Tending the Soul of a Community: A Workshop on Storytelling for Communities of Faith

Mark Yaconelli is a writer, retreat leader, spiritual director, storycatcher, husband, and father. He is the founder and executive director of  The Hearth: Real Stories by Regular Folks, a registered non-profit that assists cities and service-based agencies in producing personal storytelling events designed to help communities and individuals deepen relationships and cultivate compassion. Through The Hearth, Mark has produced and led events for The Boys and Girls Club, The Ford Family Foundation, Asante Hospice Services, The Oregon Department of Human Services, Austin Theological Seminary, The Church of Wales, and many other towns and agencies across the United States and United Kingdom.

Interviews and profiles of Mark Yaconelli’s work have appeared in the national media including the Wall Street Journal, ABC World News Tonight, New York Times Online, Washington Post Online, Christianity Magazine, and CBS Radio.  Mark is the author of The Gift of Hard Things (IVP 2016), Wonder, Fear, and Longing (Zondervan 2009), Downtime (Zondervan 2008),  Growing Souls (2007 Zondervan), and Contemplative Youth Ministry (2006 Youth Specialties).

Mark Yaconelli holds an MA in Christian Spirituality from the Graduate Theological Union and a Graduate Diploma in the Art of Spiritual Direction from San Francisco Theological Seminary.

Melissa Wiginton serves as vice president for Education Beyond the Walls as Austin Seminary. Her work asks of her commitment to the church and the way of Jesus Christ, theological reflection, attention to the present, creativity, collaboration, and “other duties as assigned.” She has long stood in the space between the church and the academy, finding the ways the gifts and struggles of each speak to the other in God’s ecology of institutions. Increasingly, her vocational location invites imagination for what is emerging that will nourish our learning and flourishing. Her inclinations toward bringing people together, organizing structures for learning, spoken and written word, and providing cookies serve her well.

Austin is home for Ms. Wiginton: she attended college and law school there, practicing law for a dozen years. While practicing law, she served as president of the Austin Family Mediation Association and co-created “Moving Through: A Workshop for Divorcing Families,” the first educational program in Austin to help parents in conflictual divorces ease the children’s difficulty. In 1996, the Texas Senate recognized Wiginton for her work on behalf of Texas families. She left her law career to attend Candler School of Theology at Emory University where she earned the Master of Divinity degree. She served at the Fund for Theological Education in Atlanta, Georgia, until coming to Austin Seminary.

She is a practicing Christian and a member of the United Methodist Church.

• Learn about The Hearth and its training program

• Watch a podcast interview with Mark Yaconelli about story and faith