"We’re all improvisers, whether we realize it or not," says MaryAnn McKibben Dana, author of God, Improv, and the Art of Living.
Virtual Improv for Clergy Classes
Come have fun, learn and play online. Try our "Improv For Clergy" class, an interfaith program.
This course is designed to provide you with a safe space to engage in self-care and well-being with other ministers. These troubled times have generated additional stress for clergy members, and there is little opportunity for relief.
Improv games have their roots in social work, as far back as the 1930s. The exercises make us laugh but the sense of community, empathy, and trust they build among participants is profound.
Improv Therapy Group has developed a curriculum specifically for members of the clergy. The class uses improv to explore emotional intelligence, resilience, and increased creativity. The concepts will assist with your work with congregants as well as co-workers.
All classes meet on Zoom.
“Ability to engage in storytelling is incredibly beneficial to the populations I serve.”
“I have the awareness to develop today's training as a tool to connect well with others.”
“I feel that I will use this unit in groups to foster empathy and encourage connection in a safe space.”
“I work a lot with adolescent who struggle with emotions so this will be helpful.”
“I am likely to use the "Reminds Me of..." with couples who have trouble connecting and listening to each other.”
Here are the modules you will learn, practice and be able to incorporate into your mission:
- Week 1: Improv for Self-Care
- Week 2: Improv for Play
- Week 3: Improv for Empathy
- Week 4: Improv for Mindfulness
- Week 5: Improv for Trust & Vulnerability
- Week 6: Freedom to Fail
- Week 7: Rolling with Change
- Week 8: Organizational Leadership
SCHEDULE
Friday Afternoons
IMPROV FOR CLERGY: Level One
For Clergy, Ministers & Rabbis Only
8 weeks
Classes are weekly on Friday
4:00pm to 5:15pm EST
3:00pm to 4:15pm CST
2:00pm to 3:15pm MST
1:00pm to 2:15pm PST
Start Date: March 24, 2023
End Date: May 12, 2023
Registration:
$295 EARLY BIRD PRICING
$360 Regular Price
INSTRUCTORS
LISA BANY
Lisa Bany is Chief Improv Officer at Improv Therapy Group. Lisa is an instructor, director and coach at The Second City. She has authored numerous books, including On Stage: Theatre Games and Activities for Kids, which was awarded the Parent's Choice Approval Seal for Excellence in Education, has been translated into German and Korean, and is sold around the world. She started teaching at The Second City in the early nineties and has directed and taught throughout the Chicagoland area. Lisa was one of the first teachers in the Second City Wellness Program where she has taught Improv for Anxiety, Improv for Parkinson's Patients and their Caregivers, and Improv for the Autism Spectrum.
A graduate of Columbia College, Lisa has taught improv with The Association for Applied and Therapeutic Humor, The National Alliance on Mental Illness, and Arlyn School for teens with Anxiety and Autism Spectrum Disorder. She has also created and directed performing arts summer camp programs with Play On, Northlight Theatre, Light Opera Works and the JCCs of Chicago.
MARCY BAIN
Marcy graduated from Princeton Theological Seminary in 2008, and she graduated Central Michigan University in 2003 with a Masters of Science in Administration. She is bivocational, engaging a dual career in Government/Military and as an ordained Presbyterian Reverend.
For over 20 years her professional focus has included serving military/government and religious communities. She has provided conference workshops, one-one-one coaching, community events, and interdisciplinary programming to promote creativity, spirituality, social justice causes, self-care, and wellness.
She has worked within the contexts of faith communities, community non profits, the Veteran's Administration, hospital systems, and within the Federal Government to develop programming for her specialized populations.
She first became aware of Improv through a national conference setting in the early 2000s and she has pursued this art form ever since. Her specific areas of interest include: Improvisational therapeutic modalities, Circle Way Groups/Group Process, Cultural Intersections of Creativity/Spirituality/Social Justice, Creativity and Coming to Voice.