Clergy Conference Registration

Updated: September 2, 2025Clergy Resources
Robert Hendrickson

The 2026 Clergy Conference will be held on October 4 – 7 at the Inn at Grand Glaize in Osage Beach.

This year, our speaker will be the Rev. Robert Hendrickson, Chief of Discipleship Initiatives for Forward Movement. Fr. Robert Hendrickson is based in Tucson, Arizona. In 2025, he concluded nearly a decade as Rector of St. Philip’s in the Hills Episcopal Church, where he led the largest congregation in The Diocese of Arizona with a strong focus on discipleship and spiritual renewal. A graduate of General Theological Seminary, Father Hendrickson was ordained in 2011 and previously served as Sub-Dean at St. John’s Cathedral in Denver and as curate at Christ Church New Haven. He now serves the wider church as Chief of Discipleship Initiatives at Forward Movement and Director of the Center for Discipleship and Renewal (Cedar) at Forward Movement, equipping congregations for deeper faith and mission. He is also the author of Yearning: Authentic Transformation, Young Adults, and the Church, and is known for his commitment to helping Christians live the Gospel with clarity and courage. He is a co-founder of the Society of Catholic Priests in North America and, a good while ago, was the Communications Director for Brooks Brothers and has attended the University of Mississippi, Cornell, and Beijing Foreign Studies University.

Please review our itinerary and fill out the form below by September 7 if you’d like to attend. We will make every effort to meet any special room requests. If we have any questions or need to make changes to your room preference, we will contact you. People with handicap accessibility requirements will take priority. If you are a couple and would like to room together, only one of you will need to fill out the form. Please have both of your information ready to fill out.

Note: Due to strict liquor licenses with the hotel, you cannot bring your own liquor in open spaces; only your room. The hotel bar will be available to purchase liquor.

If you have any other questions about this year’s conference, please contact Rachael Orth (events@diowestmo.org) for questions concerning rooms and registration, and contact the Very Rev. David Wilcox (central@diowestmo.org) for more details about the itinerary and other information.

About Our Sessions
Sacremental Discipleship: Leading by Grace in a Changed World

These four sessions invite clergy to recover an integrated vision of ministry in which the sacraments are not merely rites we celebrate together across the orders of ministry, but gifts of grace that continually form the whole of our lives. Leading from the Altar becomes not simply a liturgical function, but a way of inhabiting and living ministry itself.

Remember Your Baptism: Identity and Ministry

Every ordained priest or deacon is first a Christian. Before we stand at the Altar, preach from the pulpit, serve the needy, or lead a vestry meeting, we have been claimed by Christ in baptism. This opening session explores how our baptismal identity provides the foundation for faithful priesthood, freeing us from defining ourselves by success, failure, or the expectations of ministry. Together we will consider what it means to lead not from anxiety or performance, but from the secure knowledge that we belong to Jesus Christ.

Take, Bless, Break, Give: The Eucharistic Shape of Ministry

Clergy are entrusted with the care of holy things. This is true not only of the Eucharist itself, but of the people, traditions, and communities that have been placed into our hands. This session explores how the grace of the Eucharist shapes a life of stewardship, generosity, and faithful leadership. As those who feed God’s people, we will reflect on our calling to sustain, nurture, and faithfully hand on what we ourselves have received.

The Ministry of Mercy: Confession and the Honest Cleric

The ministry of reconciliation begins with those who know their own need for mercy. This session reflects on confession as a way of life rather than an occasional practice, inviting clergy into deeper dependence upon God’s grace, greater honesty with themselves, and more authentic relationships with those they serve. Together we will consider how remembering God’s tender mercy enables resilient, humble, and joyful ministry.

Into Your Hands: Last Rites and the Grace of Letting Go

Clergy accompany others through death and loss, but we are also called to practice letting go ourselves. This concluding session explores how the Church’s ministry at the end of life shapes our understanding of vocation, endings, transitions, and hope. By remembering our own mortality, we learn to grieve faithfully, release status and certainty with grace, and trust that every ending in Christ holds the promise of new life.

Itinerary

Sunday, October 4

  • 4 – 6 p.m. – Arrival and informal fellowship
  • 6 p.m. – Evening prayer and dinner together
  • 7 p.m. – Evening free for conversation, rest, and connection

Monday, October 5

  • 8 a.m. – Breakfast
  • 9 a.m. – Morning Prayer
  • 9:30 a.m. – 12 p.m. – Session I: Remember Your Baptism: Identity and Ministry
  • 12 p.m. – Noonday Prayer
  • 12:15 p.m. – Lunch, Fellowship, & Break
  • 2:30 p.m. – 5 p.m. – Session II: Take, Bless, Break, Give: The Eucharistic Shape of Ministry
  • 5:30 p.m. – Holy Eucharist
  • 6:15 p.m. – Dinner together
  • Evening free time

Tuesday, October 6

  • 8 a.m. – Breakfast
  • 9 a.m. – Morning Prayer
  • 9:30 a.m. – 12 p.m. – Session III: The Ministry of Mercy: Confession and the Honest Cleric
  • 12 p.m. – Noonday Prayer
  • 12:15 p.m. – Lunch, Fellowship, & Break
  • 2:30 p.m. – 5 p.m. – Session IV: Into Your Hands: Last Rites and the Grace of Letting Go
  • 5:30 p.m. – Holy Eucharist
  • 6:15 p.m. – Dinner together
  • Evening free time

Wednesday, October 7

  • 8 a.m. – Breakfast
  • 9 a.m. – Morning Prayer
  • 9:30 a.m. – 11 a.m. – Session V: Time with Bishop Amy
  • 11 a.m. – Closing Holy Eucharist
  • 12 p.m. – Conference concludes

Registration

Registration for the Clergy Conference will cost a flat $200 fee per person. This fee will go towards lodging, all onsite and offsite meals, presenter fees, and any conference materials. If you are unable to pay the full amount, please reach out to the bishop for potential grant assistance.

Note: Due to strict liquor licenses with the hotel, you cannot bring your own liquor in open spaces; only your room. The hotel bar will be available to purchase liquor.

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