Orientation January 7, 2025

Meetings Dates Tuesdays: January 14th, 21st, 28th. February 4th, 18th. March 4th, 18th. April 1st, 15th, 29th. May 13th.  

Financial Assistance and Scholarships Available. 

For example: 

  *$450 Scholarship Available for UCC clergy in the Illinois South Conference and Missouri Mid-South Conference. Made possible by the Deaconess Nurse Ministries.

 *$450 Scholarship Available for all United Church of Christ clergy with standing or surviving spouses or partners. These scholarships are available nationally through the United Church Board for Ministerial Assistance (UCBMA), the philanthropic arm of the Pension Boards.

* Additional financial assistance may be available through Eden Seminary. 

Please contact Jill Schantz for scholarship approval before registering. jschantz@eden.edu

Description: 

NEXT Steps introduces participants to theological, philosophical, and psychological concepts of vocation and aging. It is a gathering for adults contemplating or entering retirement, and for those who are recently retired. All program activities are designed to stimulate your individual self-discovery as you develop a personal plan for your new and meaningful chapter of life. NEXT Steps participants follow a 16-week process of self-discovery through readings, presentations, small group discussions, and discernment. All classes will meet via ZOOM. By the end of the program, participants will have developed a vision and a plan for their next phase of life; their elderhood. On non-class weeks there will be a one-hour small group discussion, time and date to be determined by each small group on the first day of class.

Cohort leaders:

Beth Long-Higgins, Executive Director, Ruth Parker Center for Abundant Aging

Steve Lawler, Director of the Walker Leadership Institute at Eden Theological Seminary

Jill Schantz, Coordinator, NEXT Steps