extensively within and beyond the local church to build cultures of authentic relationship, compassionate action, and human dignity for all. After serving as a local church pastor in Salt Lake City, UT and Loveland, CO, she now serves as the Associate Conference Minister of the Rocky Mountain Conference, with a special focus on developing leadership and congregational vitality for the 21st Century.
Rev. Corbin Tobey-Davis
Senior Pastor—Parkview Congregational Church (Aurora)
Corbin holds an undergraduate degree from Doane College (a historic UCC college in Crete, Nebraska), and an M.Div from Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, California. In August of 2011, Corbin was called as Associate Minister of Parkview Congregational Church in Aurora, Colorado. In August 2016, Corbin was installed as Senior Pastor. Corbin is a drummer, Spoken Word Artist, and DJ. He believes in the power of art as means to transcend boundaries, build community, create ritual, and connect with the Divine essence of life.
Location, Cost, and Timeline
LOCATION:
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Located in the Black Forest of Colorado, The La Foret Conference and Retreat Center is a beautiful, quiet, sacred space that lends itself to holding a deep inquiry like ours. Participants will have a lower bunk, one roommate, a shared bath and a shared common area. All meals will be shared in the Dining Hall and prepared by La Foret staff.
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COST:
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This pilot program of IGNITE is being generously subsidized by the Rocky Mountain Conference because we believe the development of both lay and clergy leadership is so very important as we seek to inspire, challenge, and empower generous faith and justice communities across the West.
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Specifically, this means: all travel costs will be covered, all room and board will be covered, and a significant portion of the program costs will be covered.
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Recognizing that what is affordable for some can be a financial stretch for others we are offering a tiered pricing structure to cover the remaining costs of the program.
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Pay it Forward Price ($500+) covers the remaining cost of program and includes a contribution that will make participation possible for others in the conference.
Sustainable Price ($400) covers the remaining cost of the program.
Supported Price ($300) reflects a partial scholarship toward the remaining cost of the program and is intended for those with minor financial need.
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PROGRAM TIMELINE:
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Application Deadline: June 30, 2017
Notification of Acceptance into the program: Mid-July
At-Home Preparation: August-September 2017
First Residency/Retreat: October 9-13, 2017, La Foret
Continuing the Journey: October-March, small groups
Second Residency: April 4-8, 2018 La Foret
Continuing the Journey: April-June 2018
Final Celebration: June 7-9 at Annual Meeting of RMCUCC
Applying to the Initiative
Application Deadline: June 30, 2017
WHO SHOULD APPLY:
We are seeking open minded lay and clergy participants who:
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...feel called to Be Church from a deeper place for positive change in the world
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...are eager to awaken to the fullness of who they are and what they have to offer
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...are ready to break open the box of “but that’s the way we’ve always done it”
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...seek honest spiritual community of mutual support and practical learning
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...are invested in the future mission of the church
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...are inspired to explore the edges of the inherent complexity and even chaos embedded within such an effort
This gathering is for people with instinct to be deliberate in how we go together. We will learn and experience important and essential skills to take with us to our churches and communities. This gathering is highly interactive. It is not days of lecture together.
Two by Two: In support of our conference-wide vision of being radically connected, we are encouraging you to participate in this program as a team of two from your local church. The team can be made up of one clergy and one lay person, or, two lay persons (with the consent of the pastor). If you are the only one from your church who is able to participate, we still encourage you to apply—just know that you will be asked to find a deliberate support companion or two from your church.
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HOW TO APPLY:
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To be considered for Ignite, ask that you to reflect on the following questions through a short video (10 minutes or less). The video should be emailed to us at ignite@rmcucc.org, via a private upload link using a service like YouTube or Vimeo. We recognize that if you have never uploaded a video before, it may present a challenge. However, we are looking for initiative and critical thinking in our applicants, so we encourage you to troubleshoot it. As a last resort, you may provide written responses.
Please don't worry too much about the production quality of your video. It is, of course, vital that the Selection Committee can clearly hear you and see you, but the quality of your response is the most important aspect of your video. If you are applying as a team, please reflect and respond together.
Questions:
1. What is your personal mission/vision statement as you walk your life’s journey?
2. What is one thing you are most passionate about in your current church?
3. What are the most pressing challenges facing Christian congregations today, from your perspective?
4. What attracts you to the IGNITE Leadership Initiative?
5. What questions are important to you as you contribute to an essentially evolving UCC church and community?
6. How do you hope to apply what you've learned and experienced to your church and community?
Program Content and Goals
PROGRAM COMPONENTS:
On-Site: The retreats will offer a beautiful and sacred space where you will have an opportunity to deepen your awareness of self—particularly in the context of leadership—and be part of emergent, learning community. While on retreat, we will:
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Engage in powerful and passionate conversations about real issues facing our faith communities.
Dig into content offered by the host team and guest faculty, and explore its relevance in our lives, our communities, and our understanding of leadership.
Develop authentic and supportive relationships with a cohort of retreat participants, with whom you will engage and support through the 9 months and beyond.
Learn and practice simple, powerful group-convening tools to bring vitality to everything from church meetings to Sunday worship to youth service trips.
Explore shifting and emerging worldviews that can help us lead in the midst of this sea change.
At-Home: Before, in-between, and after the retreats, participants will spend time reflecting upon, practicing, and integrating what they learn. At-home components include:
Pre-work: Before the first retreat in October, you will receive questions for reflection in as well as some suggested reading.
Periodic reflections about your practice of leadership with your cohort of participants, both in person and through conference call. There will be some guidelines for your time together, and, we will intentionally create open groups who will determine for themselves what is most needed. The host team will be available for consultation as any special questions and problems arise.
All-cohort calls for periodic teaching, group reflection, and encouragement.
Commitment to your own daily spiritual practice.
THE INTENT OF THE TRAINING:
Deepen our own being: We believe if you grow the person, the world gets better. We will learn who we are and become grounded to our being, strengthening our capacity to be the leaders our institutions and communities need.
Amplify our relationships: We believe you can’t be human alone. We will develop a strong and trustworthy community where you can be vulnerable and loved.
Be church in a different way for times such as these. The challenges of our time are everywhere, even in the people we minister with—after all, faith communities are where many go to make sense of such times. This requires a centered and evolved leadership paradigm of going together, not alone; of growing relationships, not isolation; of learning collaboration, not competition. Ignite is about taking that path of learning and evolving together.
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WHAT WILL THIS DO FOR ME?
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Ignite a sense of passion and courage, strengthening and renewing your call to be of service in this time.
Open up opportunities to lead meetings in meaningful, inclusive ways that build community, foster learning, and accomplish goals.
Connect you to a cohort of learning partners for sharing best practice as you lead.
Shift your leadership practice to become more resilient, more inclusive, and better able to deal with unanticipated and difficult dynamics.
Increase your ability to be in relationship with others and to be open to change.
Help you recognize and unlearn limiting beliefs that prevent you from living into your full capacity as a leader.
Support a framework and freedom for experimenting with how you and your faith community can contribute to social change.
Give you tools to fully engage parishioners and community.
RMC IGNITE.
A Leadership Initiative of the Rocky Mountain Conference
How do we faithfully lead when old solutions no longer work?
How might we dare to evolve our faith community and culture for times like these?
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We are living in the midst of a sea change. At every level—from climate, to politics, to economy, to healthcare, to education, to community, to our own local churches—we feel the sand shifting beneath our feet. Such immense change is not easy. We see divisions deepening. Tension rising. Fear consuming. We are overwhelmed, overcommitted, outraged, and often isolated, even as we tend to church and community.
What if we remember that we are not the first to live in times such as these? Throughout human history, the Spirit has called people of faith to join together in pursuit of a more just and generous world.
We believe that same Spirit is moving among us today. As a Conference, we have put forth a vision of the church as one of the most life-giving forces in our culture for the century ahead. We are looking for those who are ready to live out just such a vision.
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OVERVIEW and TIMELINE
For the last few of years, a small group of volunteers within the Rocky Mountain Conference has worked to create a leadership initiative. Its purpose is to speak to the complex and adaptive challenges we face in the world and our churches. We are excited to announce the pilot phase of this program, we invite you to consider participating.
WHAT:
IGNITE is a 9-month program dedicated to increasing our capacity as leaders in the 21st Century. The program is anchored around two leadership events, each taking place over four nights and five days. These retreats will then be sustained by regular small-group meetings and monthly all-cohort web-meetings, in the name of continued teaching and shared witnessing.
Rev. Hal Chorpenning
Senior Pastor—Plymouth Congregational UCC (Ft. Collins)
Hal has been Plymouth's senior minister since 2002. Before that, he was Associate Conference Minister with the Connecticut Conference of the UCC. A grant from the Lilly Endowment enabled him to study Celtic Christianity in the UK and Ireland. Prior to ordained ministry, Hal had a business in corporate communications, first in the Silicon Valley, and then in Boulder. He has two sons and a golden retriever, and is married to the Rev. Jane Anne Ferguson.