Five-Day Academy for Spiritual Formation: Spirituality and the Modern Prophet

A Retreat for Clergy and Lay Leaders
April 11-16, 2010

For this retreat at Ignatius House Retreat Center in Atlanta, Ga., there are three faculty members: Loyd Allen, professor of spritual formation at McAfee
School of Theology; spiritual formation author Marjorie Thompson; and Walter Fluker, who directs the Leadership Center at Morehouse College. The
retreat is led by Gary Furr, Mary Jayne Allen, Elise Eslinger and Norfleete Day. Early bird registration before January is $500. Regular registration is $550 (both prices include lodging, meals, and program). The nearest major airport is ATL. You should plan to arrive by 5pm on April 11, and the retreat will conclude at Noon on April 16.

Register now!

Faculty

Loyd Allen is the Professor of Church History and Spiritual Formation at McAfee School of Theology. His training for Christian ministry took place at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, where he was awarded the M.Div. (1978) and Ph.D. (1984). Baptist heritage and Christian spirituality remain his greatest areas of interest and he has published numerous journal articles as well as books. His wife, Libby, works in the admissions office at McAfee, and his daughter, Clare, is a college student. For relaxation in the city, he enjoys reading novels, watching movies and playing tennis. (read full bio)


Walter Earl Fluker is executive director of the Leadership Center at Morehouse College, Coca-Cola Professor of Leadership Studies and is currently serving as interim director of the Morehouse College Martin Luther King Jr. Collection. Known as an expert in the theory and practice of ethical leadership, Fluker is a featured speaker, lecturer and workshop leader at foundations, businesses, corporations, religious institutions, colleges and universities as well as consultant to both national and international organizations. He has completed the first volume of a multi-volume series entitled, The Sound of the Genuine: The Papers of Howard Washington Thurman and is the author of numerous articles and essays in scholarly journals and anthologies. (read full bio) (read full CV)


Marjorie Thompson is a widely sought retreat leader, teacher, and speaker in the area of Christian spirituality. She is the author of Family, the Forming Center and Soul Feast: An Invitation to the Christian Spiritual Life. She is an ordained Presbyterian minister and studied Christian spirituality with Henri Nouwen. While Director of Pathways in Congregational Spirituality at Upper Room Ministries, she served as chief architect of a resource in spiritual formation for small groups called Companions in Christ and authored chapters for several volumes in the Companions Series. Marjorie enjoys hiking, creative cuisine, music, and gardening when time allows. She and her husband John Mogabgab live in Kingston Springs, Tennessee, with John’s 95-year old mother, Bab, and a suprememly contemplative cat named Chai. (read full bio)

Staff
 

Gary Furr has been a pastor for over twenty years and has served as pastor of Vestavia Hills Baptist Church since 1993. Before that he was a pastor in Georgia and Texas. A native of North Carolina, he has been married since 1973 to Vickie. They have three daughters, Heather, Erin and Katie. He received a Master of Divinity from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, North Carolina, and Ph.D. in religion from Baylor University in Waco, Texas, where he graduated in 1986. He is a graduate of the The Academy for Spiritual Formation with the Upper Room Ministries and currently serves on the Coordinating Council of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. Gary is often called on as a speaker and conference leader and has written for a number of magazines and journals. He also serves as an adjunct professor of religion at Samford University.


Mary Jayne Allen was the recepient of the 2007 Jack Naish Distinguished Christian Educator Award from the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship.  Mary Jayne earned a Master of Arts in Christian Education from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and joined the staff of First Baptist Church in Chattanooga in May 1987, serving first as Minister with Adults and becoming Minister of Christian Education in 1996.  After 20 years of ministry with this congregation, she retired on October 1, 2008. Retirement activities include teaching conversational English, assisting in a first grade classroom at a downtown elementary school, volunteering at the Tennessee Aquarium as a docent, and writing CBF missional formation resources for adults. She looks forward to continuing to serve God and others through Christian formation and spiritual guidance. (read full bio)


Elise Eslinger has been a church musician since age fourteen, serving as organist and/or director of music and worship arts ministries in numerous congregations across the country. As a founding member of the Upper Room Academy for Spiritual Formation, Elise was worship coordinator for the first Academy which began in 1983. She compiled and edited the original Upper Room Worshipbook (1985) as well as the recent edition, Worshipbook  2006/07, which have been utilized in the Academy sessions for over two decades, as well as in retreat, seminary and congregational settings around the country. Elise was the founding Director of the Institute for Applied Theology at United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio, in 2003, which includes the Center for Urban Minsitry, Center for Worship, Preaching and the Arts; Heinrich Center for Wellness Ministry; and, the Pohly Center for Pastoral Supervision and Leadership Formation. The Eslingers enjoy three children and their families (especially three grandsons and a new granddaughter), though these loved ones are spread far apart in California, Montana, and North Carolina. (read full bio)


Norfleete Day joined the faculty of Beeson Divinity School in 1996 where she teaches spiritual formation and New Testament. She has the distinction of being the first faculty member who is a graduate of Beeson Divinity School. After completing her M.Div. degree in 1993, Day recieved a Ph.D. in New Testament at Baylor University. Before that, she served as associate librarian with the Birmingham Public Library. She has published The Woman at the Well, Interpretation of John 4:1-42 in Retrospect and Prospect, a monograph based on her doctoral dissertation. Her research interests are in Christian spirituality, ecumenism and ethical implications of the gospel. She is Baptist and an ordained deacon of Vestavia Hills Baptist Church, Vestavia Hills, Alabama.