Education Series Resources
Here you will find video recordings of recent LookUp seminars, as well as the accompanying PowerPoint presentations and other relevant materials.
In this webinar, presenter Deaconess Pam Nielsen shares practical ways in which the Church can move beyond the casserole and wrap the dying and their loved ones in meaningful care and support to help mitigate the effects of grief related depression and feelings of loneliness and hopelessness often experienced by the dying and their caregivers. This discussion will get you thinking about these things in your context and how you and your church/school can be more intentional when death draws near for those in your midst.
Click here to access the slides from the webinar.
Click here for the June 11, 2024 Webinar—“Following the Brain in Child Development 2024”
In this webinar, presenter Dr. Kim Marxhausen of Concordia University Chicago explores the concept that brain development in the early years is more about brain skills than reading or math. Let’s look at how the brain grows from a jumbled mass of neural connections to an expert learning machine under the right conditions and guidance from parents and teachers. Developing these brain skills in our youngest learners sets them up for successful future learning and helps them regulate their emotions toward better overall mental well-being into adolescence and adulthood.
Click here for the May 29, 2024 Webinar—“Anxiety in Adolescents: What to Know and What to Do”
In this webinar, presenter Dr. Kara Bratton, Assistant Professor in the School of Education at Concordia University Irvine, explores some facts about anxiety that are critical for everyone who works with adolescents to understand and provides some strategies and tips to support youth mental health development.
Click here to access the slides from the webinar.
Click here for the January 25, 2024 Webinar—“The Impact of Gratitude on Resilience”
Do you ever feel like a ball that is just a little under-inflated? Sometimes it is hard to bounce back from the disappointments and fears we face. Most of us have a lot of stress running in the background, if not right in front of our faces and we would benefit from a plan to grow our resilience. In this webinar, Dr. Marcus Warner, author of Building Bounce: How to Grow Emotional Resilience, Rare Leadership, and The 4 Habits of Joy-Filled People, will walk us through some basic brain science and a series of practical steps, including some faith practices, we can start using immediately to help grow greater resilience and enhance our quality of life.
Click here to access the slides from the webinar.
Click here for the September 20, 2023 Webinar—“Building Resilient Youth Mental Health”
In this interactive presentation, Heidi Goehmann, a deaconess, author, and licensed clinical social worker discusses youth mental health and tools for helping youth grow in resilience and hope. This presentation covers what resilience is and what it is not, based on research from a Biblical and mental health perspective, and identifies three specific kinds of resilience to share with the youth in your life today.
Click here to access the slides from the webinar.
Click here for the May 25, 2023 Webinar—“Resiliency in the Age of Overload and Exhaustion”
This presentation by Brenda Jank, the founder and CEO of the organization Run Hard. Rest Well, explores the concept that God has a blueprint that empowers His people to create a pace and passion for work, rest, and rhythm that is life-giving, transformative, and sustainable - breathing life into winded, weary souls. Learn how you can apply this blueprint to your own life for greater resiliency and overall well-being.
Click here to access the slides from the webinar.
Click here to access the handout “Next Steps for You” that was shared by the webinar presenter.
Click here for the January 24, 2023 WEBINAR—The New Mental Health Shift in the Church"
In this interactive presentation, Joe Padilla, the Founder and CEO of Mental Health Grace Alliance, examines how the Church today is pioneering a new response to mental health. He discusses specific factors that have hindered the Church in the past, the new shift taking shape, and the new and innovative ways the Church is reinventing “support” that leads to mental wellness and resilience. Join us for this hope-filled, engaging conversation to learn how your faith community can be leading the way in mental wellness support.
Click here for the August 31, 2022 WEBINAR—Substance Use Disorder: How Communities of Faith Can Best Walk Alongside Individuals and Families on Their Recovery Journey
In this webinar, presenters Jennifer Hope, founder and Director of the organization Mom of an Addict, and Donna Wray, Vice President of Mom of an Addict, explore a definition of substance use disorder, share current statistics, examine how faith plays an important role in the recovery process, share how communities of faith can best interact with and assist those living with substance use disorder and their families, and relay information about the Mom of an Addict support groups and their upcoming Recovery Rocks event.
Click here to access the Power Point slides from the webinar.
Click here for the March 31, 2022 WEBINAR—The Trauma Informed Church
This webinar guides church leaders and congregation members to an understanding of what trauma is, how trauma impacts individuals, and how the church can respond with compassion and grace to those who have been impacted by trauma. The relationship between early childhood trauma and adult mental and physical health outcomes is also explored. Through the lens of trauma informed care, attendee learn the four R’s of trauma informed care: realize, recognize, respond, and resist re-traumatization. Approaching individuals with compassion and grace can make the church a safe place of belonging and healing for those that have been touched by traumatic experiences.
Click here to access the Power Point slides from the webinar.
Click here to access the handout "Trauma Informed Resources for Your Ministry or Organization" that was shared by the webinar presenter.
Click here for the January 27, 2022 WEBINAR—Living Compass: Integrating Faith and Wellness
Meaningful conversations about the integration of faith and wellness have the power to change lives. Living Compass helps provide resources to experience these kinds of life-changing conversations within the Church. In this webinar, presenters Scott Stoner, Founder and Director of Living Compass, and Carolyn Karl, Program Director at Living Compass, share how wellness ministries can both deepen the spiritual lives and well-being of church members, and extend Jesus’ ministry of healing beyond the walls of our churches. They also give a brief overview of some of Living Compass’ free resources, which churches can use to help strengthen and re-vision their congregation's ministry in a way that helps people deepen their connection between faith and wellness.
Sooner or later, suicide is something every ministry leader will encounter. Whether it's someone experiencing suicidal thoughts or a community that needs comfort after a loss, what's important is to be ready. In this webinar, Glen Bloomstrom, the developer of LivingWorks Faith, gives an overview of the LivingWorks Faith program, a groundbreaking online skills training program that gives faith leaders readiness and confidence in suicide competencies. Blending Scriptural wisdom and proven best practices, LivingWorks Faith is designed for all Christian ministry leaders to learn key skills for suicide prevention, intervention, and post-vention within their faith community setting through engaging evidence-based video instruction and realistic scenario simulations.
Click here to access the Power Point slides from the webinar.
Click here for the March 30 WEBINAR—Why Your Church Needs a Mental Health Ministry
In this webinar presented by Dr. Stephen Grcevich, the founder and CEO of Key Ministry, participants will examine research that describes the impact of mental illness on church attendance and defines the barriers that prevent people with mental health challenges from assimilating into the faith community. Dr. Grcevich will present a mental health inclusion model that can be adapted to churches of all sizes and denominations, as well as examples of innovative mental health ministries.
Click here to access the Power Point Resource slides from the webinar.
Click here for the February 23 WEBINAR—A Taste of Companionship
In this webinar, presenter Rev. Jermine Alberty, the executive director of Pathways to Promise, provides an introductory look into the relational model of engagement called Companionship. Companionship is a practice of presence, a relationship responding to isolation or distress and supportive of healing and recovery by building a circle of care with individuals who are facing emotional and mental health challenges. The Taste of Companionship presentation includes a basic overview of the 4-hour Companionship Workshop which is available to congregations and ministry organizations, introducing participants to the 5 Practices of Companionship: Hospitality, Neighboring, Journeying Side-by-Side, Listening, and Accompaniment. This introductory look into Companionship will allow participants to learn what the Companionship model is all about and help them identify ways the model could be incorporated into the fabric of their congregation or organization.
Click here to access the Power Point slides from the webinar.
Click here for the December 10 WEBINAR—Holiday Blues: Hoping and Coping in Difficult Days
The holidays can be a stressful and emotionally challenging time of year for many people in a “normal year,” and this holiday season will bring its unique set of stresses and feelings of anxiety, loss, and grief due to the current pandemic. Presenters Janet Altmeyer and Rev. Dr. Terry Anderson of Trinity English Lutheran Church in Ft. Wayne explore some holiday challenges, emphasize the importance of acknowledging and legitimizing our feelings, help participants recognize some signs and symptoms of emotional struggle, and offer practical coping strategies, including self-care and self-compassion tips.
Click here to access the Power Point Resource slides from the webinar.
Click here for the November 20 WEBINAR—Substance Use in a Global Pandemic: How the Faith Community Can Help
This panel discussion looks at what is happening locally in substance use, provides insights from a clinician working with people with opioid and stimulant disorder, shares some unique ways The Lutheran Foundation is working with community partners to connect people to treatment and recovery services, and examines how the church can support people and their families facing substance use disorder.
Click here for the October 23 WEBINAR—7 Compassion in Action Principles for Faith Communities to Address Mental Illness
Presenter Ben O’Dell, Program Specialist at the Center for Faith and Opportunity Initiatives at the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, provides an overview of the HHS Partnership Center’s Compassion in Action Guide, highlighting actions from the 7 compassion in action principles that empower faith and community leaders to address mental health in their congregations and communities.
Click here to open the Power Point presentation from this webinar
Click here to access the HHS Partnership Center’s Compassion in Action Guide referenced in the webinar.
Click here for the September 29 WEBINAR—4 Stresses All Ministry Leaders Face
Serving in ministry can be exhausting in every way under normal circumstances. And now many church workers are feeling the effects of the extra stresses that COVID-19 has brought to ministry work. In this webinar you will learn about the 4 types of stress we encounter and the 4 ways stress seeks its own expression. Denny Howard from Full Strength Network will help you identify the exact type of stress you are experiencing and show you how you can develop a personalized strategy to both gain and maintain vitality through this challenging season of work and personal life.
Click here to open the Powerpoint presentation from this webinar.
Click here to open the handout from this webinar.
Click here for the August 27 WEBINAR—5 Ways Churches Protect Against Suicide
Dr. Karen Mason presents five ways that you can help protect your church from suicide without starting another program. She outlines some of the obstacles to building suicide protections in your church, and how you can overcome them.
Click here to open the PowerPoint presentation from this webinar.
Click here for information on Dr. Mason's new book Preaching Hope in the Darkness: Help for Pastors in Addressing Suicide from the Pulpit.
Click here for the June 24 WEBINAR—A Return to Safety: How the Church Can Help after the Acute Phase of COVID-19
Dr. Laura Oyer, a staff psychologist at Park Center, Fort Wayne, explores the church's role in providing help, comfort and hope to their congregations after the acute phase of COVID-19.
Click here to open the PowerPoint presentation from this webinar.