Sacred Circles is a pilot project for ministry leaders in partnership with the Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area, and the dates listed on this page are specifically for participants invited through that partnership. If you are interested in learning more for your own cohort or judicatory, please reach out for additional opportunities.
You were not meant to lead alone.
Sacred Circles bring together small groups of ministry leaders for a year of peer consultation, practical learning, and spiritual formation. It’s a confidential space to bring the weight you carry and find the community you need.
A Trusted Space for Leaders
Ministry brings deep purpose and real pressure. Sacred Circles create space to bring the questions, tensions, relationships, decisions, and transitions that leaders often carry in isolation.
Through recurring peer consultation, practical learning, spiritual formation, and compassionate accountability, participants cultivate the resilience and wisdom needed for sustainable ministry.
Trusted peers who understand the realities of ministry
Skilled facilitation grounded in ministry systems, pastoral care, and group dynamics
Practical tools for communication, discernment, boundaries, conflict, and leadership
Time for reflection, spiritual grounding, and renewed clarity
A confidential covenantal community for honest conversation
Who Is It for?
Sacred Circles are designed for leaders who carry significant responsibility in the life of the church and community, including:
Pastors, clergy, and spiritual leaders
Certified lay pastors, Certified Ruling Elders, and Synodically Authorized Ministers
Ministry directors and staff
Chaplains
Lay leaders with substantial ministry responsibility
Leaders in vocational transition or discernment
Leaders navigating parenting, caregiving, aging parents, or other life-stage changes
Ecumenical cohorts offer a wider range of perspectives while fostering emotional safety, connection, and mutual care.
How a Circle Works
Each Sacred Circle is a consistent, covenant-based group of 6–8 participants meeting in person once each month for 3½ hours over a one-year commitment. Regular attendance supports trust, continuity, and meaningful growth. Each cohort begins and ends its year together with a two-day retreat.
A Typical Session
Opening grounding or spiritual practice
Personal check-in and shared reflection
Skill-building teaching session
Focused peer consultation around real ministry situations
Collective discernment, feedback, and practical next steps
Closing reflection
Each participant brings case studies, interpersonal challenges, organizational dynamics, difficult decisions, or vocational questions for thoughtful consultation.
What We Explore
Sacred Circles blend practical leadership development with spiritual and emotional formation. Topics are shaped to serve the needs and realities of each cohort.
Family systems, triangles, and congregational dynamics
Pastoral identity, formation, and theological practice
Nervous-system awareness, somatic practices, and resilience
Self-awareness, self-compassion, and internal family systems
Social and cultural identity in ministry
Communication, confrontation, and carefrontation
Healthy boundaries, authority, and power
Conflict styles and conflict transformation
Addiction, mental health, and compassionate care
Nonviolent communication and crucial conversations
Values-based, self-led leadership
Anti-racism and systems assessment
Dates for the 2027 Cohort
Opening Retreat January 8-9
Cohort Gathering - February 6
Cohort Gathering - March 6
Cohort Gathering - April 3
Cohort Gathering - May 1
Cohort Gathering - June 5
Cohort Gathering - July 10
Cohort Gathering - August 7
Cohort Gathering - September 11
Cohort Gathering - October 2
Cohort Gathering - November 6
Cohort Gathering - December 4
Closing Retreat - January 7-8, 2028 (Tentative)
All Cohort Gatherings meet from 9:00am to 12:30pm on their designated day
Meet the Facilitators
Three experienced ministry leaders bring complementary perspectives in coaching, pastoral education, congregational leadership, and spiritual formation.
Rev. Dawn Alitz, PhD
Rev. Dawn Alitz currently serves as an Assistant to the Bishop in the Saint Paul Area Synod of the ELCA. Her expertise includes ADHD coaching, team coaching, adult faith formation, and program coordination.
She served at Luther Seminary for ten years as Director of Coaching at Faith+Lead and Managing Director of the Festival of Homiletics. Dawn has more than twenty years of congregational leadership experience in mission-start and established congregations. She holds an ACC credential with the International Coaching Federation.
Rev. Kimberly Goodman
Rev. Kimberly Goodman is an ACPE Clinical Pastoral Educator and program supervisor for North Memorial Health. She has twenty years of experience in CPE and previously trained and served with the Allina Health System. She is working toward a Doctor of Educational Ministry in de-colonial and anti-colonial education at Columbia Theological Seminary and is ordained in the Presbyterian Church (USA).
Kim is committed to process and group education, with a focus on holistic adult education, pastoral and spiritual formation, family systems theory, internal family systems, trauma-informed care, clinical ethics and values, and pastoral imagination.
Rev. Dr. Verlyn D. Hemmen
Rev. Dr. Verlyn D. Hemmen is a retired Reformed Church in America pastor and CPE Educator. He served in several roles over twenty years of pastoral leadership and was a CPE Educator for more than twenty years in the Twin Cities area.
His expertise includes metaphor, clean language, healing the inner child, insights in space, family systems, crucial conversations and communication skills, conflict management, self-led leadership, and internal family systems.
Verlyn worships at Lake Nokomis Presbyterian Church in Minneapolis.
The Impact
Investing in leaders strengthens the whole ministry system, from the individual to the congregation to the community they serve.
For Individual Leaders
Reduced isolation and burnout
Greater emotional and spiritual resilience
Clearer decision-making and discernment
Stronger accountability for healthy rhythms
Diverse perspectives and practical wisdom
More confidence navigating conflict, change, and complexity
For Churches and Organizations
More grounded, supported, and sustainable leaders
Improved communication and staff cohesion
Earlier recognition of systemic challenges
Reduced turnover and leadership fatigue
Stronger alignment between mission, values, and practice
You were not meant to lead alone
If you carry the weight of ministry leadership, a Sacred Circle can offer trusted community, skilled facilitation, and practical tools for the work ahead. Reach out to ask about cohort availability and fit.