SESSION ONE:
TRANSITIONS DEFINED
In this session we’ll introduce the course and the Bridges Model for transitions and look at the three stages common to all transitions.
SESSION TWO:
ENDINGS
In this session we’re looking at endings – what makes them challenging, and how to navigate them well. We’ll explore the endings we’ve been through in our own lives and communities, how we’ve navigated them, and how they continue to shape our responses to change.
SESSION THREE:
TEMPTATIONS AND INVITATIONS OF TRANSITION AND CHANGE
In this session we’ll consider how to discern when we ourselves or those we lead are ‘stuck’ in that no-man’s land between an ending and the longed-for new beginning – or, in Bridges’ model – the neutral zone. What might we expect to hear? What behaviours might we notice? How will we work with that? How will we manage our own impatience to get momentum, to see progress?
SESSION FOUR
TEMPERING: DEEP WORK AND MANAGING THE HEAT
In this session we look to the process of tempering steel for lessons about life and leadership, especially in the neutral zone when stress is high. Tempering is the hard hot work that happens in the forge of life, ministry and leadership challenges. It is undeniably challenging, but ultimately vital to sustainable and resilient leadership.
SESSION FIVE: COMMUNITY
According to Tod Bolsinger, we need “solid, safe... thick, heavy relationships” to support the forming of a tempered and resilient leader. In earlier sessions we identified the ‘heat’ that comes on during change and transition, especially in the neutral zone. In this session we look at the relationships we need to hold us in the heat and vulnerability of uncertain times
SESSION SIX: TRANSITIONS AND RESILIENCE
In a context where churches are consistently looking for ways to cultivate resilient leaders, this session looks at the relationship between transitions and building resilience. We’ll reflect on the capacity that transitions have to form leaders who are sturdy “keepers of the dream” of the Kingdom of God.
