This post was originally published on this site
The Office of Pastoral Life hosted priests and deacons online for the September 2024 Synaxis on Tuesday, September 17. Dean Harbry, PCC, spoke on the topic of “Parish Health From the Middle Way Perspective,” how to cultivate virtue and clear communication in personal life, ministry, and parish life through avoiding both deficiency and excess. Following his presentation, clergy entered confidential breakout sessions to consider these ideas in depth and explore how they might apply in their own experiences.
Dean Harbry is a Professional Certified Coach (PCC), founder and president of the Middle Way Institute and operates an executive coaching and advisory firm. One of Dean’s missions is to assist Orthodox priests and parishes in promoting healthy human relationships and sound organizational cultures. His current, professional quest is to uncover, articulate and document how the Church has taught and inculcated virtue in its people. Dean and his family attend St. John the Wonderworker in Grant Park, GA, where he serves as a subdeacon.
The Zoom meeting opened early for fellowship at 1:30 PM ET. After the keynote presentation, registered participants were divided into groups of four to six clergy, each with a facilitator, and sent into breakout rooms. The 80-minute breakout sessions are based on the Peer Learning model where the participants form a trusted community of learning focused on pastoral ministry. The Synaxis closed with twenty minutes of general discussion and closing words from Dean Harbry.
Whether you have enjoyed past Synaxis events or look forward to your first experience, please invite a clergy friend to upcoming Synaxis events. The next Synaxis event will be on December 17, 2024, from 2:00-4:00 PM ET, and will feature His Beatitude Metropolitan Tikhon, addressing the topic of fasting. Invitations with registration links will be emailed to all OCA clergy beginning on November 26th.
The Synaxis Clergy Online Conferences, as part of the Office of Pastoral Life of the OCA, are intended to foster spiritual brotherhood by offering a meeting place for our clergy to learn from and support one another, and to be strengthened by their encounters, so that good clergy may be made better. To find out more about the Office of Pastoral Life and its programs for clergy, please email secretary@opl.oca.org or visit our website at opl.oca.org.
