Practical Leadership Training
Expand your leadership skills
AMBS’s Practical Leadership Training modules are designed to help pastors, lay leaders, community leaders and leaders of nonprofit organizations increase their capacity to provide effective Anabaptist leadership in a variety of settings. You can select the modules that are best suited to your interests and needs.
The modules — which vary in depth, length and format — focus on four areas: administration, leadership, contextual engagement and well-being.
Upcoming modules
February – June modules
–Click on a module title to view the description–
Anabaptism and Professional Organizations | Three-part webinar series | March 31, April 14, April 28 • 7–8:30 p.m. ET | Instructor: Jeremy Shue
In this series of webinars, we’ll investigate how Anabaptism strengthens, challenges and transforms the way we work and run our businesses and organizations. Register for the topics that interest you:
- [PAST] Anabaptism and Organizational Structures (March 31) – Registration closed
Explore how hierarchy, technology and generational divides come into conversation with theological convictions. - [Canceled] Anabaptism and Financial Practices (April 14) – Registration closed
Examine how assumptions around debt and interest shape long-term goals and practices. - [UPCOMING] Anabaptism and Ecological Care vs. Cost (April 28) – Register by April 21
Engage the tensions that all businesses and organizations face in how they impact the ecological systems around them.
Cost: $40 per webinar
From Fixing to Listening: Coaching for Leaders | Webinar | April 15 • 2–3:30 p.m. ET | Instructor: Shana Peachey Boshart
Coaching is a distinct and transformative approach to supporting growth in others — a leadership skill relevant to any organization. Through real-life demonstration, group reflection and hands-on practice, we’ll explore what’s unique about coaching and model coaching skills you can begin to use right away. Come ready to reflect, practice and leave with practical tools you can apply immediately.
- Understand how coaching differs from other helping relationships.
- Learn the core characteristics of a coaching mindset.
- Practice the set of questions that structure a coaching conversation.
Register by April 14 | Cost: $40
Teaching the Bible in an Age of Distraction | Online short course | May 19, 26; June 2, 9, 16, 23 • 7–8 p.m. ET | Instructor: Meghan Larissa Good
Many people today struggle to connect deeply with Scripture in an age of skepticism, distraction and low biblical literacy. Bridging the Bible gap equips pastors, teachers and lay leaders to guide adults into transformative encounters with God’s Word — whether in small groups, sermons or classrooms. Through practical tools and reflective learning, participants will learn how to teach in ways that spark curiosity, sustain engagement and shape disciples who think and live like Jesus.
- Diagnose motivational and cultural barriers that prevent adults from engaging deeply with Scripture.
- Develop personal practices to support your own lifelong transformation as a learner-teacher.
- Design and facilitate learner-centered small group studies and sermons that promote active participation and transformative understanding.
- Adapt teaching and preaching approaches to address contemporary challenges such as skepticism, distraction and low biblical literacy.
Register by May 12 | Cost: $300
October – December modules
Giving and Receiving Feedback | Four-session online workshop | Mondays, Oct. 5, 12, 19, 26 • 7:30–9 p.m. ET | Instructor: Betty Pries
Giving and receiving feedback is difficult. Participants in this module will explore the benefits and risks of feedback conversations alongside concrete strategies for managing such conversations well, especially in contexts where dynamics of power influence how feedback is given and received. This module is ideal for leaders whose work includes helping colleagues be at their best.
- Gain understanding of the complexities of feedback.
- Explore different types of feedback.
- Grow in confidence in engaging in feedback conversations.
- Learn to manage tough moments when feedback is not going well.
Register by Sept. 28 | Cost: $100
Leading Engaging Weddings and Funerals | Four-session online workshop | Tuesdays, Oct. 6, 13, 20, 27 • 7–8:30 p.m. ET | Instructor: Janice Yordy Sutter
Weddings and funerals can be times for individuals, families and congregations to care for one another, celebrate life, confront fears and embody the good news of Christ. We will talk about the logistics involved in planning for and leading such services and explore the role of the pastor in helping the congregation walk together through life-shaping experiences.
- Learn specific ways to get to know a couple and help them prepare for their future and their wedding.
- Gain confidence in leading the wedding rehearsal and the service.
- Explore ideas for involving the congregation and friends in funeral rituals.
- Learn to integrate the life stories of individuals and their hopes and fears with the good news of Christ’s abundant love.
Register by Sept. 29 | Cost: $100
Pastoral Care for Survivors of Child Abuse | Online short course | Tuesdays, Oct. 13, 20, 27; Nov. 3, 10, 17 • 7:30–9 p.m. ET | Instructor: Deborah Byler
Survivors of child abuse face challenges as adults in their relationships with others, their self-perception and their spirituality. They may also suffer from anxiety and/or depression and PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder). As ministers of a God who cares for the wounded, pastors and church leaders need to understand how child abuse affects people and how they can provide care with God’s healing love for survivors of child abuse.
- Learn how child abuse affects people in adulthood.
- Gain an understanding of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
- Grow in your ability to support and care for adult survivors of child abuse.
- Learn how to support survivors of child abuse in the complexity of forgiveness in cases of abuse.
Register by Oct. 6 | Cost: $300
Discernment in the Face of Big Tech | Four-session online workshop | Wednesdays, Oct. 21, 28; Nov. 4, 11 • 7–8 p.m. ET | Instructor: Brent Graber
How is it possible to make good, wise, humane decisions about technology when its development is so fast, its scale so enormous, its place in society so central, its harms and helps so unevenly distributed, and our ability to anticipate the results of our choices so inadequate? We will wrestle with these questions by approaching our relationship to technology from familiar and unfamiliar perspectives, seeking ways to accept the inevitable even as we question it.
- Explore the role and presence of technology in human life.
- Discern how technology uses us even as we use it.
- Exercise agency in the face of technological change.
- Practice all of these things with supportive peers.
Register by Oct. 14 | Cost: $100
Leadership Practices for Spiritual Vitality | Four-session online workshop | Tuesdays, Nov. 3, 10, 17; Dec. 1 • 3:50–5 p.m. ET | Instructor: Shana Peachey Boshart
Accepting a call to spiritual leadership puts one on a path of continual learning, growth and discernment. In this module, we tend to this ongoing growth, focusing on the practices that make for faithful and resilient spiritual leadership. Participants will receive a coaching session with the instructor included with their enrollment.
- Deepen your understanding of leadership as a Christian practice.
- Identify the practices of effective spiritual leaders.
- Focus on practices that deepen trust in God and expand your spiritual imagination.
- Adopt two to four specific practices that integrate spiritual growth with your leadership role.
- Learn models of change management and consider how to apply them.
Register by Oct. 27 | Cost: $100
Register
The registration deadline for each module is one week prior to the module start date, unless otherwise noted. See the module descriptions for exact dates.
Group discounts: Groups can receive a 25% discount when five or more people from the same church or organization enroll in the same module. For information on how to get the group discount when you register, contact the Church Leadership Center at churchleadership@ambs.edu or 574.296.6269.
Continuing Education Units (CEUs)
Participants can purchase Continuing Education Units (CEUs) for completed modules for $15. To receive CEU’s, participants must attend all sessions and complete all assignments.
Refunds
If participants cancel two or more weeks before the start of the module, their fees will be fully refunded. If they cancel within two weeks of the start of the module, their fees will be refunded, minus $25 USD. Participants can apply their refund from a canceled module as credit — less $25 USD — toward a future module of the same price within one year.
Customized modules
We can also bring Practical Leadership Training modules directly to your conference, church gathering or other event — in person or online — customized to meet your needs. See a list of previous modules here.
Questions? Contact us at churchleadership@ambs.edu or 574.296.6269.
About Practical Leadership Training modules
In 2021, AMBS asked church leaders, “What is the most meaningful thing that AMBS can do to support current and future leaders for the church?” Many leaders shared that while seminary had prepared them well for Bible study, preaching and pastoral care, they needed practical leadership skills to meet challenges resulting from the pandemic, polarization, shifting church commitments and an unpredictable future.
In response, we’ve designed our Practical Leadership Training modules to help pastors, lay leaders, community leaders and leaders of nonprofit organizations increase their capacity to provide effective Anabaptist leadership in a variety of settings. We’re adjusting our offerings along the way — based on feedback we receive from participants, churches and organizations.
If you, too, are longing to expand your leadership skills, sign up for any or all of our modules! You can select the ones that are best suited to your interests and needs.
Module formats
Practical Leadership Training modules are offered in five different formats:
| Format | Duration | Location | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| In-person seminar | One 60-90-minute session | In person | $25 |
| Webinar | One 60-90-minute session | Online | $25 |
| Leadership clinic | Full day (6–8 hours) | In person | $75–90 |
| Four-session online workshop | One 90-minute session per week for four weeks | Online | $100 |
| Short course | Six weeks | Online | $300 |
Looking for more options?
Try an upcoming graduate-level course
Want to explore seminary study? Take an upcoming course!
Nonadmitted students get 50% off their first two courses for credit!
Try an online short course
Looking to expand your theological knowledge?
Take one of our six-week discussion-based online short courses.
No grades, no papers!
Request a visit from an AMBS instructor
Invite the faculty and staff of AMBS to come directly to you in person or via videoconference.
Meet the instructors
Shana Peachey Boshart
Shana Peachey Boshart of Elkhart, Indiana, is a certified leadership coach and an ordained minister in Mennonite Church USA. She is Project Facilitator for Shine Curriculum’s “Shine Everywhere,” an initiative to discover and practice the “everywhere” habits that form faith in children. Previously, she served as Denominational Minister for Faith Formation with Mennonite Church USA and as Conference Minister for Christian Formation with Central Plains Mennonite Conference. A graduate of Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg, Virginia, she also earned a Graduate Certificate in Theological Studies from AMBS in 2017.
Deborah Byler, DMin
Deborah Byler of Goshen, Indiana, serves as Faculty of Record for Resilient Leadership in AMBS’s Doctor of Ministry in Leadership program. Previously, she served with Eastern Mennonite Missions and Mennonite Mission Network, accompanying and empowering women leaders in the K’ekchi Mennonite Church of Guatemala for 16 years. Deborah also held various Human Resources roles with Mennonite Mission Network for 16 years, relating to international mission workers and focusing on pastoral care. She holds a Doctor of Ministry from Columbia (South Carolina) International University and a Master of Divinity from AMBS. She is also a spiritual director and the author of God’s Wounded Servants: Hope for Survivors of Chidhood Sexual Abuse (2022).
Brent Graber, MA, MSEd
Brent Graber of Elkhart, Indiana, is Director of Information Technology for AMBS, where he attempts to apply his interest in the philosophy and ethics of technology to practical decisions at the seminary. Sometimes he is successful. He earned a Bachelor of Arts from Tabor College in Hillsboro, Kansas; a Master of Arts: Theological Studies from AMBS; and a Master of Science in Education from Purdue University Global.
Meghan Larissa Good, DMin
Meghan Larissa Good is Faculty of Record for the Teaching Leadership component of AMBS’s Doctor of Ministry in Leadership program. She serves as Resource Development Manager for Jesus Collective, a network that equips individuals and churches to navigate the shift toward robustly Jesus-centered faith and practice. Meghan is the author ofDivine Gravity: Sparking a Movement to Recover a Better Christian Story (Herald, 2023) and The Bible Unwrapped: Making Sense of Scripture Today (Herald, 2018). She holds a Doctor of Ministry from Portland (Oregon) Seminary at George Fox University and a Master of Divinity from Duke Divinity School in Durham, North Carolina.
Betty Pries, PhD, CMed
Betty Pries of Waterloo, Ontario, is Core Adjunct Faculty and DMin Faculty of Record at AMBS. She also serves as CEO and Senior Consultant at Credence & Co. She specializes in providing mediation, training, facilitation, coaching and consulting services for businesses, nonprofit organizations, governments and churches. She has also developed expertise in managing conflict in faith communities and workplaces. Betty received much of her training through Mediation Services in Winnipeg, Manitoba, including a Diploma in Mediation. A chartered mediator, she holds a Master of Theological Studies and a Doctor of Philosophy from the Free University Amsterdam.
Jeremy Shue, MDiv
Jeremy Shue of Goshen, Indiana, served as a pastor at Silverwood Mennonite Church in Goshen from 2010 to 2021 with responsibilities for outreach, administration and leading the Pastoral Team. In 2012, he helped launch Re-Gen, Inc., a plastic recycling and processing company, where he currently leads sales and operations. As a convicted Jesus follower and lifelong Anabaptist, he continuously wrestles with how to lead organizations in a way that aligns his theological convictions with practical application. He holds a Master of Divinity from AMBS.
Janice Yordy Sutter, MDiv
Janice Yordy Sutter of South Bend, Indiana, has more than 40 years of pastoral experience in four congregations. Most recently, she completed a longtime pastorate with her husband, David Sutter, at Kern Road Mennonite Church in South Bend. They have officiated more than 100 weddings and 60 funerals, using the gifts of the community to mark these significant life events. Janice earned a Master of Divinity from Iliff School of Theology in Denver, Colorado, and studied for a year at AMBS. She keeps learning about Family Systems Theory through Lombard (Illinois) Mennonite Peace Center Advanced Clergy Clinics.