Ohio Conference is providing Healthy Boundaries training for all credentialed persons in the Conference. This training will be offered three times during 2017-18:

• Dec. 9, 2017 — SpringHaven Counseling Center, Dundee (near Mount Eaton, Ohio)
• Jan. 13, 2018 — First Mennonite Church, Bluffton
• April 21, 2018 — Archbold area (specific location yet to be confirmed)

The training will last from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at each location.

Attendance at this training is mandatory for continued credentialing in the Ohio Conference.  Retired pastors are welcome to attend, but are not required to do so. Chaplains who have previously completed similar training may submit documentation of that training to the Ohio Conference Credentialing Ministry for consideration.

The Ohio Conference Credentialing Ministry is encouraging each congregation to send a layperson to the training along with their pastors to share the experience. Congregations generally want healthy pastors and want to find ways to help that happen, and this training will provide guidelines for achieving that goal. In addition, training a second person will raise the awareness of the congregation’s leadership about ways everyone, and particularly pastors, can practice healthy boundary maintenance. Congregations are encouraged to send someone who is part of the group to whom the pastor is accountable.

At the Dec. 9 training, the presenters will be Jon Bohley and Laurel Neufeld Weaver. Jon Bohley, the clinical director at SpringHaven Counseling Center, is a licensed professional clinical counselor. Laurel Neufeld Weaver is a licensed independent social worker and director of Creating Hope Counseling in Bluffton, Ohio.

Healthy Boundaries training has several goals:

• To increase awareness of the need for healthy boundaries in the clergy-congregant relationship
• To provide clergy and lay leaders with guidelines for appropriate boundaries and self-care
• To illustrate strategies to sustain a safe, healthy church
• To define boundaries and why they are important

Ohio Conference is presenting these training events in conjunction with the Central District Conference.

The registration cost for this training is $25 per person. This fee covers the cost of the training, books and lunch. Any pastor or congregation who has difficulty in paying that amount should contact Andy Stoner, Credentialing Ministry chair, at astoner45@gmail.com or 937-450-4482.

The deadline to register for the Dec. 9 training is Friday, Nov. 24. To register online, go to http://bit.ly/HealthyBoundariesDec9.

To register for the Jan. 13 training, go to http://bit.ly/HealthyBoundariesJan13.

To register for the April 21 training, go to http://bit.ly/HealthyBoundariesApril21.