REGISTER NOW FOR UPCOMING COURSES!!

Register by contacting: merceroffice@dioceseli.org or 516.248.4800 Ext. 40.
Registration forms can be downloaded from this site (click on the "Registration" TAB) and mailed or faxed to Mercer School. A fee is required for some courses, so please contact the Mercer Office for details.

Parish Administration

The Workshop for Treasurers and Finance Committees, scheduled for Feb 25, will not take place at the present time.

Eucharistic Visitor Workshop
Saturday Feb 18 9:30 am – 12 Noon at the Mercer School
There is no fee for this workshop but space is limited.
Register by Feb 15.

A training workshop for all who have been approved by their rectors, priests-in-charge or wardens (in parishes where there is no priest with canonical authority) to visit parishioners with the sacrament. This training will focus on the theology of the Eucharist, the approved liturgy for the distribution of the sacrament by lay persons outside of the church building, and the basics of pastoral interaction with the infirm and shut-ins.

Written permission must be obtained from the ecclesiastical authority in parish or mission in which the Eucharistic Visitor will serve. All Eucharistic Visitors must also take an approved Sexual Harassment and Exploitation (SHE) course.

Safe Church Training
Saturday, March 31 at the Mercer School

9 -11:30 am Sexual Harassment & Exploitation Awareness [SHE120331]

1-3:30 pm Child Abuse Prevention [CAP120331]

Topics to be covered are the legal, ethical and theological foundations for the prevention of sexual abuse or harassment and the development of safe working and learning places. New employees and lay leaders are encouraged to register for these workshops. There is no fee for the workshops but space is limited and you must register in advance by March 27. Lunch will not be provided.

Continuing Education for Clergy

Economics and Business Ethics
with Professor S. Prakash Sethi
Thursday, Feb. 9, Tuesday Feb. 14, Thursday Feb. 16 and Tuesday, Feb. 21
10:00 AM until 3:00 PM at the Mercer School.
Fee $200 (Lunch included) Register by Feb 1. Class is limited to 25.

The global economic crisis, the Tea Party and the Occupy Wall Street movements are all about economics and ethics. The silence of the church at large about these issues demonstrates a lack of confidence that we know enough about global economics to say something important about these pressing issues. Since this is a complex issue about which many clergy have little experience, Mercer will hold day-long sessions exploring contemporary economics, globalization, the rise of the multi-national corporations and the theological and ethical questions that all of this raise. Dr. Sethi is a Distinguished Professor of Business at the City University of New York (Baruch College) and author of numerous books and articles on economic and business ethics.
The course will require some reading and will cover four sessions over two weeks.

Reclaiming the Ordinary: Spirituality for Ministry
with the Rev. Jonathan Linman
Tuesday, March 6
10:00 AM until 3:00 PM (with Noon Eucharist) at the Mercer School.

Fee $100 (Lunch included)
Register by Feb 29. Class is limited to 25.

A common lament among clergy is that they do not have time and energy for a robust and regular set of spiritual practices. Hidden in plain sight, however, are the ordinary practices of ministry which themselves can be reclaimed as spiritual disciplines. Join us for a day of interactive Bible Study, exploration of the Rule of St. Benedict and conversation about spirituality for the practice of ministry that you may again discover the Spirit’s renewing winds in what you are already doing in your daily routines.

Jonathan Linman is Bishop’s Assistant for Vocation and Formation in the Metropolitan New York Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Formerly Director of the Center for Christian Spirituality at The General Theological Seminary, he still serves as an adjunct faculty member there. Additionally, Jonathan has been a parish pastor in the inner-city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where he honed his passion for ministry as spiritual practice. He is the author of Holy Conversation: Spirituality for Worship (Fortress Press, 2010).

Academic Offerings for Lay Persons

Understanding the Torah:
From Creation to the Promised Land
Tuesday Evenings from 7:00 to 8:30 PM beginning Feb. 7, 2012. No fee.

The first five books of the Old Testament contain the key concepts of Judaism as told in the stories of the encounter between God and the people whom God chose to be covenantal partners. The Torah tells of creation, relationships with God and within the human community and about the laws that govern all relationships within Judaism.

From Jesus to the Early Church:
The Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles
Thursday Evenings from 7:00 to 8:30 PM beginning Feb. 9, 2012. No fee.

The Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles are written by the same author and encapsulate a theology that begins with the incarnation and is completed with the bringing of Israel and the Gentiles into the fullness of God’s redemptive plan. Luke and Acts together form a roadmap for mission and ministry.

Please register for these two academic offerings by January 31.
No fee required for either class. Classes held at Mercer School.

For further information, contact the Mercer Office by email merceroffice@dioceseli.org or by phone 516-248-4800 ext. 40.
Online registration is not available at this time.