One of my blessings during this pandemic and the resulting consequences of working from home, lots of Zoom meetings, and some opportunities for introspection has come through a new focus on the last statement of Micah 6:8 “...walk humbly with God”. The Courageous Conversations course became an avenue in which I learned more about how walking humbly is tied to listening to understand and even picking up the adage that, ‘I could be wrong.’ The humble statement about being wrong allows me to be more present with people as I learn from them and expand my understanding. Even if we disagree, we are able to preserve our relationship because we understand each other, without having to convince the other person that I am right.
The Grow, Equip, and Connect ministry areas of the Susquehanna Conference are partnering with Discipleship Ministries to present Courageous Conversations, a four-session online course that will help us to gain confidence in how we have hard conversations. The instructor (and creator) of Courageous Conversations is Rev. Scott Hughes. Scott is the Director of Adult Discipleship and Executive Director of Congregational Vitality & Intentional Discipleship for Discipleship Ministries, an agency of the United Methodist Church. Our partnership with Discipleship Ministries will allow participants to use the course – a special edition that will be only available to the Susquehanna Conference – and offer CEU credits for taking it.
Registration for the course is now open at: https://susumc.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Courageous-Conversation-flyer.pdf. Be sure to use the special code that allows 100 participants to take the course without cost.
The course is organized in four sessions which include a video teaching from Scott, additional articles to read, and an opportunity to answer questions in a format that will allow you to interact with Scott and others taking the course. There is a downloadable booklet that accompanies the course. This material embodies the Fruit of the Spirit – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, goodness, faithfulness, and self-control in order to have Courageous Conversations! Against such things there is no law! (Gal 5:22-23)
