CCD Training provides education for members of congregations, allowing them to become CCD leaders who are able to work on a variety of development projects.
Who We Are
The College for Congregational Development Consulting Network of the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago is a group of skilled consultants who are passionate about working with Episcopal congregations and organizations across our diocese. We believe that congregations of all sizes, locations and circumstances can be developed into more faithful, healthy, and effective communities of faith. We provide customized resources to help with this process.
CCD Consultants are ready to help with a wide range of organizational projects, meetings, and leadership development opportunities, including mutual ministry review planning and facilitation, vestry retreats, special meetings, development projects, and Myers Briggs Typology. Learn more about the kind of work we do.
Our Consultants
Our consultants are clergy and lay people from across the diocese who share a common background and training in congregational development, and each of us has a unique set of skills, strengths and qualifications that call us to the work of supporting congregations.
Joyce Beaulieu
Joyce has a doctorate in health services organization and policy and comes to the priesthood from an academic life that included research and teaching in rural health systems. She maintains an interest in rural and small congregations, having served four such congregations in the Diocese of Chicago as rector, interim, and long-term supply. Joyce has experience with college and young adult ministry, both as an assistant chaplain and a diocesan missioner for young adult ministry. Her consulting skills lie in priest search processes, for which she has received training in interpretation of the CAT (Church Assessment Tool), small and rural congregational development, and assisting congregations to live into their mission with energy, focus, and creativity. She lives on her family farm in west central Illinois.
Kevin Caruso
Kevin has a passion for supporting churches of all sizes and shapes as they seek to thrive. He currently serves as the Rector of Trinity Episcopal Church in Wheaton, IL. During his time in ministry Kevin has taken advantage of numerous opportunities to develop his skills for supporting communities of faith using the best practices and resources available. These include: the College for Congregational Development, the Episcopal Leadership Missional Cohort, Fierce Conversations, the Kellogg School of Management’s Leadership Institute, Invite Welcome Connect (IWC) congregational and coaching training, and Backstory Preaching’s mentorship. Kevin has also been trained to interpret the CAT (Church Assessment Tool) and is a shepherd for congregations in the process of searching for a new rector. If you are looking for support to help your congregation develop a strategic vision for your future, work through a particular problem or to have the fun of dreaming about where God is calling you, Kevin would be happy to talk with you. Kevin can provide support in a variety of modalities ranging from facilitating congregational meetings to vestry leadership retreats to one-on-one coaching. Kevin has also made a regular practice of Mutual Ministry Reviews (MMRs) in his own ministry and enjoys facilitating them as a way to support other congregations.
Greg Millikin
Greg serves as rector of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Evanston. He previously served as rector at Grace Episcopal Church in New Lenox and associate rector of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Alexandria, VA. He is a graduate of Virginia Theological Seminary, and holds a Bachelor’s of Arts from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. He previously spent over ten years working in the film industry, primarily at Fox Searchlight Pictures in the marketing department. Greg is active at the church-wide and diocesan levels in various roles, including serving on the Standing Commission for Liturgy & Music; the Diocese of Chicago’s Commission on Ministry; and as a deputy to the General Convention of the Episcopal Church in 2022. Greg is the author of Being Called, Being Gay, from Church Publishing, Inc. (2018), a primer for the LGBTQIA+ community discerning for ministry in the Episcopal Church.
Gregg Morris
The Rev. Gregg Morris currently serves as rector of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Downers Grove, IL. Gregg spent a 20-year career in professional lay ministry, serving in parish, school and college settings. He was also a trainer and consultant in the Episcopal Church, particularly as a Senior Trainer for LeaderResources, LLC, publisher of the widely-used Journey to Adulthood (J2A) program for youth. Between 1997 and 2008, he helped 175 Episcopal Churches across the US and Canada implement and successfully utilize the J2A program in their parishes.
Dan Puchalla
Dan is currently priest-in-charge at St. Gregory’s Episcopal Church in Deerfield. Dan believes that the Spirit speaks in the spaces between us, when we speak honestly and listen attentively to each other. He helps congregational leaders to frame their most important conversations and to develop processes for real, impactful changes to their ministries. He has helped several congregations to refocus on the specific ways they are part of transforming people’s lives — and to let go of whatever does not support that. Dan earned his M.Div. from the University of Chicago Divinity School. He has previously served as an Interim Rector at Church of the Atonement in Chicago, and Church of the Annunciation in Gurnee. He began his priestly ministry as associate rector at St. Paul & the Redeemer, Chicago.
Jenny Replogle
Jenny is the co-rector of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Peoria. She was ordained in 2011 and served churches in New Jersey and Connecticut before coming to the Diocese of Chicago. Jenny sees the heart of ministry as enabling people to live fully into who God created them to be and understands consulting with congregations to be part of that ministry. She is skilled at using the congregational development toolbox to help both individuals and church communities discern and follow God’s call on their lives and is a certified Myers Briggs Type Indicator practitioner.
Kara Wagner Sherer
Kara is a cradle Episcopalian and as a lay person worshipped in Minnesota, California, England, New York City, and Chicago. After graduation from Seabury-Western Theological Seminary and ordination in 2003, Kara served as the assistant rector at St. Paul and the Redeemer in Chicago. She has been the rector of St. John’s in Chicago since 2005. In the Diocese of Chicago, Kara has served on the Province V board and served as dean of the West Deanery. She enjoys leading vestry retreats, strategic planning, and mutual ministry reviews and has a gift for helping congregations discover, appreciate, and build on the gifts God has given them.
How to Work with Us
If you are interested in talking through how your congregation may benefit from working with one of our consultants, the first step is to contact the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago Canon to the Ordinary and CCD Director, Andrea Mysen. If you already have an idea of the consultant you would like to use, Andrea will check on that person’s availability. Once you are in touch with your consultant, you can work together to explore the project and the consultant’s role in it. Contact CCD Director Andrea Mysen, 312-751-4203, for more information.
Pricing and Fees
Once you have been paired with a consultant, establishing a contract for the scope of work and estimated time involved is done directly between the client congregation and the consultant. The standard fee is $50 per hour of work (including phone consultation and prep time). Mutual Ministry Reviews (MMRs) are billed at a flat rate of $250. If a congregation opts to use a CCD consultant for their annual mutual ministry review the fee will be paid from from the diocesan ministries budget for the first annual review. Subsequent reviews would be paid by the congregation directly to the consultant.
If cost is a barrier for your organization, there are limited funds available to assist with consulting fees, depending on need and circumstance. Contact CCD Director Andrea Mysen, 312-751-4203, for more information about pricing.