Registration for Fall/2024 will open June 12
We have a new slate of offerings including our newest series “Emotional Health in Ministry” which are likely to fill quickly. So mark your calendars and reserve your spot!
Registration closes 8/15
Our Cohorts – Fall 2024
What is a cohort?
An Alongside Cohort is a small group of 10-12 pastors’ wives that gathers together for intentional conversations that help each of us embrace the joys and walk with wisdom and courage through the challenges that come with ministry life. Each cohort meets four times for guided conversations that dig into issues that we all must wrestle through in order to continue in ministry with a healthy heart. We incorporate practical tools wrapped in rich conversation about real issues that we all face, but that few understand unless they have walked this road. The cohorts are facilitated by seasoned coaches who ask layered questions to peal back the onion on complicated issues and ultimately helping all of us see God’s hand working, even in the difficult.
The Specs
The majority of our cohorts meet online via the Zoom platform. We’ve found this to be easily accessible, provides a safe atmosphere and is a great space for intentional conversation. Our cohorts typically meet four times (over one semester, Feb-April and Sept-Nov). Each conversation session lasts two hours. Every participant also meets once, one-on-one, with one of the coaches. During this time, they can dig into the particular challenges of her ministry context that might not be appropriate to do in the larger group. This is also a rich time of prayer and asking the Lord to heal, lead and move in her life. Because the spaces are limited, we ask that you commit to participating in every discussion when you sign up.
COST: The big question. Thanks to the generosity and Kingdom-focus of the Mission Hills Association, we are able to offer all Alongside resources, including the cohort experiences, FREE OF CHARGE. MHA funds the training, platforms and development of this ministry in order to make it available to as many ministry wives as possible, with no obstacles. We wrestle with the “skin in the game” issue but decide regularly that we’d rather take away the financial burden for our women, because we value your ministry, whether its in a small church plant or a megachurch.
MEETINGS: The majority of our cohorts meet online via the Zoom platform. We’ve found this to be easily accessible, provides a safe atmosphere and is a great space for intentional conversation. We offer semester-long (Sept-Nov and Feb-April) and year-long cohort experiences (Sept-April). We encourage first-timers to try out a semester-long cohort to see if they like the format before taking a spot in a year-long, as those are limited and highly prized.
ONE-ON-ONEs: Each participant also meets once. one-on-one, with one of the coaches of her choice. This is a great time to dig into specific challenges of your ministry context or tricky situations that might not be appropriate for the larger group setting. This is also a rich time of prayer and asking the Lord to heal, lead and move.
PARTICIPATION: We ask that you commit to attending EVERY discussion. This is community is extremely rare and we want to protect and nurture it. If you are unable to attend the first discussion, we ask that you withdraw and sign up for a future cohort.
Sign up
We fill cohorts on a first come-first served basis. If all of the cohorts fill for your desired time, we’ll put you on a wait list. If someone gives up their spot, you’ll be contacted and given the option of joining, provided it is before the first session. When dates are released for the next semester’s cohorts, you’ll be given first priority.
Conversation Series
Each cohort engages in intentional, focused conversations that help us to wrestle together with some complicated issues surrounding the life of a pastor’s/ministry wife. These conversations are designed to help us each take the next step in embracing our callings to ministry and the opportunities that are unique to this calling. While we don’t shy away from the “ugly underbelly” of church ministry, our desire is to help each other see God’s hand in the midst of all that is hard. And while there is some content, some meat and tools that our coaches bring to the table, the conversations are more about digging in, asking hard questions and sharing perspectives.
The Embracing Your Calling series is foundational to many of the other conversation series. So we encourage doing that cohort series first. It is not required, but encouraged.
Series Descriptors
Embracing Your Calling Conversation Series
Dig into the idea of a “shared calling” and how to build a marriage team that not only supports but seizes the opportunities God brings your way with courage and unity. Discover how you are uniquely gifted by God for this crucial role. Learn practical skills in building your marriage team. Some of these sessions have advance homework (like a “date-night” conversation activity).
Session 1 - A Shared Calling
(How did we get here? How is the idea of a shared calling not only biblical but helpful? How do I/we move from “his calling” to a “shared calling”?
Session 2 - Being a Team
(What are the obstacles to being a team and how to tackle them? What happens when I feel tempted to disengage? How can I better know how our marriage team works? How can I be intentional about strengthening our marriage team?
Session 3 - Discerning Your Calling
(How does my life fit into what God is doing in His Kingdom, in my church/ministry? How has God built and molded me for this role? What’s the difference between my identity, my calling and my assignment? Is this a big deal? How has God used my greatest pain to build in my my greatest passion?
Session 4 - Group Guided
(The topics discussed in this session will be the product of issues and questions sent by the cohort to the coaches during the previous three months)
Raising a Family In Ministry Conversation Series
There’s a difference between raising a family where Dad happens to be a pastor and raising a family that embraces being in ministry together, as a team. We all desire to raise kids that love Jesus and His people from the heart, but sometimes being in church ministry makes that a whole lot more complicated. Dig into living out the Both/And realities such as embracing ministry and healthy boundaries, authentically sharing struggles and protecting kids, and the blessings of privacy and a public platform. We’ll talk about family life and ministry from the time of diapers through parenting adult children. We don’t have all the answers but will provide some framework to think about these issues purposefully.
Session 1 - Helping Kids Love Jesus
(How do I help my kids internalize their faith? How do we create a safe place for them to wrestle with their faith? How do we keep it from getting lost in the busyness of ministry? How much is my responsibility?)
Session 2 - Helping Kids Love His People
(How do we nurture our love for God’s people, especially when they are unlovable? How do we deal with expectations that are put on our kids? How do we navigate protecting our kids from the ugly underside of ministry while allowing them to see the struggle and growth that comes from it? How do we help our kids find their own place in the family of God?)
Session 3 - Living Publicly
(Does our family see our platform as a blessing or a curse? How do we navigate privacy and living publicly? How do we engender respect without encouraging people to put us on a pedestal? When we are struggling, in our marriage or our kids, how do we do that when it’s so public?)
Session 4 - Group Guided
(The topics discussed in this session will be the product of issues and questions raised during the previous three months, perhaps that we haven’t had the time to press into)
Managing Messy Ministry Relationships
Ministry is complicated and for a pastor’s/ministry wife, navigating the relationships with a congregation and staff complicated as well. We’ll dig into navigating those relationships that can often bring the most stress and pain to the ministry pathway. While the hours are long and doing ministry on a shoestring budget can be hard, the things that give us as ministry wives the wounds that are often hardest to heal are the relationships we have with people that are difficult. We’ll talk about keeping your eye on the goal of shepherding even the difficult people and not just getting them to be less difficult. These conversations will rely heavily on discussion and include time for sharing and prayer for each other.
Session 1 – Dealing with Criticism
Session 2 – Managing Conflict
Session 3 – Engaging the Revolving Door of Relationships
Session 4 – Handling Expectations
Building a Healthy Ministry Marriage
This conversation series dives into the particular challenges facing couples in ministry. We assume that you are familiar with the foundational principles of a healthy marriage (communication strategies, conflict resolution, expectations, etc.) and use these as a springboard for conversations that equip us to invest in marriages where ministry is a tool that God uses to bring us together, not pull us apart. We’ll discover wise principles and appreciate the unique application they have in each of our marriages
Session 1 – Dealing with Loneliness and Friendship
Session 2 – Dealing with Conflict in the Ministry
Session 3 – Keeping the Spark of Romance and Love Alive in your Ministry Marriage
Session 4 – Open Discussion
TRANSITIONING WELL
This semester, we are offering this cohort specifically for our pastors’/ministry wives who are serving outside the continental U.S. The conversations are all in English without translators, so we just ask that you are comfortable with that.
We’re all transitioning in one way or another. And whether we’re starting or finished-we want to do it well. When we start and end well, we set ourselves and others up for success in the in-between. In this Cohort, we’ll talk together about the trickiness of entering new ministries when you are a ministry wife, how to turn over the reigns in an empowering way, how to grieve and celebrate when you leave a ministry (even when the circumstances are less than ideal) and how to enter a new ministry in a way that paves the way for Kingdom ministry. We’ll also spend a little time digging into transitioning out of full-time ministry and into retirement or other assignments in a way that continues to embrace Kingdom investment.
Session 1 – Leaving
Session 2 – Grieving
Session 3 – Entering
Session 4 – Adapting
Emotional Health in Ministry
Ministry life is difficult – that’s a no brainer. But it means that we need to be intentional about managing what’s going on in our own hearts if we are to run this race for the long haul and not be taken out by injuries or sheer exhaustion. We have to take steps to both adopt some practices that will change how we manage our emotions, increase our capacity for hard things and also implement some strategies for healing from the hurt that happens in ministry. And that takes engagement, vulnerability and hard work. We’ll walk through these practices and strategies together during our discussions. But we’ll also give you some work to do outside, with the Lord, to come to a healthier heart place. If you are ready to grow in how you manage your inner life, this cohort is for you.
Session 1: What does emotional health look like?
- Signs of health and symptoms of sickness
- Practices: diet, exercise, and rest for the heart
Session 2: Why is this still hurting?
- Sources of heart unhealth: injury, sickness, neglect
- The healing process: clean out the wound, remove infection
Session 3: How do I pursue real healing?
- Purpose of Pain
- Medication: a way of understanding pain, our responses, healing and restoration
Session 4: What practices can I incorporate in my life to manage my heart better?
- Most important practices for pastor’s wives
- Most challenging practices for pastor’s wives
Fall 2024 Cohorts
Scheduling: Currently, we are offering four out of six of our cohort series. If you are looking for Raising a Family in Ministry or Transitioning Well, please check back in the Spring of 2025.
Yearlong Cohorts: We are offering two different cohorts that will meet for two semesters (September through April). It is crucial that you honor your commitment to these spots as they are highly sought after.
Times: We serve ministry wives from five U.S timezones as well as twelve different countries. All times are in MOUNTAIN STANDARD TIME, so please adjust for your location.
Commitments: We ask that all participants mark their calendars when you sign up and make sure that you can make all of the sessions. We usually have waiting lists, so please honor your commitment. If you miss the first session, you will need to register for a future term – there is so much community and foundations laid during that time, it’s pretty crucial.
Wait Lists: If you’d like to participate in a cohort that is FULL, please let us know and we’ll put you on a waiting list.
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In Person
If you are interested in an in-person format, we have partnered with regional ministries that are offering cohorts in some areas. These cohorts are led by coaches trained with Alongside, using our content and format. Please reach out to them using the link below.
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