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FAQ
Lodging and meals at Dumas Bay Retreat Centre in Federal Way are included in the cost of tuition. Those registered for the weekend sessions will stay Friday night in private rooms.
(Couples can be accommodated in double rooms if desired.)
Those registered for the June week-long session will stay Monday through Sunday nights.
The retreat Centre provides meals, and can accommodate special diets,
if you let us know two weeks in advance.
1. Who should enroll in the College's Core Program?(Couples can be accommodated in double rooms if desired.)
Those registered for the June week-long session will stay Monday through Sunday nights.
The retreat Centre provides meals, and can accommodate special diets,
if you let us know two weeks in advance.
The College is for clergy and lay leaders of parishes in the Diocese. Lay leaders can be elected leaders such as Vestry members or can be people who lead in more informal ways. Those enrolling in the College should be willing to undertake the demands of a two-year program that includes attendance at all sessions, readings and assignments and back-home projects.
2. Why the emphasis on parish teams participating in the College's Core Program?
Teams of people (clergy and lay) who are trained in a common approach and with common skills are more likely to be able to nurture and support the health that already exists in congregations and to create positive change where necessary.
3. What exactly is congregational development and what does "organization development" mean?
"Organization development" as a discipline has been defined in many different ways by practictioners in the field, itself. Click here to read some of these definitions. Congregational development is any effort that seeks to increase the health and faithfulness of congregational life. Congregational development efforts can range from working on increasing the ability of liturgy to renew and send its members into the world as Christian people, to undertaking efforts to grow the size of a congregation, to better alignment between financial resources and a congregation's vision for its ministry.
4. How much work will the College's Core Program involve for participants?
Participants will need to attend and participate in all the sessions of the College, complete all the readings and assignments, and complete back-home projects in the parish.
5. What can I expect the benefit of the College's Core Program to be in my parish?
The effect of the training in specific parishes will very much depend on whom a parish sends for training and participants' ability to apply their learning in their parish setting. With this said, what we hope parishes will experience is an increased energy to engage the challenges and opportunities before them and new tools to make progress in these areas. Some results that parishes have seen in undertaking a more disciplined approach to congregational development are: increased numerical growth, more focus on Christian formation, greater participation of the membership in decision-making processes, strengthened worship life, and greater clarity about identity and mission
6. How is the College 's Core Program different from other programs in congregational development?
The College is one of many programs in the Church and outside the Church which seek to help congregational leaders increase their skills for congregational development or seek to equip leaders from many contexts with the skills they need to function in healthier and more effective ways. What we feel is particularly valuable about the College's core program is that its approach combines theory and practice in both
congregational and organization development and that it allows leaders from the Diocese of Olympia to learn together, building a network of support and learning as more participate and are trained.
7. What if our parish can't afford the tuition for participating in the College? Is there any tuition assistance?
The Diocese of Olympia has a limited amount of money available for tuition assistance for parishes who cannot fully afford the tuition for College's 2011 tuition. Funds are limited, with the maximum tuition assistance being for 40% of the 2011 tuition. Parishes seeking tuition assistance for individuals or teams should complete the tuition assistance section of the registration form.
8. What if I/we want to register now but do not have the tuition in hand to send in with the registration?
If you or your parish team is in this situation, that is, you need more time to get Vestry approval for the tuition funding but you want to hold a space or spaces in one of the College's offerings in 2011, please contact Melissa Skelton at melissamskelton@gmail.com or call her at 206 291-5001 to discuss this. She will work with you on a way to hold spaces while you work on the funding at the parish level.
9. What is the policy for missed sessions?
Registration for The College for Congregational Development is a commitment to attend all the working sessions and of the College and completing the required projects. Along with this participants are expected to participate in all worship, social times and meals
With that said, things come up that prevent a participant from attending a session. Below please find our policies about absences and make-up work.
All missed sessions must be made up in order to complete the College.
If one day or less of a weekend or 8-day session must be missed, you may work with a trainer to make the time up at a charge of $20/hour for each hour spent with the trainer. You will also be responsible for any expenses you incur in meeting with the trainer.
If an entire weekend in the 4-weekend format or a 1 ½ to 2 day period must be missed in the 8-day format, there are two options available to you:
- Drop out of the program, and begin again the year at the appropriate weekend. Your tuition fees will be carried over to the year you re-enter.
- Work with the trainers for make-up sessions at a charge of $100/day for the missed sessions. You will be responsible for any expenses you incur meeting with the trainer.
8. What is the refund policy?
The Diocese must make significant deposits in advance to reserve the facility at Dumas Bay for our time there. We are bound by their cancellation and refund policies. Many students are receiving significant scholarships from the Diocese to attend and the expenses for the retreat and the trainers must be met regardless.
If you are attending the weekend sessions and need to drop out, no refunds can be made unless you cancel 30 days or more before the beginning of the first session. After the first session is held, there will be no refunds, as those monies have already been paid to the facility and the trainers for the year.
Likewise, if you are attending the June 8-day session, refunds can only be made if you cancel 30 days or more before the beginning of the session. This, of courses, means that anyone dropping out after the session begins will not receive a refund.