Steady in the Storm: Part Two
Real Tools for Real Leadership in Complex Times
Note: While this is part two in the series, it is a stand alone event and anyone can attend even if you were not a participant in part one.
Spiritual leadership has changed. Congregations are carrying more anxiety. Attention spans are shorter. Conflict escalates more quickly. The world outside the sanctuary does not stay outside anymore. In this climate, inspiration alone is not enough.
Ministers need practical tools. Clear frameworks. Science that explains what is happening in the room. Skills that can be used immediately.
Steady in the Storm: Part Two is a six-month leadership immersion designed to equip ministers for the realities of this moment. Each session integrates nervous system science, trauma awareness, resilient systems thinking, and innovation strategy with the depth and integrity of spiritual leadership.
This is applied learning. Every gathering includes concrete exercises, leadership tools, and integration practices that can be implemented immediately in services, board meetings, classes, and pastoral care settings.
The goal is simple: to help ministers lead with clarity, grounded presence, and courage in the times we are living in.
Program Format
Duration: Six months
Schedule: Monthly gatherings on second Tuesdays
Length: One hour of teaching plus open conversation
Location: Live on Zoom
Recordings: Available to all registered participants
Contribution: No fixed fee. Love offerings to Unity South Central Region are gratefully received.
Program Outcomes
Understand the biological factors influencing behavior in crisis
Lead with greater emotional intelligence
Build psychologically safer spiritual environments
Implement innovative ministry models
Sustain their own leadership energy
Guide communities with both tenderness and authority
“...I listen to the recordings (sometimes multiple times) and I find them invaluable. You speak right to the heart of what it is to minister to people in difficult times...to minister to people who are hurting, even as we ourselves are in pain and trying to make sense of our world. I just wanted to say thank you, and let you know that the work you are doing is important and appreciated.”
Schedule
2nd Tuesdays, March to August, 12:00–1:15 p.m. MT / 1:00–2:15 p.m. CT
March 10, 2026
The Regulated Leader: Nervous System Science for Spiritual Stability
How the nervous system shapes congregational tone
The difference between urgency and grounded response
Micro-practices that restore executive functioning
How to become a calming presence during collective anxiety
Tools Provided: Two-minute resets, breath ratios for cognitive clarity, and real-time grounding techniques for high-pressure moments.
April 14, 2026
(Pre-recorded Session)
Trauma-Aware Ministry: Leading Without Causing Harm
Behavioral signs of trauma activation
Language that increases psychological safety
How to structure gatherings that reduce overwhelm
How spiritual bypassing can undermine trust
Application: Designing services, classes, and meetings that support nervous system safety while maintaining spiritual depth.
May 12, 2026
The Future Church: Innovation Without Losing the Sacred
Hybrid community models that foster belonging
Small-group structures for high connection
Intergenerational ministry design
Community partnerships beyond traditional walls
Measuring impact with clarity
Framework Provided: A simple innovation model for piloting new ideas without exhausting leadership teams.
June 9, 2026
Resilient Systems: Preventing Leader Burnout Before It Begins
The science of sustainable leadership energy
Decision filters that reduce fatigue
Boundary practices that remain compassionate
Strategies for distributing leadership effectively
Focus: Understanding the difference between sacrifice and stewardship in long-term ministry.
July 14, 2026
Collective Courage: Guiding Communities Through Polarized Times
Dialogue structures that reduce reactivity
Facilitation methods for difficult conversations
Techniques that keep groups relational rather than positional
Discernment around when to speak and when to shepherd reflection
August 11, 2026
Becoming an Antifragile Community
Characteristics of antifragile organizations
Ritual as a stabilizing force
Storytelling as a tool for communal resilience
Long-range leadership vision
Integration: A closing synthesis session to identify next steps and leadership commitments.
Register using the link above to access the video recordings from Steady in the Storm Part I.
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The first step in Steady in the Storm is coming home to yourself. This month invites you to pause long enough to hear your own soul again. With so many voices asking for your guidance, it’s easy to lose track of your own needs, longings, and limits. In this opening session, we’ll name the invisible weight many spiritual leaders carry and gently begin to lay some of it down. You’ll explore what’s draining your light, and what still sparks it. Through reflection, connection, and soulful honesty, you’ll begin creating space within yourself for truth, rest, and clarity. You don’t need to fix it all. You just need to be real, and to be received. This is where Steady in the Storm begins—with your own sacred inner terrain.
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This month in Steady in the Storm is all about cultivating stability from the inside out. When everything around you feels uncertain, your practices become more than habits, they become lifelines. You’ll create a personalized Resilience Plan, not as another item on your to-do list, but as a sacred agreement with yourself. Together, we’ll explore breathwork, grounding, emotional check-ins, and energetic maintenance as ways to come back to center. This is about honoring your body and spirit as holy ground. With gentle intention, you’ll begin to rebuild your inner sanctuary, anchored not in productivity, but in presence.
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Steady in the Storm this month reminds you that you’re not just a leader, you’re a soul who also needs tending. Ministry asks much of you, but it should never require self-abandonment. We’ll explore soul-care that goes beyond bubble baths and burnout prevention. You’ll practice sacred boundaries, energetic hygiene, and daily rhythms that restore you without apology. Through shared wisdom and compassionate self-reflection, you’ll begin to reclaim your right to rest, your need for space, and the beauty of simply being a human who serves from fullness, not depletion.
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This month’s work in Steady in the Storm centers on how to guide others through uncertainty without losing your own grounding. Fear is contagious, but so is calm. You’ll explore how to recognize fear dynamics in your community, meet anxiety with grace, and model spiritual steadiness without bypassing real emotion. We’ll discuss grief literacy, hopefulness, and how to hold sacred space that invites healing. You don’t have to have all the answers, but you do have to be real, rooted, and open-hearted. This month equips you to do just that.
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In Steady in the Storm, this is where we say: the old ways are crumbling, and maybe that’s sacred too. This month invites you to drop the burden of doing it all and to listen instead to what Spirit wants to co-create with you next. We’ll reimagine ministry models rooted in authenticity, sacred pragmatism, and creative expression. You’ll practice visioning, name your evolving truth, and gain tools to support that truth in your leadership. Your path forward doesn’t need to look like anyone else’s. It just needs to feel real to you. Let’s make space for what’s ready to emerge.
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We complete Steady in the Storm not with an ending, but with a sacred integration. This final month is devoted to harvesting insight, witnessing transformation, and deepening spiritual connection with fellow leaders. You’ll be invited into rich reflection, gentle ceremony, and honest dialogue about what you’re carrying into the new year. You’ll walk away steadier, clearer, and more connected than when you began.
Facilitator
Now in her thirtieth year of ministry, Rev. Dr. Ahriana Platten has spent decades inside sanctuaries, boardrooms, retreat centers, and moments of quiet pastoral crisis. She knows what it is to lead when times are uncertain and what it is to guide when the old rules no longer apply.
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A spiritual anthropologist by instinct and training, she studies what makes communities flourish and what quietly fractures them. Her work integrates neuroscience, systems thinking, ritual intelligence, and lived ministry experience. Not as theory. As practice.
Ahriana is a business consultant, connection programming specialist, best-selling author, and master ceremonialist. She has designed leadership immersions, sabbatical retreats, guided congregations through transition, and helped ministers build structures that protect both vision and vitality.
She teaches the way she leads: grounded, precise, and honest about the times we are living in.
Rev. Dr. Ahriana Platten
Meeting Location
We’ll be meeting on Zoom. Please arrive early to check your technology. Register for Steady in the Storm to receive email reminders with the Zoom link.
Cost
There is no fee for any of the Steady in the Storm sessions. Your love offerings are appreciated to support this program.