March 2026 Retirement Planning Seminar

    We are excited to announce the 2026 Retirement Planning Seminar: An Interactive Retreat for UU Professionals including Ministers, Religious Educators, and Other Professionals Planning to Retire in the Next Ten Years. 

    Where/When 
    The Seminar will begin on Monday, March 23, 2026 with late afternoon arrivals followed by dinner and evening program, and will conclude with a boxed lunch on Thursday, March 26. It will be held at the Bon Secours Retreat and Conference Center located in Marriottsville, Maryland (https://bonsecoursrcc.org). Marriottsville is west of Baltimore, Maryland – approximately 30 minutes from BWI/Marshall Airport and Amtrak station.

    To Register, please complete and submit this jotform: https://form.jotform.com/UUORP/seminar_registration_form
    Program Content
    Are you 50 years of age or older? Planning to retire within the next decade? Have questions about what might come next or about the mechanics of retirement (UU Org Retirement Plan, Social Security, Medicare)? If so, this seminar is for you!

    The Rev. Larry Peers, a UU Minister, national consultant, clergy coach, and therapist, will be the featured presenter along with speakers from UUA Church Staff Finances.

    Larry will lead engaging sessions from his workshop on “Finishing Strong, Ending Well: Crafting the Culminating Chapter of Your Ministry.” The focus of the “Finishing Strong, Ending Well” segments of the program include:
    • How can you, as a religious professional, remain vital in the years leading up to retirement?
    • How will you approach this chapter of your career in a way that is sustaining and communicates a legacy?
    • How will you attend to your practical, your leadership, and your soul’s needs in this chapter in ways that can enhance personal and spiritual focus and renewal and prepare you now for moving into the “third stage” of your life, we call “retirement?”
    Church Staff Finances will present on the nuts and bolts of retirement including Medicare and health insurance, income streams and expenses, social security, the UU Org Retirement Plan, and the shift from active ministry to retirement.
    Cost
    The cost for this program of reflection and planning for your retirement will be $975 (single) and $725 (shared). This fee includes 3 nights lodging, all meals, and all program content. Not included is airfare/train fare to BWI/Marshall or transit to the Retreat Center. There is also a commuter rate of $495 for local participants that includes all meals and program content. Credit card and ACH fees will apply.

    If space is available, spouses/partners are welcomed. 
    This seminar has been highly popular with UU professionals starting to think about their transition to retirement. We hope to see many of you in Maryland this spring!

    About Rev. Dr. Larry Peers
    Rev. Lawrence Peers, D.Min. Ed.D. is dedicated to serving and coaching leaders and organizations from a comprehensive and integral perspective. He has coached dozens of leaders and consulted with local, regional and national organizations for over 25 years. He brings an interdisciplinary approach that draws on his experience as a therapist, organizational development consultant, clergy leader, graduate school professor, and director of not-for-profit organizations and programs. 

    Larry has extensive experience designing coaching and learning experiences for leaders across many faith traditions and not-for-profit settings. He worked for the Unitarian Universalist Association as Education Director of Congregational Growth & Development in the 1990s and with the Alban Institute as a senior consultant for 11 years. He has taught adaptive leadership and conflict transformation as an adjunct faculty member in graduate school programs at Hartford Seminary and Lancaster Theological Seminary. In addition, he has served as director of learning for the national Pastoral Excellence Program, funded by Lilly Endowment, Inc. 

    In his coaching and retreat leadership, Larry incorporates his specialized training in organizational change, leadership coaching, narrative therapy, somatic coaching, psychotherapy, and spiritual psychology. 

    In addition to his master's degrees in Developmental Clinical Psychology and Theology, and a post-master's certificate in Counseling Psychology, Larry holds a doctorate in Congregational Studies (Hartford Seminary) and in Organizational Change (Pepperdine University). 

    He is a Professional Certified Coach (PCC), a certified Leadership Circle® coach, an Immunity to Change® and Conflict Dynamics Profile® facilitator, a Navigating Transitions Coach ® from the Modern Elder Academy, and a Certified Spiritual Director (Haden Institute). He recently participated in the Encore program at Union Theological Seminary which focused on the spiritual issues of aging and developing an encore career  

    He currently has the joy of serving the First Unitarian Church of Wilmington, DE, and will be concluding his five-year contract in July 2026. 
    Published