Sample: Regenerative Leadership Retreat
& Public Program

This sample program description suggests a format through which to serve regional leaders of Interfaith Power and Light (IPL) organizations (which are now operating in 35 states – all of them collaborating in a national non-profit).  These lay and ordained leaders come from many traditions and are organizing their faith communities to practice stewardship by helping solve climate change in their homes and congregations, and by advocating for more “green” jobs through energy efficiency standards and renewable energy like wind and solar.

As their role in our upstream work matures and these IPL leaders face more public resistance to change, they need each other and times of rest and renewal in order to cultivate themselves and the next stage of their leadership abilities.

The Center for Regenerative Society would convene such a group as this around a national leader like Methodist layman and author/activist Bill McKibben.  McKibben is known widely by both religious and secular leaders in this field as the person who has, for more than twenty years, helped a wide swath of Americans understand the science of climate change in books like: The End of Nature; Hope: Human and Wild; Enough; Deep Economy; Fight Global Warming Now; and others. Bill’s work and that of IPL leaders closely match the Center’s mission of a just and sustainable society.

The first part of the program would feature our special guest, McKibben, at an evening event: a free lecture/reading and discussion for a large public audience of several hundred in a college or university setting, that includes 24 IPL leaders who have applied or been nominated for an adjoining leadership renewal retreat. He would speak and encourage discussion about our leadership retreat theme in a way that engages others, connects to his passions, and offers his own perspectives on regenerative leadership, regenerative community, and regenerative society.  This would be videotaped as a learning resource for our website.

The second event is a day-long workshop with lunch for 40-60 paying participants, including our dozen IPL leaders as well as staff people from regional nonprofits who care about this work and citizens who would like an opportunity to talk with McKibben at greater length about the issues raised the night before, and about their work and leadership roles in the region.

The final event is a retreat of 3-5 days in length just for our 24 IPL leaders in quiet conversation with McKibben and each other, to strengthen their spirits and renew themselves for the work ahead. In that intimate retreat with McKibben, these IPL leaders, who attended each of the earlier public events with him and a wider public, now get in-depth time with Bill to explore the growing edges of their work in this movement, and develop the inner cultivation and spiritual disciplines so essential to the active life and their effectiveness as leaders. This is not necessarily a religious exercise, but rather a chance to talk with McKibben about how he maintains and renews his sense of commitment, perspective and joy in challenging times, and how we might enhance ours. How does Bill McKibben cope with a world that is often discouraging, and that weighs heavily on all of us who care about its health and our future? McKibben and our director, together with our dozen retreat participants, will all have an opportunity to share stories, additional readings, and other resources and practices that have been personally valuable in their own lives over the years. We will also work with meditation leaders and yoga teachers on a daily basis.