Dancing on the Head of a Pen: A Writing Workshop for Clergy

Sponsored by the Collegeville Institute in partnership with the Pastoral Excellence Program of the Massachusetts Conference, UCC

From Barbara Brown Taylor to Father Gregory Boyle to Nadia Bolz-Weber, contemporary pastor-writers provide spiritual nourishment to a broad community of readers. Is the spirit calling you to join them? Come away to the woods of Ashland, Massachusetts, just 20 miles from where Thoreau wrote Walden, and enter the tradition of clergy who have extended their ministry beyond the local church through writing.

Who among our clergy hear a call to articulate with clarity and resonance the hungers of 21st century hearts, minds, and souls? Who among us now is writing to probe and illumine the ebb and flow of our spiritual journeys? Who is exploring the landscape of faith in ways that both bless and challenge today’s church and culture?

If you can answer “Here I am” to these questions, consider applying for this workshop, offered by the Collegeville Institute in partnership with the Pastoral Excellence Program of the Massachusetts Conference, UCC. Stretching over five full days, the workshop will feature teaching sessions with noted writer Robert Benson, time for writing, and evenings spent listening and responding to each others’ work.

Who May Apply? 

• Ordained or credentialed persons of all denominations
• Writing clergy with various levels of experience (no publication history expected)
• Ministry practitioners who desire to contribute substantive & imaginative theological reflection and who are willing to expand their capacity to write

About Robert Benson 

• His guiding principle: paying attention to the everyday things that point us to the presence of the Holy
• His favorite topics: prayer, liturgy, spirituality, vocation, travel, baseball, & the Rule of St. Benedict
• His books (partial list): Between the Dreaming and the Coming True, Living Prayer, The Echo Within, Dancing on the Head of a Pen, & a breviary, Venite

The program is limited to 12 participants and will be held at the Warren Conference Center and Inn in Ashland, Massachusetts, 25 miles east of downtown Boston. Accommodations include private rooms with baths, and all meals and snacks.

Transportation to and from the facility are the responsibility of participants. The full cost of the program is underwritten by the Pastoral Excellence Program of the Massachusetts Conference, UCC in partnership with the Collegeville Institute and the Lilly Endowment. Participants are expected to stay the full length of the workshop.

Application Process: