Retreat Leader Jim Smith on 'Welcome the People'

Pastoral leader, author, spiritual director, theologian, presenter & retreat leader

Jim is a visionary leader with over ten years experience directing non-profit organizations and more than twenty years with leadership responsibilities. He relates with ease to very diverse communities. He is passionate about human transformation. Jim possesses excellent speaking and writing skills with a strong ability to synthesize and summarize with clarity.

He brings personal qualities of intelligence, integrity, compassion and organization to all his public roles as director, facilitator and collaborator.

He served as Executive Director of Simpson Housing Services in Minneapolis from 2003 - 2005, and in this capacity he provided leadership, training, and management. Simpson Housing serves homeless adults and families seeking aid and comfort.

Prior to and since his work with Simpson Housing, Jim has also served in several key leadership roles in Catholic parishes, including ones where he was responsible for pastoral planning, leadership, and teaching. He also served as Campus Chaplain at the University of St. Thomas.

Jim has completed the Certificate Series on Human Resources -- University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, MN. He holds a Master of Arts in Applied Spirituality from the University of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA and a Masters of Divinity in Theology from the St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity, University of St. Thomas, in St. Paul, MN. He also holds a Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of St. Thomas.

He is author of Welcome the People: Ways to Gather and Nourish Adults from Twenty-Third Publications, along with numerous articles and other works.

Here it is! This is the book we've been waiting for. Author and pastoral leader Jim Smith offers us a "parish staff & volunteer leader workshop" in one inexpensive book. Using this resource will help you as a group prepare for and implement tremendously effective lifelong faith formation.

Each chapter has an excellent and practical exercise to help you become a "lifelong formation parish!"

Feeding the fire of adult faith demands from parish leaders a burning desire in their own hearts, as well as imagination and courage. So says author Jim Smith, who here offers what parishes need to breathe new life into parish faith formation gatherings for adults. Far more than a dry manual, this book is a passionate guide for passionate parish leaders. It offers an uncomplicated process for action and renewed faith.

To this end, it includes retreat-like exercises at the end of each chapter to keep parish leaders, ministers, and staffs fired up about faith formation. These exercises are first of all meant to be enjoyed. They invite leaders to imagine, to dream, to attend to their own souls, in addition to coming up with practical ideas for practical action. Above all these spiritual exercises invite them to envision the possibilities that exist in their parishes and to move forward to make them happen.

Highly recommended for all pastors, pastoral staffs and teams, parish ministers, and parish volunteers.

available at pastoralplanning.com

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Pastoral
• Faith
• Formation
• Retreats
• Catholic
• Christian
• Retreat
• Theology