Deacon MaryAnn Schwabe, Natural Systems Coordinator at ELCA Churchwide, will examine this time of high anxiety in church and society. Her presentation will focus on the blatant and subtle effects of anxiety. Steady, thoughtful, and calm leadership is critical yet difficult to engage in such an atmosphere. What do our own symptoms tell us? In the effort to address the anxieties swirling around us, how might we not miss the opportunities for self-reflection and self-regulation? Dr. Walter H. Smith, retired Director of the Western Pennsylvania Family Center, speaks of chronic anxiety as being “quiet and deep,” an elegant description of how these days affect us all.