Page Map In General Sabbatical Region 8 Cont. Ed Sharing First Call Theological Education Plenary 2025 Biannual Synod Clergy Continuing Ed Event The Planning Team Fall 2025: Spirits, Angels, and Demons in the Bible Winter/Spring 2025: Bonhoeffer and Nationalism Past Events Boundaries Training Rostered Ministers Gathering 2026

Having all the information about clergy-specific continuing education unnecessarily cluttered the Education for Clergy & Laity page. We've pulled the standards, recommendations, and clergy continuing ed materials here. Anything that would be open to both clergy & laity is on the Education for Clergy & Laity page. Be sure to check there too for educational offerings.

In General

WV-WMD typically holds two main clergy cont. ed events each year, one in fall, the other in winter. More about that below.

It is worth noting that CA97.2.7(a)(1)(a), an action of the Churchwide Assembly, encourages "a minimum of 50 contact hours per year of intentional continuing education, or 150 contact hours each three-year period." N.B., a contact hour is defined (as found on the rostered leader's annual report to bishop) as 50 minutes of class time or the equivalent. Time in worship, at meals, etc. does not count as contact hours. You may review the Report on Life-Long Learning and Development for Faithful Leaders (1997), the recommendation of the Church Council, the ensuing debate, and the final action in the Minutes of the Churchwide Assembly 1997 (excerpted).

Who would go to a doctor or a lawyer who did not engage in continuing education? Arguably, the stakes are higher when it comes the the clergy. Congregations should, therefore, not think of continuing education as a reward or a benefit but as an investment. Mutual ministry committees should discuss continuing education plans with their clergy and support education that will advance the professional development of their clergy and, in turn, advance the ministry.

Sabbatical

Region 8 Continuing Ed Sharing

There has been lots of new postings on the Region 8 Facebook page. It's good to see this much activity, and it is especially good to see us all moving beyond our synodical silos.

Synods across Region 8 hold continuing education events, and, on occasion, the Region sponsors an event jointly. It is often, though not always, possible to join another synod for its event. Be sure to check with the appropriate sponsor. If, however, the event is listed on the Region 8 Facebook Page, you may assume that it is open to clergy from across the Region. Check it out.

First Call Theological Education

CA95.6.55 ...To require, by the fall of 1997, that all newly rostered pastors and lay leaders participate, throughout their first three years of ministry under call, in structured programs of theological education, designed and supervised by their synods, according to churchwide standards;....

FCTE Region 8 Plenary

The Biannual Synod Clergy Continuing Ed Event

Synod Clergy Cont. Ed Events Team Pr. Daniel Collins (PC), Chair   Pr. Patrice Weirick (OKVC) Pr. Devin Ames (UOVC) Pr. Carrie Hoff (MVMC)

The Planning Team

At the Winter 2018 Synod Clergy Cont. Education Event, the presbyteral college elected to establish a committee for the design, planning, and management of synod sponsored clergy continuing education with one representative from each of the four conferences. Synod Clergy Cont. Ed, as we currently have it configured, provides approximately 12-17 CEUs per year, assuming attendance at both events.

Serving on the the Continuing Ed Committee we have The Revs. Daniel Collins (PC), chair, Patrice Weirick (OKVC), and The Rev. Devin Ames (UOVC) with Bp. Riegel as an advisory member and staff support. Synod clergy should feel free to talk to their conference's team member about ideas and concerns related to continuing ed.

Thanks are owed to The Revs. Christine Olson (past chair), Sherri Schafer (past chair), Paul Schafer, Casey Linemann, Ryan Heycock, Ruth Bullwinkle, Kevin Mackey, Randy Richardson, Sally Bartling, Darick Biondi, and Ben Erzkus for their now concluded service on the team.

Winter 2026: MESS

Fall 2025: Spirits, Angels, and Demons in the Bible

The Fall 2025 Synod Clergy Continuing Education Event was held 21-23 October 2025 with The Rev. Dr. Reed Carlson, Assistant Professor of OT/Hebrew Bible, Sewanee Seminary, presenting on "Spirits, Angels, and Demons in the Bible," at the St. John XXIII Pastoral Center, Charleston, WV.

Thirty-six attended, representing both clergy and laity from ten different judicatories.

Presenter

The Rev. Dr. Reed Carlson (Sewanee Seminary) is a Hebrew Bible/Old Testament scholar and an Episcopal priest. Previously, he was Assistant Professor of Biblical Studies at United Lutheran Seminary in Philadelphia where he also served as the Director of Anglican Studies. Dr. Carlson completed a Th.D. in Hebrew Bible/Old Testament at Harvard University and earned degrees from Luther Seminary in Saint Paul and North Central University in Minneapolis. Dr. Carlson has been awarded fellowships from the Fulbright program, the Episcopal Church Foundation, and the Louisville Institute.

An overarching goal of Dr. Carlson’s scholarly work is engaging the fraught hermeneutical issues involved in critically examining ancient and modern accounts of religious experience. He studies broad biblical complexes like spirit possession and apocalyptic expectation, comparing these phenomena in biblical literature with how they are expressed and interpreted in contemporary religious communities. His research develops frameworks whereby scholars and ministers can interact with experiences deemed religious critically and pastorally, and in ways that are not reductionist or hegemonic. In his first book, Unfamiliar Selves in the Hebrew Bible: Possession and Other Spirit Phenomena (De Gruyter, 2022), he compared spirit experiences as depicted in the Hebrew Bible and early Jewish literature with contemporary ethnographic studies of spirit possession in the global south. This monograph was awarded the Manfred Lautenschläger Award for Theological Promise. Dr. Carlson's next book, a co-edited collected volume, is titled Ominous Times: Anticipating Cataclysm in Early Judaism and Christianity (De Gruyter 2025). It focuses on the felt experience of anticipating the apocalypse as reflected in early Jewish and Christian literature.

Past Events

Peruse our past events and get a sense of what we do.

• Bonhoeffer and Nationalism" with Dr. Terese Smallwood
  
• "Preaching in the Wake of Mass Trauma" with The Rev. Dr. Kimberly Wagner
• "Mark on Mark" with The Rev. Dr. Mark Vitalis Hoffman
• "Walking with God Today: What's Next?" with The Rev. Harold "Jake" Jacobson
• "My Burden Is Light: Making Room for Jesus in Preaching" with The Rev. Dr. Craig Satterlee
• "Grief" with Sr. Carol Riley
• "St. Paul and early Christianity" with The Rev. Dr. Mark Vitalis Hoffman
• Hybrid Church with The Rev. Dave Daubert
• Best Practices for Live Streaming with The Rev. Matt Day
• Best Practices for Pandemical Worship with The Revs. Susan Claytor, Linday Muhly, Ian Reid, and Micahel Wright
• Racial Sensitivity raining with Ron Scott
• Creative Christian Education and Empowering Families in Times of Covid with The Rev. Jess Felici

Rostered Ministers Gathering 2026

We know the date and the place of the 2026 Rostered Ministers Gathering: 6-9 July 2026 in Indianpolis.

The previous two previous Gatherings included Bible study, plenary addresses, and a smorgasbord of small group discussions, workshops, panel discussions, and presentations along with worship, experiential learning, and fellowship. We assume this will follow a similar format.

As more information becomes available, we'll share it. This is the closest the gathering has been to any part of the WV-WMD Synod. If you have any interest (or just curiosity), save the date.

Boundaries, Diversity, etc. Training

The Churchwide Assembly has at various times (or encouraged) synods to offer training on a variety of topics: boundaries, anti-racism, diversity, etc.

Clergy in the synod are free to secure such training where the wish. The synod may, under some rules, be required to offer, but there is no rule that the clergy must take training under the synod's programming. At the same time, nothing prevents the synod from identifying sources for training outside the synod. Clergy of full-communion partners should follow whatever norms are required by their respective denominations, but they are most welcome to partake of offerings provided by Lutheran entities.

Rostered Leader Training by ULS

United Lutheran Seminary offers a variety of training sessions (e.g., Racial Justice, Cultural Competency, and/or Boundary Training). For more information and to access to an à la carte menu on the registration site, click here. Rostered Leader Training Begins on 15 September 2025 and runs through November. In-person training will take place on the Philadelphia campus!