Additional ‘Take Heart’ retreats planned for 2021

Pastors gather outdoors for fellowship during a DOXOLOGY “Take Heart” retreat in Plymouth, Ind., in October 2020. (LCMS/Erik M. Lunsford)

By Cheryl Magness

“Take Heart,” a series of retreats designed to help pastors and the souls in their care find Gospel rest during COVID-19, has added additional dates for 2021.

The retreats, which are a joint effort of the LCMS Office of National Mission and DOXOLOGY: The Lutheran Center for Spiritual Care and Counsel, aim to:

Sustain the work of pastors;

Help pastors diagnose ministry challenges;

Provide strategies and assistance for responding to those challenges; and

Equip pastors with spiritual care and psychological resources.

Thanks to a grant of $247,500 from the Soldiers of the Cross—Amplified fund, at least 11 additional “Take Heart” retreats will be offered in 2021. Registration is first come, first served, with all costs covered for participants except travel to and from the retreat. Four retreats have already been held in 2021, with four more currently scheduled and additional dates to be added throughout the year.

In a video posted to the DOXOLOGY website, the Rev. David Fleming, DOXOLOGY’s executive director for Spiritual Care, says that DOXOLOGY is “working diligently to spread [the retreats] across the country.

“Thanks be to God for your faithful care of the Lord’s flock,” Fleming continues. “Thanks be to God for The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, which made it a priority to care for her pastors and church workers during this pandemic. Thanks be to God for the Office of National Mission’s bold generosity in making a ‘Take Heart’ retreat available to … every Missouri Synod pastor free of charge. …

“We at DOXOLOGY … thank God for you and keep you in our prayers. The Almighty God — Father, Son and Holy Spirit — bless you, that you may be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.”

Registration for the “Take Heart” retreats has been brisk, and spots are filling quickly. Currently scheduled events are:

April 19–21 Green Lake, Wis.

April 26–28 Plymouth, Ind.

May 24–26 Bel Aire, Kan.

June 7–9 Aurora, Neb. (for Nebraska and Iowa District West circuit visitors only)

June 21–23 Boise, Idaho

Sept. 13–15 Marvin, S.D.

Oct. 5–7 Columbia, Ill.

Visit doxology.us for more information.

Posted April 12, 2021