UCC Love of Neighbor Retreat Gets to the Heart of Team Ministries

Amidst global concerns, pre-election stress, and other outreach initiatives, team leaders from the UCC’s Love of Neighbor ministry met in late October 2024 for a two-day CHHSM-led retreat, “Love of Neighbor: Connecting and Collaborating from the Heart,” to refocus on the why and how of their work.

Held at Lakewood (Ohio) Congregational UCC, the retreat was the first time colleagues had all met in person since the reorganization of the UCC’s ministries into three new divisions, unified by the theme of “love” — Love of Service, Love of Church, and Love of Neighbor. The workshop-retreat was an opportunity for the Love of Neighbors to share their work in new ways.

“There is so much in these tumultuous days that is stressful and can distract us from the core of our ministries,” said the Rev. Shari Prestemon, who oversees the Love of Neighbor division as the UCC’s acting associate general minister and co-executive of Global Ministries. “Gathering the team leaders in retreat allowed us space to reflect on our shared mission and deepen our relationships in a way that will help sustain and nurture our work moving forward.”

The retreat was developed by the Rev. Dr. Elyse Berry, CHHSM’s associate for advocacy and leadership development, and Prestemon. Appropriately, it was based on 1 Corinthians 12, “There is a variety of ministries, but we serve the same one.” 

“This powerful chapter in scripture provided the theme for the retreat. It came from my conversation with Shari when we discussed what the purpose and goals of the two days would be,” said Berry. Prior to the restructuring, “some members of the newly configured Love of Neighbor team were part of Justice and Local Church Ministries, some were from Wider Church Ministries, while others were part of Health and Wholeness Ministries. The foundational purpose for this retreat, then, was to discover more about who each other is as individuals, and then as a whole team.”

The retreat was the first time the Love of Neighbor team leaders had a chance to meet in-person with Prestemon for an extended period of time. “The chance to explore how our work complements each other’s was most useful,” said Dr. Peter Makari, Ph.D., global relations minister, Middle East and Europe, for Global Ministries of the UCC and Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). “It was meaningful to be able to share from our hearts about our work — joys and challenges. I am grateful to Shari for prioritizing this time together, to Elyse for facilitating it, and for my colleagues for the chance to be together in this work.”

The flow of the retreat included exercises and materials beginning with who each participant is as a person, who and what their ministry represents, who they are as the Love of Neighbor team, and who the team is within the broader context of the UCC national settings and the wider church.

“Elyse brought together a variety of practices/approaches to provide space for meaningful and, at times, deep conversations,” Makari added. “Through scripture, poetry, music, craft, and conversation, there were opportunities for us to be expressive and to bond over the days together. The retreat afforded us good opportunities to get to know each other and our areas of work better.”

Participants talked about the retreat being the perfect “time out.” 

“The workshop-retreat was just what I needed in that moment,” said Mike Neuroth, head of the UCC’s Washington, D.C., office. “Taking place just before the election, my head was already spinning with scenario planning and a frenzy of activity. Our theme helped me get more out of my head and into my heart and body to be reminded of why we do this work.”

For newer staff members, the retreat was a chance to get to know colleagues on a new level, and share in ministry. 

“It was wonderful to be with the rest of the Love of Neighbor team leaders and our amazing Acting Associate General Minister Shari Prestemon,” said Andrew Long-Higgins, team leader of Global HOPE, which provides UCC congregations and partner organizations with “humanitarian opportunities for progress and empowerment.” “I joined the Love of Neighbor unit in June 2024, but amidst the daily, weekly and monthly rhythms of our work, and the fact that multiple teams of our unit are deployed, it is not often that we have space and time to think freely in-person with each other about our shared and intersecting work.”

The two days included worship, ritual, discussions, and activities that highlighted the main concepts, including one that used ceramic anatomical hearts. Retreat participants decoupaged and glued what was onto their ministry’s heart. Through the project, they expressed the heart of each of their ministries.

“For me, reflecting on and decorating a “heart” model that symbolizes my team was really meaningful,” said Neuroth. “As a leader, it was valuable to step back and think about my staff team as a whole, and try and include images or words that reflect the fullness of our efforts.”

Other activities included using a rain-drum, or rain-pan, near the beginning of the retreat, to express the stress each participant was feeling coming into the sessions. “The retreat was held a few weeks after hurricanes Helene and Milton devastated large swaths of the southeastern U.S. and a week before the 2024 presidential election,” said Long-Higgins. “Early in the retreat Elyse had us use a rain-pan to communicate non-verbally how we were all feeling. Despite each of us using the same sound device, it was powerful to hear us each find different ways of nuancing what we were each feeling internally.”

While day one of the retreat focused on how team members work well together, day two concentrated on the “how” and “with whom” of the work and collaborations participants hope to do, now and in the future, said Berry. “The final visioning exercise, using the template of the newspaper written in the future about their work, helped to synthesize and articulate these ideas.”

“My primary take away is a deeper connection with my fellow team members,” said Neuroth. “In terms of the content, I’ll take away the value of helping move myself and my team out of our heads a bit, and into a posture of more holistic reflection that sees ourselves and our bodies as part of, but distinct, from the larger organizational and political landscape.”

Long-Higgins agreed, adding, “I was reminded of the importance of protecting time to do the deep thinking necessary for creative problem solving.” 

With the biblical theme running throughout the two days — “If one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members share its joy. You then, are the Body of Christ, and each of you is a member of it” — the retreat offered a chance for the Love of Neighbor team a chance to feel a sense of renewed purpose.

“Through conversation and reflection, I think we were able to reinforce the ways that we work toward a common goal of seeking justice around the world,” said Makari. “We also could re-articulate and re-commit to our sense of calling in the particular roles we each have.”

Or, as Prestemon reflected, “Relying on Elyse’s smart and joyful leadership to facilitate our time together freed all of us to fully participate in the conversations and made it a much richer, more beneficial experience as a result. Every single team leader expressed afterward that while they felt challenged to carve out that retreat time amid all the daily demands of their work, they were immensely grateful that we had. It was invaluable time together.”