Coaching to Help Orthodox Priests
Live and Lead from a Higher CallingLeadership Accelerator 2024
Leadership Accelerator was established to help parish priests fulfill this higher calling by learning to live and lead from overflow instead of overwhelm.
The Gap
While seminary education provides priests with essential biblical, theological, and historical knowledge, there is a gap. Seminarians are generally not taught how to be leaders or apostles.
The Leadership Accelerator provides experienced guides who serve as trusted advisers to grow Orthodox clergy into leaders, so that priests can both care for and lead their parishes more effectively without sacrificing the values that matter most. We call this the “Double Win.”
The Program
- Three Live Retreats Per Year for Two Years
- Group Coaching Sessions
- Individual Coaching Sessions
Retreat Dates and Format
- Retreat 1: February 19-22, 2024
- Retreat 2: June 17-20, 2024
- Retreat 3: September 23-26, 2024
All retreats start on Monday evening with check-in and an informal dinner. The formal program begins Tuesday morning with breakfast and ends Thursday at 11:30 AM.
To allow time for travel, we recommend scheduling return flights no earlier than 4 PM on Thursday.
Nearby Attractions
Retreat Location
Our 2024 retreats will be held at the beautiful Whitestone Inn, Tennessee’s “Sanctuary for the Soul.”
Whitestone is a 600-acre AAA 4-Diamond bed and breakfast near Knoxville, TN. The resort resembles a New England village complete with farmhouse, cottage and Victorian-style lodging, plus a variety of outdoor activities from tennis and kayaking to 8 miles of hiking and walking trails.
The relaxed, individually designed rooms and suites are housed in buildings which include a farmhouse, a school house and a barn, and feature fireplaces, whirlpool tubs, TVs and Wi-Fi. Some quarters have kitchens, pull-out sofas and/or private decks.
Meals will be served on site. Common areas include a library, a game room and several verandas. There’s also a seasonal outdoor pool, a spa and a chapel. Other amenities include trails, disc golf and a boat dock.
Getting There
The Whitestone Inn is located at 1200 Paint Rock Rd, Kingston, TN 37763.
The closest airport is McGhee-Tyson Airport in Knoxville (TYS). Plan on one hour of travel time from the airport to the Whitestone.
Flights are available on the following airlines:
- Allegiant
- American
- Delta
- United
June Retreat Details
Overall
- Dress code is casual
- Campus is alcohol and tobacco-free
Monday
- Check In
- Anytime after 3 PM at the Whitestone Inn
- You will receive a text message with check-in details once you arrive
- Dinner
- We are gathering for dinner at 6:30pm at Calhoun’s: 4550 City Park Dr, Lenoir City, TN 37772. This is informal and payment is on your own — we recognize that this time and location may not work for some.
Tuesday (all events at the Farmhouse)
- 8 AM – Breakfast
- 9 AM – Parish Mission and Values, Part 1
- 12N – Lunch
- 1 PM – Parish Mission and Values, Part 2
- 4 PM – Free Time
- 6:30 PM – Dinner
Wednesday
All Wednesday meals are designed to honor this day of fasting. Breakfast and Lunch provided on-site
- 8 AM – Breakfast at the Farmhouse
- 9 AM – Intensives
- 12 N – Lunch
- 1 PM – Intensives
- 4 PM – Free Time
- 6:30 PM – Dinner at Maple Creek Bistro: 1000 Ladd Landing Blvd #120, Kingston, TN 37763. We have reservations for our group — payment on your own. See the menu here.
Thursday
- 8 AM – Breakfast at the Farmhouse
- 11:30 – Picnic lunch (take with you or eat onsite)
Group and Individual Coaching
Group Coaching Dates and Times
- Monday, January 22nd 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm CT
- Monday, March 4th 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm CT
- Monday, April 22nd 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm CT
- Monday, May 13th 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm CT
- Monday, July 22nd 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm CT
- Monday, August 26th 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm CT
- Monday, October 28th 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm CT
- Monday, November 25th 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm CT
- Monday, December 16th 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm CT
Individual Coaching
All individual coaching will be scheduled through the Edens View Coaching Portal. If you have a username and password, you can login here.
Your Coaching Team
David Limiero
I’ve been on the front lines of ministry as a pastor and later as a leader in a faith-based nonprofit ministry for more than 26 years. The first decade and a half of ministry was fruitful and fulfilling. I grew, and so did the churches I led — and not just in numbers. I saw hundreds of people come into new relationship with Jesus and hundreds more who were already believers grow deeper in their faith.
In 2003 I fulfilled a long-time calling when my family and I moved to Bakersfield, California to start a new congregation from scratch. It was the dream of a lifetime — and also the hardest thing I had ever done. Along the way, I took on a leadership role in a national church planting ministry and despite efforts to find a leader to replace me as pastor, came up empty.
Ten years after launching and growing that new church, I had reached a breaking point. I was overwhelmed, burnt out, and stuck. It was out of that season of overwhelm that I started on my own journey towards a life of balance and overflow. I’ve been living and leading differently ever since.
Most recently I’ve served as a Performance Coach with Full Focus and the founder of Edens View Coaching and Consulting. My wife and I cofounded Eagles Rest, where we provide sabbatical services and debriefing to workers serving cross-culturally. I also cofounded Journey Appalachia, a retreat-based ministry focused on bringing ancient spiritual practices and contemporary leadership together, and serve as the Director of Soul Care Coaching for Covenant Connections.
I’ve served churches in Colorado, North Carolina, Tennessee, Illinois, and California and spent 15 years working with a global church planting agency. I hold a Master of Divinity from Emmanuel Christian Seminary and graduated from the University of Colorado with a BA in International Affairs.
I’ve now spent over 30 years gaining extensive experience in coaching and consulting leaders through personal and professional challenges, helping them create sustainable systems that will grow along with them. I’ve been married to my wife Jan for 33 years and have three grown children and a brand-new granddaughter. I live in Kingsport, Tennessee where I enjoy hiking, kayaking, and traveling the country in our teardrop trailer.
Scott Caldwell
I look forward to meeting you. One way or another, I have been leading leaders for 27 years through my work in the non-profit and ministry space. Along the way I’ve gained sincere appreciation for the lessons that failure can bring…learned the importance of empowering a team…felt the impact of strength-based leadership…and experienced the power of an agreed-upon, shared vision. Each of these form the framework of my coaching relationships and I sincerely enjoy building capacity in leaders to achieve their personal and organizational goals.
I was born in St. Petersburg, Florida…adopted three months later…raised in Columbia, South Carolina and attended the University of Tennessee – Knoxville as well as Southern Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. I entered college with dreams of being a physician and after three years God made it clear He had different plans and was calling me to ministry. I’ve served on church staff and as an elder, but my primary vocation has been in the non-profit, parachurch space through a global ministry to adolescents called Young Life. I am currently experiencing God’s call on my life as a “strategic mission leader who enjoys loving and leading a team toward something beautiful.”
I live in Franklin, Tennessee with my wife Susan and our three children (Katy Ann – 20, Austin – 18 and Chesney -12). I enjoy golf, fantasy baseball, University of Tennessee sports, St. Louis Cardinals baseball and Formula 1 Racing and, no kidding…several times a week I’m told I look like a certain famous actor.
Our Thanks!
The content of Leadership Accelerator was developed by Michael Hyatt, the founder and Chairman of Full Focus and architect of the Full Focus Planner, as part of the now-defunct Business Accelerator program.
Michael is a Deacon in the Antiochan Orthodox Church and a personal friend to His Eminence Metropolitan Nathanael.
Michael believes strongly in leadership development for Orthodox priests and has graciously allowed Edens View Coaching and Consulting to license and customize his content for Orthodox clergy. We are grateful for his generous support!