2025 Annual Event
Monday, May 19, 2025
Managing Self:
Take Your Own Pulse First
Dr. Kathleen Smith
Keynote Speaker
Monday, May 19, 2025
10:00 AM - 4:00 PM Eastern
Hybrid Event:
Online via Zoom or
In-Person at
All Shepherds Lutheran Church
6580 Columbus Pike
Lewis Center, OH 43035
With an undercurrent of anxiety in our world today, how do we respond thoughtfully and faithfully while maintaining connections with those around us? How do we cultivate curiosity and flexibility in our responses to others and manage ourselves in the process?
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Join us for Managing Self: Take Your Own Pulse First, a daylong seminar using a Bowen Family Systems lens to engage our thinking and responses to our anxiety in our families, our communities, and in the culture. It is an invitation to observe the possibilities for strength, resilience, and capacity building in our context, during times of unprecedented change and challenge. How can we manage our response to the input of information and stress in our culture? How can we be more curious, flexible, and creative in our responses with others?
The program will:
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observe the reality of the communities we serve.
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explore ways of responding to and managing the effects of anxiety in ourselves and in our communities.
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apply a systems approach to cultivating connection in a variety of different circumstances.
Keynotes and Workshops
Recordings of all Keynotes and Workshops will be available after the event.
Morning Keynote: "Asking Questions in a Quick Fix Culture: Introducing Curiosity to an Anxious System"
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Afternoon Keynote: "50 Ways for Things to Get Better: Introducing Flexibility and Creativity to an Anxious System"
Dr. Kathleen Smith
Keynote Speaker
Bio: Dr. Kathleen Smith is a licensed therapist and writer who lives in Washington, DC. A faculty member of the Bowen Center for the Study of the Family, she teaches Bowen family systems theory to leaders around the globe. Breaking down therapy concepts into witty, relatable stories for readers, Dr. Smith is the author of the books True to You and Everything Isn’t Terrible, as well as the popular Substack newsletter, The Anxious Overachiever.
Online Workshop #1
Church Leadership, Adaptation, Bowen Theory and Culture
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This workshop will explore Congregational leadership through Bowen Systems Theory concepts of Differentiation of Self and Emotional Process in Society
Rev. Terri Cole Pilarski, M.Div, LMSW
Bio: The Rev. Terri Cole Pilarski, M.Div, LMSW, is an Episcopal priest, currently serving two small congregation in Arizona. She has over 25 years of ordained ministry serving both large and small congregations across three different diocese. She serves on the faculty for the Center for Family Consultation in Evanston, IL, and is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LMSW) specializing in Bowen systems theory, which she uses to guide congregations in fostering lay and ordained leadership, and healthier congregational dynamics. Deeply committed to interfaith and intercultural engagement, Terri serves as the president of the Intercultural Community Center in Dearborn, Michigan. Her work reflects a passion for building bridges between diverse communities, nurturing spiritual growth, and supporting congregations in navigating complex challenges with wisdom and grace.
Online Workshop #2
Lather, Rinse, Repeat: The Gift of Noticing Automatic Patterns in Systems
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Faith communities are a ripe arena for automatic relationship patterns to play out. How does one notice those patterns? Can noticing help one "take their own pulse first"? And what difference does it make? This workshop will explore the challenges and possibilities presented by repeating relationship patterns, at home and at church.
Rev. Jennifer Long
Bio:
Jennifer Long is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ, a trained interim minister (IMN) and currently serves a UCC congregation in Florida. She has previously served churches in Wisconsin, Michigan, and New York, including pastoring an ELCA congregation in the southern tier of New York as an ecumenical partner. She graduated from the University of Hartford (1992) and Eden Theological Seminary (1996). She has participated in a variety of programs that engage Bowen Theory including five years in the Postgraduate Program at the Bowen Center for the Study of the Family (2014-2019). In almost 30 years of ministry, she has served in staff, solo, and interim roles as well as a consultant in church conflict.
Wife, mother of two, oldest sister of four, and daughter of an only son and middle daughter, she has a particular interest in points of connection between Bowen Family System Theory and spirituality, religious practice and church conflict.
Anthony J. Wilgus, MA, MSW
In-Person Workshop #1
Brighten Your Little Corner of the World
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Asked to summarize the theory in a sentence or phrase, Dr. Bowen declared, “Quit your bitchin’ and brighten your little corner of the world.” To that end, building community and establishing connections in an increasingly anxious world provide unique opportunities.
This workshop explores some guiding principles for gathering people together in an ongoing effort to foster relationships in a small neighborhood community. Participants will also have the chance to speak of their own attempts to enhance relationships in their families, congregations, and communities. Establishing viable emotional contact with varied relationship networks, while challenging, can also be quite productive.
Bio: Anthony J. (Tony) Wilgus, faculty emeritus from the University of Findlay, taught social work for 28 years subsequent to a 10-year stint as a clinical social worker and administrator. After graduate school at the University of Michigan, he entered the post-graduate training program at the Georgetown Family Center from 1979-1981. Since that time, he has attended the annual symposia, presented numerous papers, and published manuscripts on a wide range of topics rooted in the family theory originated by Dr. Murray Bowen.
Rev. Lori Ann Strang
In-Person Workshop #2
Fish Tales: Deconstructing our anxious responses
and reactivity.
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​Using the biblical parable of Jonah, we will vicariously place ourselves in Jonah’s story as we share our own anxiety and reactivity within the systems of our lives. Using Bowen Theory’s eight concepts, we will collaboratively unpack the tale as a case study, inviting participants to focus on self as they imagine the impact of anxiety and reactivity in similar situations. How can we become more curious, thoughtful & neutral even when the situation goes against our own interests. Join Martin Billmeier & Lori Ann Strang in a conversation that will plumb the depths of our anxious automatic responses while bringing values, guiding principles and beliefs, to the surface.
Rev. Martin Billmeier
Bio: Lori Ann Strang is an ELCA pastor of 28 years, serving the inner city for the past 21 at Redeemer Lutheran Churchin Toledo, Ohio. She has been a practitioner of Bowen Family Systems Theory through Healthy Congregations for 17 years and has taught Diakonia and Summer Intensives for the past seven years. Lori serves on the Appeals & Network Working Group for Healthy Congregations, enjoys creating many forms of art, is an avid reader and writer, and is currently pursuing a PhD in Organizational Development & Change at Bowling Green State University (class of 2027.)
Bio: Martin Billmeier retired after serving 37 years as an ELCA parish pastor. He served a rural congregation for seven years, then an inner-city congregation for 30 years. He has attended the Healthy Congregations Leadership Series since 2010, having found the HC curriculum the most helpful tool while serving a parish. Martin is a Healthy Congregations workshop facilitator and trainer, has served as board chair for HC, and has co-taught the HC Summer Intensive for seven years. "Family systems learning is a way of life, not a one-time inoculation."
Schedule
On-site doors open at 9:30 AM
10:00 AM – 12:30 PM Eastern
Welcome and Greeting
Morning Keynote
Q&A
Break
Morning Workshop
12:30PM – 1:15 PM Eastern
Lunch
On-site participants can purchase a Lunch add-on option during registration.
1:15 PM– 4:00 PM Eastern
Afternoon Workshop
Break
Afternoon Keynote
Q&A
Closing
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Registration
​Beginning April 1, 2025:
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Current HC Member $150
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Non-Member $200
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Student Registration $150
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Group Registration $400
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​3-5 people from the same household or organization
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​Add Ons:
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In-Person Lunch $15
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Contact Hours Certificate $25
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1-year Full Membership $75
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​30% discount on membership
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1-year Student Membership $37.50
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​30% discount on membership
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