Dear ,

Happy Fifth Day of Christmas!*

For me, it has been such a full, full season. And I’m not to the end of the fullness yet! I have a few more grades to finish. Writing deadlines. And also many exciting things to prepare for in 2025. 

On this Fifth Day of Christmas and before the calendar turns to the New Year, I want to tell you about some of those things and extend a few invitations.

Discernment 2024-25

First, I want to invite you spend some time with me this Friday, January 3. At one of our beloved Mini Writing Retreats, you will have an opportunity to work on "Discernment 2024-25." It is a self-paced, fillable document to help you look back at 2024 and forward to 2025 and give thoughtful discernment to your experiences. If you are already attending the Mini Writing Retreat, and have your own writing plans, you can save the discernment document for another time. It will go out on New Year's Eve to all who are registered for the retreat. More details below!

Conversation with Bruce Reyes-Chow

We have a couple more episodes of our conversation with  Rev. Bruce Reyes-Chow. Remember, , I keep weekly episodes and interview conversations brief, so you can spend just a few minutes on Monday mornings finding inspiration and key information about your practice of ministry. It’s a great way to begin your week with some learning, self-reflection, or a new perspective. All of the episodes we share at 3MMM is based to some degree on research in the only national, longitudinal (ongoing, year after year), and ecumenical study of ministry in the U.S., the Learning Pastoral Imagination Project. I’ve been directing the study and following ministers, along with Chris Scharen since 2009. 

Conversation with Bonnie Miller-McLemore

We also have new episodes from my conversation with Dr. Bonnie Miller-McLemore coming in January! Her new book Follow Your Bliss and Other Lies about Calling (Oxford, 2024) is a powerful, interesting, and very engaging book on vocation in its many dimensions. You are going to enjoy these conversations so much!

Women's Work Series | Columbia Seminary

Speaking of vocation, I hope you will consider joining me on January 9 for my night in a series of "micro-retreats." 

My topic is "vocational grief" something I imagine could be hitting a nerve for lots of people right now. Register for the January 9 online event today. The Women's Work Series is sponsored by Columbia Theological Seminary. This is a pay as you are able event. You also get all past and future recordings, including presentations by Dr. Chanequa Walker-Barnes and singer-songwriter Carrie Newcomer. 

*We know. We know. Some people say it’s the 6th day of Christmas, but at our house, we start on the day after Christmas proper. We end on Epiphany. To make up for our liturgical stubborniferousness, I'm sending you a little of the silliness that is our three decades long 12-Days Gift Exchange in the pics below. Plus the fuzziest coats you've ever seen. Didn't buy them. Just goofin' around. 

May your 12 Days of Christmas include delights, joy, rest, and meandering around. May these moments, the easy aspects of life, be yours in abundance, and may they fill you and me up and get us ready for challenges that are on the way. 

Warmly,

Eileen

Mini Writing Retreat

Friday, January 3, 2025

11:30a – 3:00p ET  ||  10:30a – 2:00p CT
9:30a – 1:00p MT  ||  8:30a – 12:00p PT

Give yourself the gift of a time for reflection at the turn of the New Year. 

"Discernment 2024-25" Everyone who registers for the January retreat will receive a fillable document with journal prompts to help you look back at 2024 and look forward to 2025. 

You can use the Mini Writing Retreat to work through the process laid out in "Discernment 2024-25." Or you can bring any writing project you desire with you to the retreat! You'll also get a working document for how to plan your retreat time. Either way, it will be a great way to begin the new year writing in community!  

Remember, , what you do and who you are matters! I believe in you, and I hope you will let me know how I can support you!

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