NBA’s Peer Learning & Wellness Group Conveners: Working to Create Community Together

Being a leader in today’s world can be challenging, exhausting and isolating. There is a need for community for these leaders: a place for support, encouragement and renewal. Through its Peer Learning and Wellness Group program, the National Benevolent Association offers an opportunity for groups of likeminded individuals to come together and cultivate a community focused on education, inspiration, justice and wellness. And assisting these leaders through their peer group journey is a set of conveners who come beside to help facilitate conversation, foster growth and experience spiritual renewal.

“The essence of our Peer Learning and Wellness Groups is an insistence on accompaniment, not just walking parallel, but being in community together in a holy space,” says Rev. Héctor J. Hernández Marcial, NBA’s Director of Community Engagement. “Our remarkable collection of peer group conveners develop and maintain an environment in which they can walk alongside our cohort members and help them to experience radical care and fuel inspired leadership.”

A group of ten conveners/facilitators help oversee NBA’s five peer learning & wellness groups:

Chaplains Peer Learning & Wellness Group

Joselyn Spence, NBA Director of Mental Health & Wellness Initiative (Convener)

Rev. Tiffany Curtis, NBA Peer Learning and Wellness Group (Convener)

Executive Leaders Peer Learning & Wellness Group

Mark Palmer, NBA Peer Learning and Wellness Group (Convener)

Jerell DeCaille, NBA Health & Social Service Partner Program Coordinator (Convener)

Prison & Jail Ministry Peer Learning & Wellness Group

Rev. Angel Luis Rivera-Agosto, NBA Community Engagement Senior Coordinator, Justice Initiatives (Convener)

Rev. Nora Jacob, NBA Peer Learning and Wellness Group (Convener)

Asian/Pacific Islander (A/PI) Young Adult Peer Learning & Wellness Group

Cindy Kim-Hengst, NBA Peer Learning & Wellness Group (Convener)

Awit Marcelino, NBA Peer Learning and Wellness Group (Facilitator)

Young Adult in Social Services Peer Learning and Wellness Group

Rev. Bere Gil Soto, NBA Peer Learning and Wellness Group (Convener)

Tania Diaz, NBA Peer Learning and Wellness Group (Facilitator)

During each two-year cohort, conveners will lead both virtual and in-person gatherings and help create spaces for connection, belonging and contemplation. They also offer support, guidance, advice and motivation to members navigating through the various challenges they are facing in their lives. We had the chance to speak with a convener from each of NBA’s current Peer Learning & Wellness Groups to learn more about why they got involved and the impact the program has had on them.

Getting Involved with NBA Peer Learning & Wellness Groups

Cindy Kim-Hengst, A/PI Young Adults: “I was invited to work with NBA, who wanted to work specifically with a community in which I belong to and grew up in…This felt like a perfect opportunity to foster the development of current and future leaders in the A/PI community.”

Rev. Bere Gil Soto, Young Adults in Social Services: “I recognized the vital need for community among leaders and changemakers, and NBA’s commitment to creating communities of compassion and care resonates deeply with my own view of what the Gospel is about.”

Rev. Tiffany Curtis, Chaplains: “Participating in the Prison and Jail Ministries peer group (2016-2018) was a meaningful experience for me at a pivotal time in my life and ministry…I wanted to shape and co-create a space for reflection, renewal, and belonging for spiritual leaders.”

Rev. Nora Jacob, Prison & Jail Ministry: I was in NBA’s first PLWG Prison & Jail Ministries Peer Group nine years ago as a new minister just finding my way in restorative justice work inside California’s state prison system. When I was invited back as a Co-Convener for this current Prison & Jail Ministries cohort, I jumped at the opportunity to reconnect. I hope I can share Restorative Justice values and practices in ways that benefit the NBA and the wider world of Disciples’ faith communities.

Mark Palmer, Executive Leaders: “I’m currently involved with my fourth peer group. Someone asked me to be a convener, and I haven’t looked back. Each cohort is different and offers a different story, and those things are really exciting to me.”

Favorite Part About Being a Convener

Palmer: “Being able to help individuals both in a group setting and one-on-one consultation and mentoring, I’ll really get to help them advance their organization…I enjoy these opportunities to have a significant impact on another ministry and the work that they do.”

Rev. Jacob: “Hands down, it’s connecting with others in Prison and Jail Ministries from across the nation. Every one of us offers carceral ministry and empowerment in a somewhat different service context, but we all face the same challenges of mass incarceration, institutional restrictions, racism, and so on.  And we all seem to step forward in seeing those ‘challenges’ as opportunities to embody God’s love and Jesus’ example to offer healing and hope.”

Rev. Curtis: “I enjoy facilitating our group gatherings because holding the group process is this beautiful alchemy of intentionality, love, listening, planning, surprise, presence, and collective becoming.”

Rev. Gil Soto: “My favorite part has been the privilege of walking alongside others during their most challenging moments. Witnessing the resilience and vulnerability of participants as they navigate emotional, physical and spiritual challenges has been both humbling and inspiring.”

Kim-Hengst: “My favorite part of serving as a convener is the ways in which the position has pushed my growing edges. I’ve taken the challenge to only saying yes to things that cause me pause, push me to grow, and even may cause some fear or anxiety.”

Involvement With Peer Groups Impacts Conveners, Too

Rev. Curtis: “We co-create a container of care that allows for transformative connection, which is life-affirming and hopeful.”

Kim-Hengst: “This program has given me a way to continue positively making an impact. Being a convener was a chance to do good and impactful work within a community that I care deeply for.

Rev. Jacob: “I feel more whole and connected – as a human being and a Restorative Justice minister – when I do anything with the NBA.  Its focus on social justice and social services has always energized my heart, and the Peer Learning & Wellness Group program beautifully gives personal support and attention to people in ministries that are especially challenging, even as they’re especially satisfying.”

Palmer: “It has given me the opportunity to meet numerous people from around the country and expand my professional circle so that I can reach out to folks to get advice from them on how they are doing things. It has also impacted me personally. I’ve made a lot of friends from the groups and I see those as being life-long partnerships and friendships.”

Rev. Gil Soto: “My experience with each of the groups I’ve had the honor of convening has been profoundly transformative. Although I have been the one that is supposed to guide others throughout this journey, this program has impacted me in ways I never anticipated, offering a lifeline of community and connection during challenging times.”