“…the pot that The Potter was shaping from the clay was marred in their hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best… “ 

- from the Book of Jeremiah

A new collaboration!

For years, Marcia McFee and Jason Moore have heard people say how much their teaching principles about creativity and worship design are simpatico! So together they are re-shaping the annual Worship Design Studio Planning Retreat so that it will not only be double the creative ideas for the 2022-2023 liturgical year, but also focus on meaningful ways we can re-shape our in-person, online, and rhythm-flexible worshiping!


Utilizing material from Moore’s hot-off-the-press new book, Both/And: Maximizing Hybrid Worship Experiences for In-Person and Online Engagement and McFee’s Think Like a Filmmaker: Sensory-Rich Worship Design for Unforgettable Messages, participants will learn concrete ideas and techniques for bringing the Word alive throughout the year in their places of worship in multiple formats to reach people where they are–live, online, in scheduled worship, and outside of typical worship formats. All while doing long-range planning that will create excitement for the coming year. 2 CEU credits available for participation!

Gather onsite or online!

Our co-sponsor for this event, Saint Paul School of Theology in Kansas City, has made it possible for us to gather in the spacious Church of the Resurrection Student Center adjacent to their offices and classrooms. You will not only get to experience best practices of both/and hybrid conference techniques, but you’ll also see the cutting edge hybrid technology at work in the seminary classrooms. This seminary was doing hybrid learning long before the pandemic and we are excited to partner with them for this event.


There are many ways to re-shape your participation and your creative process…and that’s the point!

In a time in history when our coming together has literally been derailed by pandemic and the coming together of people for the good of the whole has seemed difficult at best, we believe that churches are poised to offer powerful messages of healing, renewed creativity, and moving forward into a promising future, equipped with the new skills and openness to possibility that we’ve learned in the last two years! When we come together to share best practices, we are reminded that we are never alone and that “we were made to be re-shaped!”

Event Location

Our retreat will be hosted at the Student Center at the campus of Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas. We start with Sunday dinner at 6pm and end Wednesday at 11am. Fly into "MCI" (Kansas City International Airport).


Address: 13720 ROE AVE.
LEAWOOD, KS 66224


Browse nearby hotel accommodations and be sure to check AirBnB for places to stay!

At This Retreat...

1) Rejuvenate your passion for your work

2) Plan your worship themes for the liturgical year

3) Design alternatives for rhythm-flexible worshipers, both in-person and online

___

Marcia McFee has designed and led worship at gatherings around the world, taught at more than 15 seminaries, and is the Creator and Visionary of the Worship Design Studio that resources churches all over the US and Canada.


Jason Moore has worked with conferences and churches across the US as a "secret worshiper" consultant and keynote speaker, most recently guiding congregations through the paradigm shifts of "Both/And" hybrid worship.

ACCESS TO OVER 13 YEARS OF WORSHIP THEMES

INCLUDED in your event registration is one month of complimentary access to the Worship Design Studio online community, where you will be able to reference over 13 years of worship themes (lectionary and non-lectionary) to turbo-boost your creativity, put you in touch with hundreds of amazing ideas and resources and train (or start) your worship team. When you register for this event at check-out, you will be given the opportunity to upgrade to a full-year subscription at our deepest discount. (If you are already a full-year WDS Subscriber, you can add another year onto your existing subscription cycle at this deeply discounted rate!)

Meal Ticket Details

Meal tickets can be purchased after you buy your ticket package. The meal tickets include three dinners (Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday), one lunch (Monday), lite breakfast snacks each morning, and drinks throughout the event. These meals are scheduled so that you have maximum time for planning!

If you have any special dietary requests (such as allergies, vegetarian/vegan or gluten free), please notify Kelli Whitman ([email protected]) no later than July 29th, 2022.

Retreat Schedule

All times outlined below are are in Central time. Use a timezone converter website to see what time that is where you are. All sessions are recorded and will be available to registrants as soon as each session is over and throughout the year (forever!).


Sunday evening (7 PM - virtual experience starts at 6:30PM): THE CREATIVE PROCESS - We'll lay the groundwork as we discern our context this year, the reality of new paradigms in designing worship, how to get creative with multiple formats, and how to get the most out of your time at this planning retreat.


Each of the following sessions are divided so that the first half is Marcia and Jason’s presentation and the second half is a group work session to plan for your church.


Monday morning (9 AM): THE ADVENT/CHRISTMAS/EPIPHANY CYCLE – Make plans to start the liturgical year off with deeply meaningful worship that has people talking about "the best Advent season ever”–whether they worship with you live every week or in other formats. You may choose to use one of Worship Design Studio's fully-scripted series to give yourself a great foundation for training your team in more sensory-rich worship and give you an even greater chance of getting planned WAY ahead.


Monday afternoon (1 PM): THE LENTEN SEASON – We will get glimpses into the possible depths you can offer your congregation in this poignant season that offers personal and communal transformation. We’ll talk about the power of symbols and spiritual practices that flow easily between worship and home, connecting what we do in worship onsite and online, and connecting it all to our daily lives.


Monday night (6:30 PM): HOLY WEEK – We will take a deeply moving "Journey with Egeria," the first person to record her experience of Holy Week in the 4th century Jerusalem church that will inspire us to make our Holy Week an experiential pilgrimage. We will model how to create a moving experience for those participating remotely.


Tuesday morning (9 AM): FREE TIME – After four packed sessions, you'll be ready to sleep in, catch up, or you may just want to use the time continuing to plan.


Tuesday afternoon (1 PM): EASTER CYCLE AND THE DAY OF PENTECOST – In the first part of this session, we will talk about various ways to deepen our practices of communion throughout the year and our sense of community even when some are “present” elsewhere. Then we will dive into the theology and planning of the season of resurrection.


Tuesday evening (6 PM): THE SUNDAYS AFTER PENTECOST – We'll look at how to manage and plan for this long season, making "ordinary time" extraordinary! Our goal here is to spark many, many ideas that you can easily develop for the second half of the year. 


Wednesday morning (9 AM, finished by 11AM): CONTINUING THE PROCESS – Now that we have broad brush strokes planned for the year, this session will help you know what to do when you go home, how to keep the creativity flowing, how to create a “both/and think tank,” manage teamwork and how to get to the nitty-gritty of planning details without falling back into a last-minute rut.


Refund Policy

In the unfortunate event that you need to cancel your in-person registration, we are able to convert your in-person registration to a livestream registration and refund the difference between the two. Alternatively, you may exchange your registration for "store credit" for a Worship Design Studio subscription OR a future event registration fee.

Questions about content?
Email Dr. Marcia McFee at [email protected].

Questions about registration?
Email Kelli at [email protected]
or call (888) 725-5202.