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Workshops
Saturday, September 1, 2007
Session One: 1:30 – 3:00 p.m.
Session Two: 3:30 – 5:00 p.m.
Sunday, September 2, 2007
Session Three: 2:00 – 3:30 p.m.
Session Four: 4:00 – 3:30 p.m. |
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Session One Worshops
Saturday, September 1, 2007
1:30 – 3:00 p.m.
This workshop is an open discussion of getting the New Church Development (NCD) started and will focus on the role of the pastor. It will cover the importance of momentum, vision and leadership, handling conflict, attracting people, designing worship, fellowship groups, facilities, varying models for differing people, and your questions.
The Rev. Brian Clark is the founding pastor of Riverside Presbyterian Church, a vibrant 10 year old church outside of Washington, D.C., Brian is also General Assembly Council field staff for New Church Development and an NCD Coach. Visit the Riverside Presbyterian Church Web site for more information about Brian and the ministry of Riverside.
This workshop will explore cultural and religious diversity among Middle Eastern immigrants and will consider the factors and dynamics operative in evangelism and church planting among the different Arabic-speaking groups. The workshop will also examine some of the past attempts at establishing new church developments among Middle Easterners in different presbyteries across the United States.
Amgad Beblawi is Associate for Middle Eastern Ministries of the General Assembly Council of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). A native of Egypt, he grew up in the Presbyterian Church of Egypt, Synod of the Nile. He is a graduate of Fuller Seminary, Pasadena, Calif. Prior to becoming GAC staff, he was academic advisor and director of Career Services at Fuller Seminary, and also worked with nonprofit organizations in the Washington, D.C., area. Many of his activities and interests in recent years have centered around teaching and advocating for a Christian perspective on just peacemaking and reconciliation and ecumenism and
Church unity
This workshop will focus on the unique characteristics of small churches, the four essential marks of the church, discovering the particular calling of a congregation, reaching out to new people and including new persons in the total life of the church.
James Cushman is a retired minister of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). For 20 years he served as pastor of small churches in West Virginia and worked with the presbytery as Special Presbyter for Small Churches. Later he served as GA Associate for Small Church Ministry and also as Associate Director for Church Development. After leaving the GA Jim served as executive presbyter for Middle Tennessee Presbytery. During his last ten years of active ministry he served as interim executive with the presbyteries of the James, Shenandoah, Donegal, Peaks and the Synod of the Trinity. Jim and his spouse Polly live in New Market, Va.
(also Session 2: 3:30 – 5:00 P.M./Saturday, #30)
Does the word “evangelism” make you slightly queasy? Do you wonder how to share your faith if you can’t make your relationship with God as pithy as a bumper sticker? What would motivate you to talk about faith with unchurched friends? How can we pray for unchurched people and for our churches? Martha Grace Reese, Director of the Mainline Evangelism Project and author of Unbinding the Gospel: Real Life Evangelism (Chalice Press, 2007) will lead exercises and discussion of your questions about what authentic mainline evangelism looks like, prayer and unbinding the Gospel.
Martha Grace Reese, M.Div., J.D., directed a four-year evangelism research project funded by the Lilly Endowment. The study, which included over 1,000 interviews, focused on highly effective examples of evangelism in mainline churches and the motivations for evangelism. Reese has been a lawyer, a congregational pastor, a middle judicatory minister and has spent the last decade coaching more than 150 gifted pastors in spiritual leadership for church transformation.
The presentation will focus on the development of a parish nurse program, the roles of a parish nurse in a local congregation and the responses of a congregation to Health Ministry. Various activities of a Health Ministry will be explored. Participants are encouraged to ask questions about Health Ministry and Parish Nursing.
Janet Widell, M.S.N., R.N. is a member of First Presbyterian Church in Auburn, Ala. where she serves as parish nurse. Jan sings in the choir and is an ordained elder in her church. Jan is also an assistant professor of nursing at Troy University in Montgomery, Ala. where she teaches psychiatric/mental health nursing. Jan has a bachelors’ degree in nursing from Columbia University and a master's degree in Community Health Nursing from University of Alabama in Birmingham. She has been in active nursing practice for 38 years.
This workshop will provide an overview of the essential dynamics that have to be stimulated within the life of a congregation, in order to move a congregation successfully through the transformation process. Time permitting, the workshop will offer both a general description of the dynamics as well as providing tangible examples of how the dynamics have been addressed in a variety of congregations.
Judy Hay is part-time field staff for the Office of Church Growth and Ministry Support, previously the Office of Congregational Transformation. She is also pastor of Calvary St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Rochester, N.Y. Judy received her M. Div. from McCormick Theological Seminary. Dave Hawbecker is part-time field staff for the office of Church Growth and Ministry Support, previously the Office of Congregational Transformation. He is the former pastor of Ygnacio Valley Presbyterian Church in Concord, Calif. He has served transforming congregations, led training events and consulted with many congregations, as well as mentored a number of interns.
Join six energetic clergywomen in this participatory workshop and learn about a program that explores the mind/body connection in relationship to faith together. Known as Abiding Presence, this unique group of six PC (USA)-ordained clergywomen, all graduates of Austin Seminary, are bonded together in Holy Friendship. They serve under the auspices of Austin Seminary’s College of Pastoral Leaders and the Lilly Foundation, through which they received a grant in the fall of 2004. The workshop shares what they have learned together, enriching lives and faith.
Beth Walden-Fisher has served as a hospice chaplain in central Texas, and as a solo pastor in southern Indiana. She currently serves as Director of Christian Education at Fairlawn Presbyterian Church in Columbus, Ind. Beth lives on a small family farm with her husband, Andrew.
Michelle Vetters served First United Presbyterian Church in Las Vegas, N.M. for seven and one half years. She currently serves St. Andrew Presbyterian Church in San Antonio, Texas. She is passionate about preaching and occasionally preaches “in character,” embodying the stories of the Bible for her congregation.
Melinda Veatch serves as executive director of Tarrant Area Community of Churches. Melinda served a congregation in Hurst, Texas as associate pastor. Her work with Abiding Presence and embodied spirituality has been a wonderful metaphor for working in the broader Body of Christ.
Tricia Tedrow served as a solo pastor in Louisiana and Texas and as an associate for curriculum development at PC(USA) in Louisville. Her work with Abiding Presence led to the development of and editorial work on “Healthy Living: Stewardship of the Body,” part of the Real Faith, Real Life curriculum series. Tricia is currently residing in New Mexico while seeking a new call.
Cindy Kohlmann served as a solo pastor for six years in Carlisle, Ohio, and has recently begun serving a church in Clinton, Mass. Her time with Abiding Presence has helped her be more spontaneous in her preaching, and inspired her to write a “dancing sermon,” in which a group of dancers illustrated a sermon written to music exploring the relationship of the Trinity.
Rebecca Fox Nuelle serves as a pastor in Central Texas. The Holy Spirit has been moving her for as long as she can remember. Thanks be to God.
This presentation is an overview of how to facilitate health care decisions with family and loved ones. The purpose of the Living Will document will be explained. Actual scenarios will be modeled and role-played. Hand-out materials will be given to participants to equip them to begin conversations in their own congregations.
Kay Mueggenburg, Ph.D., R.N., is a member of Second Presbyterian Church in Lexington Ky., and serves as vice president of education, research and community integration for Hospice of the Bluegrass. Dr. Mueggenburg formerly was a member of the faculty in the College of Nursing at the University of Kentucky, served in both public health and inpatient settings, and has written and published extensively.
What are the factors that contribute to a congregation accepting, welcoming and supporting those with chronic mental illness? This presentation will present the findings of a research project based on the above question. Six Lutheran congregations were studied as part of a simple exploratory qualitative research project. Hear the stories of these congregations who minister to those with chronic mental illness and by valuing, befriending and engaging.
The Rev. Hollie M. Holt-Woehl is an ordained pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America. She served for 10 years in rural and suburban congregations before pursuing a Ph.D. in pastoral care and counseling at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minn., with anticipated date of graduation April 2007.
Pastor Tot and pastor Behrens will share their story of how God has transformed a small white, English-speaking congregation into a growing, bi-lingual, multi-cultural congregation in three years. They will share what they believe are the basic elements to such a transformation and how churches in similar situations might begin to share the good news in neighborhoods that have been transformed by new residents and the cultural realities of immigration.
The Reverend Alfonso Tot is originally from Cuyotenango, Guatemala. He was ordained to the ministry in 1979 in the Presbytery of Suchitepéquez in the National Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Guatemala. Pastor Tot served the church in Guatemala for many years. He has served as a co-pastor at Grandview Park Presbyterian Church in Kansas City, Kan., since June of 2003. Pastor Tot lives in Kansas City, Kan., with his wife Telma and his son, Jose, and daughter, Diosselyn. Pastor Alfonso and Telma have a grown daughter, Cathy, who lives in Guatemala with her husband, Jaime, and two children.
The Reverend Rick Behrens lives and serves in the city of his birth. He has served Grandview Park Presbyterian Church in Kansas City, Kan. for 25 years. Grandview Park is a small urban neighborhood church. Pastor Rick was ordained there in 1989. He has particular interests in music and theatre as well as his church work. His wife, DeDe, is a dentist, and they have two sons, Samuel and Lucas.
This workshop provides a way of congregational transformation that engages every member of the church in a one year long study that utilizes the Book of Acts. At the completion of this workshop, participants will have been introduced to a step-by-step process utilizing scripture, biblical principles, practical team building activities and practical member involvement in the total life of the church. If you want a practical model of how to organize your church for transformation and develop leaders, this is a must attend workshop.
The Reverend Dr. Wanda M. Lundy was born July 18, 1959, in Chattanooga, Tenn. She graduated in 1981 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Alabama A & M University. In 1985 she received her M.Div. from Johnson C. Smith Seminary, Atlanta, Ga. She received her D.Min. from New York Theological Seminary with a focus on congregational transformation. Dr. Lundy has served as pastor of The Church on the Edge (First Presbyterian Church) in Edgewater, N.J., since 1997. Dr. Lundy has also established the Edgewater Multicultural Center which has as its mission to cultivate in students of all ages a lifelong commitment to intellectual exploration, individual growth and social responsibility by motivating and supporting them to strive for academic and personal excellence within a principled framework that places the highest value on honor and respect for others. In addition to her local church involvement, she serves as moderator for Presbytery of the Palisades, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), a member of National Steering Committee for Presbyterian Multicultural Network and is a trainer for Congregational Transformation Team Ministry. She is adjunct faculty at New York Theological Seminary in the master and doctoral programs. Dr. Lundy has been married for 10 years to Curtis Lundy. They have four children.
Church Health Center opened its doors Sept. 1, 1987, in Memphis, determined to provide quality, compassionate and affordable medical care for minimum wage workers, their families and the homeless — and to do it with a broad base of financial support from the faith community and with the volunteer help of doctors, nurses, dentists and others. Growing from the first day of operation — medical staff saw twelve patients; today the center’s clinic has 40,000 patients on record and an on-site staff of physicians, two fulltime dentists, nurses and two pastoral counselors. A network of over 600 volunteer physicians, nurses, dentists and optometrists and other health care professionals keep the clinic open at nights and on weekends or see patients in their offices. This presentation will focus on how and why the center’s ministries provide health care for the poor and promote healthy bodies and spirits for all.
Ann W. Langston, J.D., has been director of the Church Health Center in Memphis, Tenn., since April 1999. Ann has been involved with the Church Health Center since Scott Morris, M.D., M.Div., its founder and executive director, arrived in Memphis with the vision to create a healthcare ministry of the faith community. Prior to coming on staff, Ann served as volunteer legal counsel to the Church Health Center and was chair of the Board of Directors. Ann received her B.A. and J.D. degrees from Southern Methodist University and spent 22 years in the private practice of law.
A journey on how to navigate through the multi-dimensional issues facing congregations and leaders in the midst of transformational change. We struggle with change, but we cannot be divorced from the change that surrounds us everyday. The need to put in context the difficult issues of a changing world around us requires that we have a spiritual basis to accept the balance between our need to change and our unchanged convictions on staying faithful. We will explore the difficult issues facing the church today such as: immigration, national and international politics; the relevance (or irrelevance) of Christianity in today’s world; the new U.S. identity; globalization; pluralism in society; the rise of spirituality in our world and struggling churches in midst of megachurch explosion.
(Part 2 of this workshop is scheduled for Session 3: Sunday, 2 – 3:30 P.M., #44)
Peter Avery has been “making sense of it all” his whole life. Born and raised in Lima, Peru, he grew up bilingual. In his work for Walt Disney Productions on EPCOT and Tokyo Disneyland, he found himself immersed in Japanese culture. Because of his work in international business, Peter has become conversant in a variety of cultures from India to Brazil, China to Nicaragua, Singapore to Mexico. His passion for all things multicultural and his strong belief that the church must communicate the Gospel in culturally relevant ways have converged in his transformation work in the church. He brought his multicultural fluency to his work with Hudson River Presbytery where he served as contract staff for Multicultural Ministry, Transformation and Communications. He has also served the greater church on the Transformation Network Steering Committee.
A bilingual presentation, this workshop will focus on worship styles when working with young generations, principally in congregations where their membership composition is ethnically diverse. Vanessa Luciano is a national leader of youth ministries, a talented musician, a Christian educator translator, the musical director for Deixos musical group, and a worship leader in the El Buen Vecino Presbyterian Church in Kissimmee, FL. She was a PC(USA) young adult representative to the 2005 World Council of Churches Assembly in Brazil. Hector Rodriquez is the Associate for Hispanic Congregational Enhancement, PC(USA).
A buzzword that can simply mean “more of the same — just a new name” or it can lead to radical new directions for the church and individuals. Often without realizing it, the American church practices colonialism, franchising, consumerism and institutionalism, and the wary persons they are trying to reach intuitively run the other way. We will make the sometimes abstract term, “missional,” come alive practically. Beware; this redirection of the church may be threatening to one’s peace of mind.
The Rev. Dr. John Haberlin served 37 years in pastoral ministry in youth ministries, evangelism, church planting and church revitalization primarily in the Pacific Northwest. For two additional years he served at General Assembly as the Associate for Church Growth and New Church Development. He serves as a consultant in New Church Development and Church transformation. He was the author of “Do You Want to Grow?” published by G.A. His doctoral project is a New Church Development training CD entitled, “The Pre-Natal Development of New Congregations.” John is an NCD Coach. |
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Session Two Worshops
Saturday, September 1, 2007
3:30 – 5:00 p.m
Most of us realize that Gen X and younger adults and teens see the world differently from those of us who are Baby Boomers and older. We are going to become a different sort of church and frame our message in a different way if we are going to reach them with the gospel. This workshop will explore some of the features of these younger generations of Christians and seekers and help participants think through strategies for connecting with them
The Rev. Jim Kitchens is the pastor, Second Presbyterian Church, Nashville, Tenn.
This workshop will focus on churches starting new churches. It will examine and address the appropriate questions that need to be asked and answered including but not limited to models, target group, funding, visioning, leadership and pastor.
The Rev. Jerry Bron was the organizing pastor of Southminster (Gastonia, N.C.) 13 years ago. Jerry is the current chair of his presbytery’s NCD Committee and has helped start up and organize other NCDs. He is a NCD Coach and has led visioning retreats for other churches.
This course will explore the connection between discipleship and evangelism and invite you and your church into a reflection on how you are accomplishing this important task.
The Rev. Philip Lotspeich is the organizing Pastor of Faithbridge Presbyterian Church in Frisco, Texas, about 35 miles north of Dallas, a seven-year-old new church development. He has seen it grow from 0 to 200+. New church work seems to occupy much of what Philip does these days, and he currently chairs the New Church Development sub committee of Grace Presbytery. Philip is the chair for the 2007 Evangelism conference of the PC(USA) and an NCD Coach. He is married and has two children, Austin, 10, and Abby, seven.
This workshop is aimed at presbytery staff and committee persons who are interested in exploring their roles and responsibilities in supporting congregations involved in a transformation journey. It will examine such matters as creating a culture for transformation, opportunities for initiation of congregational transformation, support structures for congregational transformation, fostering team building, resources, leadership and organizational styles that foster transformation.
Bruce Tischler has served for almost eight years as regional presbyter for Congregational Transformation for Hudson River and Palisades Presbyteries. In that role he has coordinated and lead regional (with a number of presbyteries in the New York City region) training events for pastors and key lay persons in the dynamics of congregational transformation. In addition he develops and implements support systems for congregations on the transformation journey. He has also served for five years in the past as one of the General Assembly Council’s field staff in congregational transformation, providing consultation and training for presbyteries and congregational leaders all across the country.
"An appalling and horrible thing has happened in the land; the prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule as the prophets direct; my people love to have it so, but what will you do when the end comes?”
(Jeremiah 5:30-31)
First, prayer, more prayer, and much prayer — the heart of God’s people being fired up by the prayer and the Holy Spirit. Second, training and sending out God’s people as fired-up witnesses of Jesus. Third is faithful ministry and devotion of pastors from deep personal experience of having encountered God. Fourth is Bible study as the word of God and making disciples. Fifth — simple, biblical, and experiential preaching to stir up the heart of God’s people. Sixth is unshakable foundation of reformed conservative theology and faith. Seventh, sharing meals for fellowship and evangelism. Finally, prayer and more prayer for the spiritual power and spiritual vitality for the transformational ministry.
Yushin (Joshua) Lee was born in Korea in 1942. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin with a Ph.D. in 1972. He has been a professor at the University of California, from 1981 to the present. He received his D. Min. from the Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary in 1998 and his M. Div. from San Francisco Theological Seminary in 2002. He was ordained a minister of the Word and Sacrament in the PC(USA) in 2004. He currently serves as general secretary of the National Korean Presbyterian Council.
Christ’s life-messages impel us to build bridges across cultures and build churches that make people of all cultures feel welcome; however, our attachment to power, to our “own music,” and to our “own way of doing things,” interfere with our ability to build open/experimental churches that draw “all people in,” How do we free ourselves to build multicultural churches and to see the joyful possibilities in that transition?
Janet Sullivan graduated from McCormick Theological Seminary with a degree in church related social work. She has been a school social worker for over 30 years, heading her school’s Support Services Department for most of those years. She helped create and chaired her church’s Diversity Ministry Team that has organized race relations and multicultural church development classes. She has served as an elder, Sunday school teacher, Mission Committee member, Church and Society Committee member and chair of a pastoral search committee. Jan now chairs the PC(USA) Congo Mission Network and serves on the PC(USA) Multicultural Network. She has been a short-term mission worker in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and is currently developing a video on the children and schools of the Congo. Jan is a member of the city of Evanston’s Human Relations Commission.
Events in the fall of 2001 brought Islam and Muslims to the forefront of world attention. Islam is the second largest religion with 1.3 billion people. You no longer have to go to Asia or the Middle East to see mosques; they are springing up all across North America. There are over five million Muslims in the United States. This seminar will offer a comprehensive study of the social and political impact of Islam on our contemporary world, major differences between Christianity and Islam and how to effectively communicate with your Muslim neighbors.
This workshop will be conducted by Mansour Khajehpour, a Master of Divinity student at Princeton Theological Seminary. Khajehpour is from Iran, where he was raised as a devote Shiite Muslim. He accepted Christ as his Lord and savior when he was a teenager. Mansour was commissioned as Lay Pastor by Seattle Presbytery seven years ago to lead the Persian Church of the Good Shepherd, PC(USA). Beside his student life, he currently serves as the pastor of Persian Fellowship in Philadelphia preaching the Good News among Muslims from Persia.
This presentation is an interactive workshop designed to help those interested in starting a health ministry avoid the common mistakes that many other individuals have confronted before them. Through shared case scenarios, the discussion will highlight ten top mistakes that pose a barrier to health ministry implementation.
Janice L. Holmes, R.N., M.P.H., Ph.D., is an elder at Central Presbyterian Church in McKeesport, Pa. She holds a doctorate from University of Pittsburg and was a post-doctorate fellow at the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute of the Public Health Service. For over 30 years she has held a number of positions both in direct care nursing and as nursing faculty at several universities. Currently she is a certified parish nurse, as well as associate professor of nursing in the College of Health and Human Services, Department of Nursing and Allied Health Professions at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, and is enrolled in the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary in the Master of Divinity Program. An inquirer with the Pittsburgh Presbytery, she has completed chaplain residencies at the Veterans Administration Medical Center and UPMC Shadyside Hospital and recently returned from a mission trip in Rome and Naples, Italy, with the seminary’s World Mission Initiative and Waldensian community.
Learn about and experience music as a means to healing and wholeness through research-based information, live musical demonstration and anecdotal material from the presenter’s current occupation as a certified music practitioner. This workshop includes interactive audience participation.
Robin Russell Gaiser, M.A., C.M.P., is a newly retired and relocated high school guidance counselor whose common lifelong thread has been vocal and instrumental music making. She plays twelve instruments, composes, records, performs individually and with a band, teaches, and sings. In April of 2006, she completed requirements as a certified music practitioner (CMP) through Music for Healing and Transition, Inc. and currently provides music for Mountain Valley Hospice in upstate New York. She is employed as a CMP at Nathan Littauer Hospital Extended Care, offering music bedside to patients with a wide variety of needs. Robin is a member of Northville United Presbyterian Church in the southern Adirondack Mountains of New York.
This workshop will look into issues faced by Presbyterian churches. We will look at hiring non-citizen pastors and other church staff, how the U.S. immigration system affects church members, church outreach and mission. We will have time for questions and answers to answer questions you may have.
Julia Thorne is an attorney in the Office of Immigration Issues. This Office is located in Constitutional Services in the Office of the General Assembly. It is her privilege to resource and advise presbyteries and churches regarding immigration issues. The Immigration Issues Office also works with presbyteries, churches and interfaith partners on advocacy for the reform of current immigration policies and procedures and laws in accordance with General Assembly policy. Since graduating from college, Julia has worked with internationals as foreign student advisor, college instructor, campus minister and private immigration attorney.
Grief is a universal yet uniquely personal experience that helps us heal from significant life losses. Learn practical do’s and don’ts to help those who grieve. Learn how to design a congregational grief ministry that systematically ministers to those who grieve and find out ways to “partner” with local hospitals and hospital staff to help support those who have suffered a loss.
The Rev. David L. Schriber, M.A., is an ordained United Church of Christ pastor whose experiences in health and ministry range from parish ministry to hospice care and chaplaincy. He has also worked tirelessly among several interfaith community groups and has been a featured speaker at health and healing conferences in the United States and Canada. Currently retired, he is a member of the International Order of St. Luke the Physician.
To do effective evangelism in the local church we need to research the needs of the people with cultural patterns of the community. Determining where people are most receptive to the gospel is crucial in strategizing the evangelism. The workshop deals with “where are the people in their movement toward Christ and how do we reach them” in the context of Korean immigrant community.
The Rev. Dr. Sun Bai Kim is the associate for Korean Congregational Enhancement and the Coordinator for Coordinating Committee for Korean American Presbyteries in the Racial Ethnic and Women’s Ministries of the GAC. He has served the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) over 30 years including 19 years of ministry at the GA level. He received his B.A from Yunsei University, founded by a Presbyterian missionary, his M.Div. and Th.M. from Korean Presbyterian Seminary in Seoul, his M.A. from Denver Seminary, and his D.Min. from McCormick Seminary. He served as NCD pastor of the Korean Community Presbyterian Church of Columbia, S.C., and of the Korean Community Presbyterian Church of Atlanta that has 2,000 members. He is the past moderator of the National Korean Presbyterian Council. He served as a board member of the Union/PSCE in Richmond and is serving as a board member of the Georgia Christian University. Sun Bai has taken an instrumental role in Racial Ethnic/New Immigrant Church Development and Church Growth Strategy of the PC(USA). His wife Grace Kim is also serving as the associate for Korean Adult Curriculum Development in Worship, Theology, and Christian Education Program in GAC. They have two grown children and two grandchildren.
How can new believers be incorporated into the community of faith? The typical “new members class” is not at all adequate for persons who are new to Christian faith and life. Can congregations learn from the ancient catechumenate, discovering how to welcome new (and perhaps not-so-new) believers into the fullness of Christian belief, service and witness?
Joseph D. Small serves as director of Theology Worship and Education, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). He directs the work of the offices of Theology and Worship, Theological Education, Christian Formation, and Christian Education, as well as Congregational Ministries Publishing. Dr. Small holds degrees from Brown University, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, Princeton Theological Seminary and Louisville Theological Seminary. He has served on the staff of Pittsburgh Seminary, and as pastor of churches in Towson, Md., Westerville, Ohio, and Rochester, N.Y.
Dr. Small is the author of Conversations With the Confessions (2005), Preservation of the Truth (2005), Fire and Wind: The Holy Spirit in the Church Today (2002), Committed Conversation (2000), and God and Ourselves: A Brief Exercise in Reformed Theology (1996), and has written numerous journal articles, study series, and theological papers. He is a core member of “Re-Forming Ministry.”
(Repeat – see description of workshop – Session 1 - #6)
(Repeat – see description of workshop – Session 1 - #7) |
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Session Three Worshops
Sunday, September 2, 2007
2:00 – 3:30 p.m.
Pastor Jeff Eddings serves Hot Metal Bridge Faith Community as pastor through the Pittsburgh Presbytery. He brings with him over 10 years of ministry experience and is currently completing his Master of Divinity degree at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. He received his undergraduate degree from Point Park College (1990). Jeff lives with his wife Carolyn and their two sons, Ben and Sam. Pastor Jim Walker is a full ordained elder in the United Methodist Church. He is a graduate of Pittsburgh Theological Seminary (2003). He received his undergraduate degree from Point Park College in Pittsburgh (1991). He lives in the Squirrel Hill section of Pittsburgh with his wife, Brenda, and their two children, Carlisle and Daniel.
The best leaders are the best followers of Jesus because he called his disciples to follow. Leadership position doesn’t guarantee the effective leadership practice. This workshop will focus on the “following” aspect of leadership development in the church. The ingredients of followership development will be presented as a way to develop leaders in the church.
The Rev. David H. Chai is associate for Asian American Leadership in Evangelism and Church Growth Program, PC(USA). He has been leading workshops and lecturing in leadership education area for the last 12 years.
Okay, so there are few people who would put the words “evangelism” and “Presbyterian” together but what if God does? This workshop is going to look at the unique opportunities and witness that Presbyterians have to offer the world. We will explore the need and ways to lead Presbyterians to engage the world with the gospel of Jesus the Christ.
The Rev. Brian Clark is the founding pastor of Riverside Presbyterian Church, a vibrant 10 year old church outside of Washington D.C. Brian is also General Assembly Council field staff for New Church Development and an NCD Coach. Visit the Riverside Presbyterian Church Web site for more information about Brian and the ministry of Riverside.
“If you project it, they will come” — NOT! However, multimedia can enhance your worship experience and communicate your message to a congregation that is used to learning visually as well as orally. This workshop will explore how thematic worship, visual metaphor and multisensory storytelling can help you connect to your congregants. Are you ready to unleash creative forces in your congregation in your worship service each and every week? We will also discuss the creative skills you can discover within yourselves and your congregations, examine the changing role of the pastor in worship planning teams and of course, touch on the basic costs of adding these elements to your church, from projectors to sound systems to computers and software.
The Rev. Richard Hong is currently serving as pastor of both the Church at the Crossroads New Church Development and First Presbyterian Church in Englewood, N.J. He holds a B.A. in chemistry from Princeton University and the M.Div. from Union Theological Seminary in New York City. Rich developed his love of technology during his first career of 20 years as a self-employed consultant, writing software used by pharmaceutical research chemists.
In this workshop participants will examine effective, and ineffective, strategies for evangelism in the Hispanic/Latino community. Special attention will be given to ways that existing “Anglo” congregations can develop ministries that address the spiritual needs of Hispanic persons and drawn them into the full life of the Presbyterian Church.
The Rev. Philip Beisswenger has served as the coordinator of Hispanic Ministries for the Presbytery of Middle Tennessee since 2001. He also is the pastor of Eastminster Presbyterian Church, a growing, multi-cultural congregation in Nashville. Philip is a graduate of Macalester College and Vanderbilt Divinity School. He is ordained in the United Methodist Church and has served churches in rural, urban and international settings, including four years as a missionary in Honduras. He is married to Bacilia Beisswenger, an elder and teacher, and they have four children.
The PC(USA) started a Multicultural Pastoral Internship Program (MIP) in 2006. Share and learn of the experiences of multicultural pastoral internships in general and in the pilot and full-up PC(USA) MIP. Interns and local church supervisors will share. Guidelines and blessings will be summarized. The Rev. Randy Lee has been a New Church Development (NCD) pastor and has pastured multicultural churches. He has served with three presbyteries for NCD and immigrant group ministries. He has served with the National Asian Presbyterian Council and has moderated the National Chinese Presbyterian Council and the Synod of Southern California and Hawaii Asian Presbyterian Council. He serves as associate general presbyter at Grace Presbytery (Dallas-Ft. Worth area) for Church Development. He serves a moderator of the PC(USA) Multicultural Network.
Congregational transformation is a process of discovering, embracing and accomplishing God’s mission for your congregation’s future. How do you know what God’s mission is? An elder recently asked: does God still speak? This workshop will explore ways of listening for and hearing God’s voice when the question is asked: God, what do you have in mind for us next?
Amy Williams Fowler is serving Giddings-Lovejoy Presbytery in greater St. Louis as associate executive for Congregational Development. For her first 15 years in ministry, she served small, medium and large congregations as pastor in Tennessee, Georgia, Indiana and Illinois. Amy has also worked with two other governing bodies: Whitewater Valley Presbytery as associate executive and Chicago Presbytery as consultant for congregational eevelopment. She has led workshops for the Percept, Inc. Missional Church Conference, PC(USA) New Church Development Conferences, PC(USA) Network for Churchwide Transformation Conferences and other presbytery training events for congregational transformation. Amy is a graduate of Duke University and Princeton Theological Seminary.
This workshop will focus on how rural congregations can reach out with their communities, even in a declining community.
Linda and Dick Poppen are tentmaker pastors. Dick is a fifth generation farmer and Linda is the clerk magistrate for Kingsbury County, S.D. They serve three congregations that cover over 100 miles across eastern South Dakota.
Older adults face many stressors in today’s world. Health care ministry teams can interact with the older adult to effectively strengthen healthy spirituality. In this interactive session, participants will learn more about healthy spirituality, assessment of the spiritual health of the older adult and strategies to enhance spiritual health.
Marilyn Halstead, R.N., Ph.D., AOCNS, is an associate professor and graduate program director in the Department of Nursing at Towson University, Towson, Md. She is a clinical nurse specialist in oncology nursing and a certified trainer in end-of-life care. Currently, Dr. Halstead is co-Coordinator of parish nursing for the First Presbyterian Church of Westminster, Md. She is the author of a textbook chapter on spiritual care of the older adult with cancer, as well as other articles and presentations about spiritual care and cancer.
Due to demographic shifts and population changes our American communities are becoming more diverse and more complex. Big cities, small towns and even villages are becoming more multicultural shifting the mission field from abroad to home. Valuing and celebrating this diversity is one of the keys to innovative and cutting edge ministry. This workshop will help you understand the growing complexity and diversity in your community, provide tools for multicultural evangelism to enable you to incorporate this mounting diversity in your church and empower you to achieve the Biblical mandate of becoming the church the Lord intended for it to be.
Raafat Girgis is the associate for Multicultural Ministries of the General Assembly Council of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). He holds two undergraduate degrees and three masters degrees in social sciences, history and theology in addition to studies leading to a Ph.D. His work experience includes ministering churches, teaching in undergraduate and graduate schools, counseling, and lecturing in a variety of conferences in North America, Europe and the Middle East. As an ordained minister since 1982, Raafat has served diverse groups of churches and academic institutions and ministered and worked with multiracial/multicultural people including Middle Easterners, Euro-Americans and African Americans. Raafat envisions a culturally proficient church where the good news is provided in a cup that the people recognize with great appreciation, respect and celebration of their gifts, talents and cultural backgrounds.
Come and explore the many ways that you can engage in mission in the United States through volunteer ministries. There are a wide variety of organizations that are seeking volunteers for a few weeks or up to a year in many parts of the country. What is God calling you to do to make a difference?
Nancy Cavalcante serves in the National Volunteers Office of the General Assembly Council. She enjoys helping individuals and groups of all ages get connected to mission service opportunities. Nancy has a specific passion for helping individuals explore their call through mission service in a variety of ways and settings.
Using an intentional and strategic assessment of one’s community to identify and address health ministry needs, that is, people who are economically disadvantaged, people lacking access to health care, older residents struggling to understand complicated financing of health care, and new residents whose language may be a barrier to care, congregations can provide needed and viable outreach programs. Participants will learn now to do community needs assessment and asset mapping to develop an outcome oriented approach to health ministry outreach.
Pat Gleich has been associate for National Health Ministries, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) since 2001. Her previous work includes psychiatric social work, public health and program management and development in a variety of settings. She also directed a regional office of the National Conference for Community and Justice for more than a dozen years.
(Repeat – see workshop description Session I, #11)
(Part II of Session 1 Workshop #13)
Open discussion and review to “start making sense
of it all” (Session 1, workshop #13).
Do you think that evangelism only means getting out into the neighborhood, canvassing from door to door? Before one even starts the practical door-to-door activities, much work has to be done to prepare those who will engage their surrounding communities. This workshop will focus on the spiritual formation of church members who are seeking to transform themselves, as well as, the lives of those in their communities.
The Rev. A. Vanessa Hawkins is currently serving as the Associate for the Black Congregational Enhancement Office of the General Assembly, PC(USA). Vanessa assists the PC(USA) in addressing the needs of African-American congregations. She is currently a member of Savannah Presbytery. |
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Session Four Worshops
Sunday, September 2, 2007
4:00 – 3:30 p.m.
Every evangelism plan is not equal or appropriate for every church. What may work at a new church development, may not work in a church that is celebrating its 100th anniversary. An evangelism program designed for a suburban white church may not work in an urban multicultural multiethnic church. This workshop will provide some tools and methodologies that will be useful in helping to devising systems to find the right fit and, more importantly, help the church move from a program driven paradigm to a more organic or holistic understanding of evangelism.
The Rev. Henry Kim is currently serving a church in Northeastern Ohio. As the son of a serial church planter Henry was frightened early in life. He resolved to never, ever become a pastor and never ever to do new church ministry. He ran away to the army after college but somehow could not stay away from the ministry. After spending all his savings at Fuller to get a M.Div. and being ordained into the PC(USA), Henry is an NCD Coach.
God never changes — but technology, culture and God’s people do. The emerging church conversation presents some fresh opportunities to re-examine the modern church, its beliefs and practices. We will discuss a number of recent cultural trends, ideas, and resources available for those who are new to the conversation, and look at some examples of what “emerging-flavored” Presbyterian churches are doing as they answer the call to be evangelists in a postmodern world.
Neal Locke has spent the past decade working with young people, both as a high-school English teacher and as director of youth and music ministries at a Faithbridge Presbyterian, a new church development in Frisco, Texas. He is an avid follower of pop culture and technology, and is a Wikipedian, open-source fanatic, and contributor to Presbymergent.org — an online community for Presbyterians in the Emerging Church conversation. You can read his blog — Mr. Locke’s Classroom online.
Learn skills that will help you serve as mediators/facilitators by employing a combination of the mediation process and tools for pastoral care/assessment for the purpose of promoting Christian unity, effective communication and respectful conflict resolution.
Martin Concepción is the pastor of Iglesia Presbiteriana Emanuel, NCD in Hickory, N.C.; a graduate of McCormick Theological Seminary and certified mediator for conflict resolution by the State of North Carolina. Martín’s faith journey began in a NCD in Puerto Rico where as a young person was given the opportunity to serve as a leader in the church and community. While working towards his B.A. in Education, he joined the Associación de Estudiantes Orientadores of the Inter American University of Puerto Rico, where he was further trained to facilitate/mediate/empower peers to resolve their own conflicts by working collaboratively to identify issues and brainstorm ways to resolve them. Currently serving as a volunteer with the Conflict Resolution Center as a mediator and designing new models of the nediation process to be used within the context of the church. Martin is an NCD Coach.
How are we doing with the newcomers in the church? Evangelism is not only for outreach but also helping newcomers to grow with the church. This workshop addresses three possible ways to formulate the newcomers to be the parts of the Body of Christ. In each area, objectives and interventions are introduced by discussing “what to do and how to do it.” These interventions focus on changes of leadership mentality, church systems, organizational structure, parishioners’ behavior, education and/or culture environments.
The Rev. Dr. Heahwan Rim is a graduate of McCormick Theological Seminary (M.Div. and D. Min.). He is serving the Midwest Hanmi Presbytery as the executive presbyter/stated clerk. He has served parish ministry as the pastor for many years. He also served as the Korean-American church consultant to the Synod of South Atlantic while he was in the Savannah Presbytery.
Are the myths about evangelism and church growth true or false? Results from the U.S. Congregational Life Survey — the largest survey of worshipers ever conducted — provide a unique look at what draws people to congregations and what growing churches are doing to attract newcomers.
Deborah Bruce is the associate research manager in Research Services of the General Assembly Council of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and project manager of the U.S. Congregational Life Survey. With Cynthia Woolever, she has authored two books: A Field Guide to U.S. Congregations and Beyond the Ordinary: 10 Strengths of U.S. Congregations (both published by Westminster John Knox Press).
This workshop will discuss three major types of political systems, with special focus on the basic ingredients of a democratic system and how multicultural setting in our churches can be influenced by, and at the same time enhance, the quality of democracy in our churches and communities. The implications and application of the principles of respect, equality, freedom and sharing will be handled in an interactive fashion during the workshop.
Dr. Raja T. Nasr served as a Presbyterian Elder for 25 years in Lebanon and has trained teachers in 21 countries on four continents. He is the author of several books and articles and is currently professor of education and applied linguistics at Marymount University in Arlington, Va. He is also a public speaker and a lay preacher.
Arab Christians and other non-Arab Christians in the United States are some of the most dedicated and faithful living witnesses to the Christian church that survived centuries of persecutions and isolation. They live among us, and they continue to strongly witness to the faith they received from the apostles centuries ago. How can we approach them, and how can the growing number of Middle Eastern fellowships enrich your community?
The Rev. Fahed Abu-Akel was the moderator of the 214th General Assembly-2002-2003. He has been a Presbyterian minister member of the Presbytery of Greater Atlanta since 1978. He was the founder and director of the Atlanta Ministry with International Students since 1978. He was the national director of Christmas International House in 40 cities. The Rev. Abu-Akel grew up in a Palestinian Arab Christian home 25 miles Northwest of Nazareth in Galilee. He came to the Unites States to persue his education and received a D.Min., and an M.Div. He travels every year to Israel and Palestine.
The right tools, a steady and gentle hand and God’s guidance are essential when attempting to cut a door that swings both ways in the invisible barrier between the church and those who live on the fringe of society—especially if they also happen to have serious mental illness. This workshop will provide the tools for congregations who wish to be more welcoming in their inclusion of people and their families who have been impacted by mental illness.
The Rev. Janice Six is the associate pastor of First Central Presbyterian Church, Abilene, Texas. She has been instrumental in helping Advocates of Abilene, a chapter of Texas Mental Health Consumers, become firmly established in Abilene by facilitating a relationship with the church where the group is granted meeting space and an office area. Janice has also been involved in outreach ministry to families in the downtown area by starting a summer program for neighborhood children and serving as a volunteer at B.O.B.S. (a feeding ministry offered by several cooperating churches in the downtown area).
So you want to hold a health fair. Simple? Not Quite. Learn about the ins and outs of holding a health fair through your church and for your community. This is “hands-on” evangelism and a wonderful way to demonstrate Christ’s compassion and witness your faith. Reaching out to our communities by hosting a health fair is an effective way to bridge the gap between the growing populations who are in need of health care assistance and local resources and agencies with the willingness and ability to assist them.
Tammy Scheuermann has been the coordinator of the Mobile Health Fair Ministry for the Synod of the Covenant since the Spring of 2005. Since that time, she has coordinated over 50 health fairs operating for a 10-week period each summer. Her responsibilities include the hiring and training of the MHF team that travels across Ohio and Michigan each summer, screening over 1,500 participants each year and distributing educational materials covering 26 medical topics.
One effective way for Presbyteries to grow new disciples is to start new churches. There are many different models and opportunities to which God’s people can respond. This workshop will teach participants ways to network within presbyteries and regions to discern the movement of God’s spirit, the sources of resources and the models that have been effective in reaching particular groups. The workshop will also address particular lessons learned by Presbyteries real life regional/geographic congregations and specific language/ethnic congregations.
The Rev. Susan Snedeker Meier is the associate executive for mission in the Presbytery of Tampa Bay. She has worked closely with partners in her Presbytery and Synod and through National networks to resource, develop, implement and receive new faith communities who speak six different languages and which include many different cultures. She consults with congregations in their planning and outreach.
David M. Bailey grew up the son of Presbyterian missionaries in war-torn Beirut, Lebanon, where he started playing guitar and writing songs in his early teens. David entered the corporate-work world and set aside his guitar. Nearly ten years later, when he was shockingly diagnosed with a brain tumor and given less than one year to live, David picked up his dusty guitar, returned to his musical roots, and began to pen songs about hope, love and survival. Finding his strength in his faith and his family, David quit his job and went on the road, taking with him his passion for life and his songs about his journey.
In our changing world, we live straddling between two cultures: the modern and familiar and the emerging post-modern. How will we design and facilitate worship in a culture looking more towards experience than doctrine, interested more in participation than passive observation, driven by images more than written words, and more interested in connections and relationships than personal piety? How can we transform worship so that it speaks from our Reformed tradition yet allows God to speak to postmodern people of today here in our multicultural North American context? How do we bring an existing congregation along in this journey of transformation? And how do we do so in a way that is both authentic and coherent with our particular ministry contexts?
The Rev. Monte McClain serves as pastor of Fruitvale Presbyterian Church a multicultural transformational church in Oakland, Calif. He has also served in the French Reformed Church in France in various urban situations and contexts. You can learn more about Monte at his blog.
The Rev. Steve Whitney, a life-long Presbyterian, left a promising career in the Silicon Valley computer business to become the pastor of Trinity Presbytery Church, a small transformational congregation in West Sacramento, Calif. He enjoys helping the congregation to find its gifts, reach out to the community, and to grow in faith and service — without losing its unique identity. Steve enjoys spending time with his amazing wife, Eleanor, and his two sons, Johnny and Joshua. To learn more about Steve, visit his blog.
The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has set a goal of 20 precent racial membership by the year 2010. Currently, we are 92.1 percent Caucasian. In this workshop, participants will discuss the main challenges that the PC(USA) faces ministering with new immigrants and the first steps in how to start an immigrant fellowship with its challenges and difficulties, as well as its positive aspects.
The Rev. Lucas de Paiva Pina serves as Tri-Presbytery Immigrant Ministries coordinator for the presbyteries of Greater Atlanta, Cherokee, and Northeast Georgia. He was born in Brazil. He graduated from the Presbyterian Seminary of the South. He was ordained in 1980 and pastored four churches in Brazil. In 1999 he received a call to be the solo pastor of an Anglo church in Toronto, Ohio. He is finishing his D.Min. at the Columbia Theological Seminary. He has two children in Brazil. He is married to Marta Pina and they live in Marietta, Ga. |
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