live & learn

“YES” by William Stafford

It could happen any time, tornado earthquake, Armageddon. It could happen. Or sunshine, love, salvation.

It could, you know. That’s why we wake and look out—no guarantees in this life.

But some bonuses, like morning, like right now, like noon, like evening

William Stafford, “Yes” from The Way It Is: New and Selected Poems. © 1994 by William Stafford. Reprinted with the permission of The Permissions Company, LLC on behalf of Graywolf Press, Minneapolis, Minnesota, www.graywolfpress.org.

It could’ve happened any time—the closing of our doors to lifelong learners, but the time it happened was March 16, 2020. Our beautiful spring plans like buds about to open now chomped by COVID-19. We paused only briefly to take a deep breath. Something new stirred. We moved a day-long conference on trauma to a series of weekday mornings in cyberspace and expanded our reach. We discovered groups ready to learn online who we were sure would never do it and shattered our assumptions. We convened people on weekly video calls and built a community of profound depth. Bonuses, these things. In the way of things, what looked like an end turned out to be a commencement. Stay tuned.

– Melissa Wiginton

Until further notice, all Education Beyond the Walls events scheduled for the fall will be conducted online.

September 2, 2020 | What am I going to say? Preaching Through the Election Season | Leah D. Schade | In this workshop for preachers, Rev. Dr. Leah Schade will help you think strategically about your sermons. Based on her book Preaching in the Purple Zone: Ministry in the Red-Blue Divide (Rowman & Littlefield, 2019), Schade offers a new way to approach preaching in this politically divisive climate using two tools: a “dialogical lens” for interpreting scripture and the “Five Paths for Prophetic Preaching.” Together, participants will workshop sermon topics for the five Sundays preceding the national election using these tools. | Cost: $65

October 5-7, 2020 | Dipping Deeper into the Well of PC(USA) Ministries | Stephanie Fritz | in partnership with SCRAPCE | This workshop will Introduce attendees to the wide array of resources available through the PC(USA) Program Ministries for use in Christian formation and educational ministry in the local church setting. Attendees will experience first-hand the many options for church school studies, mission enhancement, programming for intergenerational or age-and-stage educational and spiritual formation. | Cost: $40 per person including certification; $25 per person for workshop only

October 19-22, 2020| The Art and Craft of Community Storytelling | Mark Yaconelli, Melissa Wiginton | Education Beyond the Walls is hosting an online training in community storytelling for those interested in the transformational power of stories. Facilitated by veteran storytellers, the program offers a variety of experiential exercises, individual skill-building, practical teaching, presentations by community activists, with written and online resources. | Cost: $395 early bird rate for registration before Sept. 1.

Check out all our resources available online:

• Faculty videos in the “Resources for Desert Times” section of the web site (AustinSeminary.edu)

• Weekly meditations, interviews, and other content on Facebook. com/ebw

EBW is launching a new Pastoral Leadership for Public Life (PLPL) cohort focused on pastors serving in rural Texas. PLPL helps pastors stretch their vision, develop their capacity, and increase their confidence to lead at the intersection of the Good News and the Common Good. We recognize that many clergy in rural settings lack connection to supportive colleagues within their region and beyond. Woven throughout this cohort program are opportunities to deepen relationships with peers, engage in practical action, and reflect theologically. PLPL Rural is a twelvemonth commitment to learning in a community of sixteen pastors with five to fifteen years in practice. This cohort will meet online and in-person. We are accepting nominations now! Applications are due October 16 for a January 2021 start date; look for the application on our web site.