2025 Candidacy & Discernment Retreat
March 21, 2025 – March 22, 2025
- Those who have inquired about Candidacy or seminary.
- Those who have applied for candidacy and seminary.
- Those who have been “Entranced” into candidacy and are currently in seminary.
- Those who serve on the SD Synod Candidacy Committee.
- SD Synod Staff and the Region 3 Candidacy and Leadership Manager.
The cost of this retreat experience (including both lodging and food) has been offset by the South Dakota Synod, such that the registration fee is only $50 to attend the retreat. Shared or single rooms are available. If you need mileage reimbursement, you can submit your miles for the charitable rate of 14 cents/mile. If the $50 registration fee is a financial burden, please contact Crystal (cmccormick@sdsynod.org) in the Synod office and ask for the “Life Long Learning” grant application in order to cover the cost of registration.
Please register as soon as you are able, indicating your dietary needs, and fill out the Housing Information form HERE to help us know what your needs are for the event. We are always glad to have a conversation with you or answer your questions.
Registration Cost: $50
Registration closes March 6, 2025
Location:
Abbey of the Hills
46561 147th St, Marvin, SD 57251
Venue Website
Lodging:
PLEASE FILL OUT THIS HOUSING INFORMATION FORM to help us know what your needs are for the event.
Description:
This retreat is an opportunity for building relationships, learning, fellowship, worship, and rest. Those in discernment are invited, and all candidates are strongly encouraged to attend. This retreat has been designed as an essential part of the formation experience of candidates for rostered ministry in the South Dakota Synod. Your engagement during this retreat will be directly connected to specific learning outcomes of your candidacy journey. We will be using an exciting new resource, The Shape of Our Lives: A Field Guide for Congregational Formation. We will explore the many ways that the contours of congregational formation parallel those of personal spiritual formation by digging deep into six factors (desires, convictions, character, stories, practices, and institutions) that shape our spiritual formation, often operating beneath our consciousness. Look for a preview of this resource at the Pasque Learning Community HERE. You can find a full schedule for the event HERE.
Speaker Information:
Pr. Kari Webb: Former educator and lifelong learner, Pr. Kari bears witness to the persistence of God’s call to church ministry. Kari took the “long path” toward ordination. But God doesn’t pay much attention to age, career or timelines. Kari is drawn to the story of Nicodemus in John’s gospel. He asks Jesus “How can anyone be born after having grown old?” and Jesus spins a tale about win and water and Spirit. Pastor Webb is beyond joyful that the wind of God’s Spirit has brought her into service in the South Dakota Synod where, like Nicodemus, she continuous to ask with wonder, “How can these things be?”
Deacon Krista Anderson: Deacon Krista is theRegion 3 Candidacy and Leadership Manager and Program Director for the Support of Ministers of Word and Service.
Questions? Contact Pastor Renee Splichal Larson, Associate to the Bishop, at rsplichallarson@sdsynod.org or call 605-274-4024.
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2025 Candidacy & Discernment Retreat
03/21/2025 - 03/22/2025
8:00 AM - 10:00 AM
Venue: The Abbey of the Hills
Venue Phone: 605-398-9200
Venue Website: https://www.abbeyofthehills.org
Address:
