Pastors from Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, and Missouri gathered at the Lincoln Embassy Suites Hotel, June 20-23, 2021, for a retreat focusing the Enneagram.  Hunter Mobley (https://www.huntermobley.com/) led workshops describing the Enneagram types.

When asked what a big take away was, one participant learned, “I’m  3 and my husband is a 9.  Very insightful/useful and we’ve been talking about it a lot.” Another person said, “I came into this retreat tired and not very enthusiastic, but was completely engaged by both the material and the worship.”  As one of the goals of PLR is pastor rejuvenation, we are pleased to hear this. Yet a third participant said, “This retreat was a wonderful blend of class and time to be a couple together. Tuesday afternoon was a wonderful date afternoon with my wife – Hay Market, Quilt Museum … Thank you.”

Sara Tonje was the worship leader for the gathering.  Sara invited worshippers to experience prayer in unique ways.  One way was to write a six-word poem, expressing how the worshiper felt, on a small circle of paper.  The worshipers then placed their poems on plastic forks in the worship center, making a sort of ‘flower garden’ of prayer.  She invited us to pray for the world by giving each worshiper a map of a different part of the world. The worshipers said to each other, “Please pray for the people of Dubai” or “Please pray for those struggling in the Sudan,” based on their map.  The worshipers sang hymns acapella beautifully.

As we learned with the Singles retreat earlier in the spring, we continue to hear that pastors have missed being in person with each other. We also keep hearing how much pastors and their family members appreciate being together.  One participant said, “PLR is a great program, especially because spouses and families are included. That is a strength of the program.”

This retreat offered free time for pastors and their spouses to explore Lincoln.  Some walked in the Hay Market district; some visited the Quilt Museum; others went shopping as rural communities do not have stores like Hobby Lobby or Trader Joe’s.

PLR is reaching its overall goal of pastoral revitalization.  One participant shared, “I am so grateful for PLR and how is has kept my inner fire burning.”  During this pandemic time, and coming slowly out of the pandemic, we are grateful to learn this.