14th Annual Healthy Congregations National Gathering

Body and Soul: The Brain and Life in Community

October 15-17, 2012
St. Paul of the Cross Passionist Retreat Center
Detroit, Michigan

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Focus of the National Gathering

We gathered for the 14th annual National Gathering of Healthy Congregations around a theme that focused on integration and regulation.  Humans have always been fascinated by the brain.  It represents both mystery and foundation.  It is a source of action, reaction, and belief.  Curiosity has increased in recent years as science has expanded its capacity to understand and explore the strange world of this vital center of humanity. Current research focuses on the brain’s capacity to oversee and impact emotion, language, understanding, and functioning.  This conference offered presentations by a neuropsychologist, a social worker with experience in neurofeedback and family theory, and a minister who has challenged thinking about congregational and leadership vitality. 

ng12_02With Thanks To

  • Angelo Bolea, Priscilla Friesen and Larry Matthews for excellent presentations each day
  • Larry Foster for organizing family of origin time for participants
  • All those who joined us for the First Ever Livecast of the National Gathering
  • Board Chair Bob Mathis for his kick-off presentation for the Healthy Congregations: The Next Generation Campaign


Plan to join us for our next National Gathering: October 14-16, 2013 in Columbus, Ohio

 

Featured Speakers from the 2012 National Gathering

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Priscilla J. Friesen, LICSW
Priscilla Friesen has served on the faculty of the Bowen Center for the Study of the Family in Washington, DC, since 1987. Her professional and personal interest is the interplay of the brain, physiology, and relationships. Guided by Bowen theory, Friesen interweaves self-regulation methodologies, including biofeedback and neurofeedback, into her teaching and her work with individuals, couples, families, and organizations. In 2005, she founded The Learning Space with Regina Carrick and Glennon Gordon. Friesen is presently working with the Murray Bowen Archives Project and the National Library of Medicine to make the Bowen Archives “available to the world.”
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Rev. Dr. Lawrence E. Matthews
Larry Matthews founded Leadership in Ministry Workshops in 1992 and served as Coordinator until retirement in 2011. He continues to serve as a LIM faculty coach and leads coaching groups for clergy and counselors. Matthews served 42 years in pastoral ministry, retiring in 1998 after 32 years at Vienna (VA) Baptist Church. He was the only clergy faculty member of Dr. Edwin Friedman’s Postgraduate Seminars for Ministers in Family Emotional Process. Throughout his ministry, he has been interested in the interface between pastoral ministry, pastoral counseling, and Christian theology. Matthews and his wife Jean enjoy their eight grandchildren and overseas travel and study.
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Dr. Angelo Bolea
Angelo Bolea is a neuropsychologist and neuro-rehabilitation specialist in Bethesda and Annapolis, MD. He uses neurofeedback and neurotherapy to treat memory, learning, mental, and behavioral problems. His mission is to understand the brain in order to improve brain functioning with prescribed activities and specialized therapies. He believes that when the brain functions well, therapy is more productive and clients experience higher levels of achievement. Bolea has led workshops and seminars in applied brain function across North America, participated in postgraduate study at the Florida Society of Behavioral Neurology, and served as past president of the Biofeedback Society of DC, Maryland, and Virginia.