World Mission Celebration ‘09
Workshops
World Mission Celebration ’09 will educate and connect Presbyterians through workshops focused on tools, resources and sharing experiences for mission involvement. The workshops will interweave with the “whole cloth” of the event to inspire and inform participants, preparing them to be sent forth in God’s mission into the world.
Workshops will include topics for Presbyterians:
- new to world mission and wanting to get involved
- already engaged in world mission — as mission pastors, mission networkers, mission workers, mission committee members or mission trip leaders
- yearning to learn more about what’s happening in God’s mission in the world through the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
- seeking ways — as pastors and lay leaders — to faithfully and effectively engage their congregation in world mission
- discerning a call to mission service
Come to World Mission Celebration and let’s grow together as branches of the same vine.
List of workshops
1A. Mission Education in Your Church. Laurie Jaworski, Shari Jackson Monson and Sheila Mischke.
Mission education in the 21st century has moved beyond the classroom and into the world. This workshop features creative ways to generate interest in mission, raise awareness of world needs and effectively call people to prayer and advocacy for the marginalized by using education and awareness. Learn from three creative practitioners how to capture and nurture people's hearts and minds by means of creative venues for missional engagement.
2A. Presbyterians and Frontier Mission. Mike Parker, Bill Young and Burkhard Paetzold.
An overview of Presbyterian involvement in frontier mission: what frontier mission is, how Presbyterians are involved, why be involved, and how specific congregations can be part of it. It will include short videos and pictures of specific Presbyterian frontier mission program work, illustrations of the exciting things God is doing around the world.
3A. Congregational Partnerships: Mission Engagement at the Grassroots. Gary Payton, Ellen Smith and Bill Paul.
The PC(USA) model of “twinning” or church partnerships has proven to be a highly successful approach to international mission engagement at the grassroots level. This workshop will discuss the best practices, pitfalls, and the spiritual growth that happens on both sides. Examples will come from years of experience between PC(USA) congregations and congregations in Russia, Belarus and Malawi.
4A. Resources for Engaging Your Church in World Mission. Lis Valle, Jen Haddox and Ellen Sherby.
The PC(USA) has a wealth of printed and online resources to engage the church in mission, but we often aren’t familiar with them or don’t know how to use them. Likewise, a host of other Christian resources for mission involvement, particularly the Perspectives course, can be utilized. Participants will explore a wide variety of denominational and non-denominational resources, share together how to select the ones most appropriate to their church context and look at how they can be used creatively to engage their congregation in world mission.
5A. Moffett, Mateer and McClure: Three Mission Models, Two Continents, One Mission. Scott Sunquist.
Mission for the 21st century is in continuity with the past while shaped by the present. Our mission in partnership today is both radically different from that of past generations, but it also has remarkably similar themes. In this talk we want to uphold "best practices" as a category for evaluating the work of Samuel A. Moffet in Korea, Julia Mateer in Shandong, China, and W. Don McClure in Ethiopia. One couple worked under a collapsing empire, one worked under Japanese imperialism and the work of one (returning to serve in retirement) was killed by Marxist rebels. After the presentation we will discuss together issues of contextualization, contrasts and continuity in mission practice.
6A. Mission Trip Planning: A Guide for the 21st Century. Jennifer Dzwonczyk, Barbara Northrup, Rick Delaney and Jessica Commeret.
Members of the Broad Street Presbyterian Church Mission Committee (Columbus, Ohio) will present a training guide for persons planning and leading mission trips. The electronic guide, formatted as an Excel spread sheet, takes the user through all aspects of the mission trip experience from application forms and team building to debriefing and devotions. The guide, which was developed through the experiences gained from multiple mission trips to Peru over a decade, will be given to attendees. Practical information about "reverse mission trips," receiving mission partners from afar and interpreting your mission trip experience into action once you have returned home will be included.
7A. Engaging Young Adults Through Mission. Essie Buxton, Meredith and Ryan Kemp-Pappan, Christine and Rob Coy-Fohr, and Rick Upchurch.
One of the biggest myths congregations believe is that young adults are apathetic about the church. On the contrary, today’s young adults are more socially and globally aware than previous generations. Young adults have a unique post-polemic and post-partisan approach to mission through the church that is particularly concerned with human rights and social justice. Using mission as a framework for relationships, congregations can expand and improve outreach to this underserved demographic.
8A. Prayer: Bringing the World to Christ. Linda Ruby.
Nothing is more important than prayer for the advancement of God's work. However, most people are frustrated about their prayer life and the intercessory prayer of the local church. This workshop will be an encouragement to you as we work together with the Holy Spirit to inspire new methods of prayer for personal renewal and corporate prayer. This workshop will stimulate renewal in your personal prayer life and help you lead your church to intercede for the world.
9A. Creative Mission and Presbyterian Women. Martha Knichel.
Presbyterian Women of the PC(USA) have been leaders in sharing God’s Good News in the world from the foundation of Presbyterian Women (PW). Come to hear about the exciting, innovative ways that PW is engaging in mission, such as the Birthday Offering, Thank Offering and the Palm Project! Explore the possibilities of partnering with PW to serve God in the world.
10A. Christians and Muslims as Partners in Service. Bernard Adeney-Risakotta and Farsijana Adeney-Risakotta.
We are used to thinking of Muslims as a threat, a competitor or an object of mission. This workshop explores the possibilities of working together with Muslims as partners in service. The premise behind this idea is that in Muslim-dominated societies like Indonesia, the mission of the church to love God and our neighbors as ourselves cannot be done alone. Of course Muslims may still remain objects of our mission, just as we may remain objects of their mission. However, the church is also called to serve “the least of these my brothers and sister” (Matthew 25), and indeed the whole creation. The workshop will discuss relations of Christians and Muslims generally and in Indonesia. We will use case studies of how Christians and Muslims worked together in reaching out to victims of earthquakes and tsunamis in Indonesia. We will also look at how Christians and Muslims cooperate in the study of religions in Indonesia.
11A. Going Deeper: Conversations with International Partners and Guests and Mission Co-Workers from Asia and the Pacific.
This will be a panel discussion with mission co-workers and international partners and guests from Asia and the Pacific. Come to hear about what’s going on in the region and issues facing the partner churches and/or institutions with whom the panelists minister. Come to share your insights, experiences and questions.
12A. Going Deeper: Conversations with International Partners and Guests and Mission Co-Workers from the Americas.
This will be a panel discussion with mission co-workers and international partners and guests from the Americas. Come to hear about what’s going on in the region and issues facing the partner churches and/or institutions with whom the panelists minister. Come to share your insights, experiences and questions.
13A. Learning from our Partners. Cláudio Carvalhaes, Mary Mikhail and other international partners.
We know that mission is not about going someplace far away and fixing things for people in need. A key part of mission is learning how much all of us in the human family need each other if we are to serve Christ faithfully, and our mission partners have much to teach us! This workshop gives you the opportunity to sit at the feet of some of our wise and competent mission partners. Don't miss the opportunity to be challenged and enriched by their stories.
14A. Dallas Mission Invitation Working Group: Part I. Maria Zack and Ann Ferguson.
The “Invitation to Expanding God’s Mission in Partnership” was created in Dallas in January 2008 by a group of Presbyterians who are actively involved in mission. This document invites the church to collaborate more deeply in mission around the globe (both within and outside the borders of the United States) and to affirm the varied gifts of the body of Christ as we do this. The “Invitation to Expanding God’s Mission in Partnership” — or “Mission Invitation” — contains a number of Christian values and practices for mission involvement that need specifics and benchmarks to help flesh them out. The participants in this workshop will engage in a process of crafting details and benchmarks to better develop the Invitation. We hope that many of the signers of the Mission Invitation will participate in this working group, but all are welcome to participate.
15B. The Desert Blooms. Tom Theriault.
National Geographic calls it "The Cruelest Place On Earth.” Yet in the past 10 years the Afar inhospitable desert in Ethiopia and the Muslim Afar people living in it are blooming. God has forged an amazing partnership among the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus, World Vision Ethiopia and congregations in the United States that is bringing new life to the Afar.
16B. Moving Members into Mission: Principles and Practical Steps. Rob Weingartner.
How can congregational leaders mobilize members for God’s mission in ways that both impact the world and change the culture of the congregation? This workshop will look at principles and practices that can be implemented at the local level to move a congregation from mission activities into missional transformation and faithfulness.
17B. Advocacy That Gets Heard. Alexa Smith and Chris Iosso.
How to develop faith-based strategies to mobilize Presbyterians and other religious communities for advocacy is the focus of this workshop, which draws on creative examples from contemporary mission and Reformed principles to enable congregations to speak of God’s justice, mercy and peace in a hurting world. Good advocacy transforms not only the world but the advocate.
18B. Enhancing Mission Outreach Through Cooperative Ministry. Herb Codington.
Many smaller membership congregations presented with mission opportunities often view these as too large or beyond their ability to engage in. So what are they to do? They can address these mission needs and opportunities by networking, or partnering, with other small congregations to meet the mission objectives more effectively. This workshop will offer examples, models and methods of doing mission through cooperative ministry and resources that enable congregations to form cooperative ministries.
19B. Coffee, Migration and Faith. Adrian Gonzalez.
Discover how God has used an unlikely group of persons from both sides of the contentious U.S./Mexico border joined together through the Presbyterian Border Ministry to address root causes of immigration through faith-based economic development. Participants will connect directly with a way in which God has transformed a community and brought hope to many others through Presbyterian mission, and you will be equipped to participate in building just relationships across borders.
20B. Plugging into Social Networking for Mission. Lis Valle and Dana McMahan.
Mission involvement is carried out increasingly from the grass roots as Christians engage in direct relations with their brothers and sisters in other parts of the world. Social networking is a powerful tool that allows Christians involved in mission to share mission stories, best practices, and concerns in a joint search for more faithful and effective mission involvement. This workshop will demonstrate the practical tools needed to “plug into” and maximize the use of social networking technology to post and discuss articles, concerns, questions or suggestions; “teach” each other on security issues, cross-cultural mission, missiological practices and values, development and sustainability concerns; and communicate with each other constantly without the expenses of traveling to a face-to-face meeting.
21B. Short-Term Mission Trips: Maximizing the Long-Term Benefits. Don Dawson, Tracey King, Bill Soldwisch and Pablo Feliciano Cruz.
What are the goals of a short-term mission trip? We expect to be a blessing to the local ministry that is hosting us, but surely we want to leave behind something more than new outhouses. We expect spiritual enrichment for participants, but surely we want more than a short-lived spiritual high. Research shows that we are not doing a very good job of producing the long-term results we would expect. This workshop will consider how to intentionally structure trips to accomplish the outcomes that are important to both the sending church and the receiving church.
22B. Going Deeper: Conversations with International Partners and Guests and Mission Co-Workers from the Middle East.
This will be a panel discussion with mission co-worker Nuhad Tomeh and other mission co-workers and international partners and guests from the Middle East. Come to hear about what's going on in the region and issues facing the partner churches and/or institutions with whom the panelists minister. Come to share your insights, experiences and questions.
23B. Effective, Strategic Mission. Bill Young.
Many congregations approach their mission program in haphazard fashion, responding to various requests and ideas with little strategic thinking. In what places should your congregation be engaged? What type of engagement makes the most sense for you? How do you decide? These and similar questions will be discussed.
24B. Going Deeper: Conversations with International Partners and Guests and Mission Co-Workers from Europe. This will be a panel discussion with global partners participating in the Mission to the USA program and possibly other international partners and guests from Europe. Come to hear about what's going on in the region and issues facing the partner churches and/or institutions with whom the panelists minister. Come to share your insights, experiences and questions.
5B. Moffett, Mateer and McClure: Three Mission Models, Two Continents, One Mission. Scott Sunquist.
Mission for the 21st century is in continuity with the past while shaped by the present. Our mission in partnership today is both radically different from that of past generations, but it also has remarkably similar themes. In this talk we want to uphold "best practices" as a category for evaluating the work of Samuel A. Moffet in Korea, Julia Mateer in Shandong, China, and W. Don McClure in Ethiopia. One couple worked under a collapsing empire, one worked under Japanese imperialism and the work of one (returning to serve in retirement) was killed by Marxist rebels. After the presentation we will discuss together issues of contextualization, contrasts and continuity in mission practice.
1B. Mission Education in Your Church. Laurie Jaworski, Shari Jackson Monson and Sheila Mischke.
Mission education in the 21st century has moved beyond the classroom and into the world. This workshop features creative ways to generate interest in mission, raise awareness of world needs, and effectively call people to prayer and advocacy for the marginalized by using education and awareness. Learn from three creative practitioners how to capture and nurture people's hearts and minds by means of creative venues for missional engagement.
7B. Engaging Young Adults Through Mission. Essie Buxton, Meredith and Ryan Kemp-Pappan, Christine and Rob Coy-Fohr and Rick Upchurch.
One of the biggest myths congregations believe is that young adults are apathetic about the church. On the contrary, today’s young adults are more socially and globally aware than previous generations. Young adults have a unique post-polemic and post-partisan approach to mission through the church that is particularly concerned with human rights and social justice. Using mission as a framework for relationships, congregations can expand and improve outreach to this underserved demographic.
14B. Dallas Mission Invitation Working Group: Part II. Maria Zack and Ann Ferguson.
The “Invitation to Expanding God’s Mission in Partnership” was created in Dallas in January 2008 by a group of Presbyterians who are actively involved in mission. This document invites the church to collaborate more deeply in mission around the globe (both within and outside the borders of the United States) and to affirm the varied gifts of the body of Christ as we do this. The “Invitation to Expanding God’s Mission in Partnership” — or “Mission Invitation” — contains a number of Christian values and practices for mission involvement that need specifics and benchmarks to help flesh them out. The participants in this workshop will engage in a process of crafting details and benchmarks to better develop the Invitation. We hope that many of the signers of the Mission Invitation will participate in this working group, but all are welcome to participate.
24C. Mission as Crossing Borders. Mark Adams, Cláudio Carvalhaes and international partners and guests.
The fall of the Berlin wall was celebrated all around the world — especially in the United States, a country that celebrates freedom. However, the United States is currently building a concrete wall along the U.S./Mexico border. This is just one kind of border. This panel will present an analysis of the geographical, cultural, interfaith relations–related and other non-geographical “borders” we cross when we engage in mission. Come to listen and engage with panel speakers!
25C. Moving from “Mission Friendly” into “Missional”: A Dialogue with Hunter Farrell. Hunter Farrell.
How does God’s Spirit move a congregation from “mission-friendly” to missional? This is an interactive, multimedia workshop to help mission pastors/directors/leaders shape an effective and faithful congregational mission program that is transformative for both “the community of need” and the sending congregation. Come for a time of focused missiological reflection and a sneak peek at fresh resources from Presbyterian World Mission.
26C. Caring for Our Mission Workers. Elaine Matthes and Ben Albers.
More than 200 mission workers serve around the world through the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Congregations throughout our denomination have established connections with these and other mission workers through prayer, financial contributions and mutual visits. This workshop will look at how local congregations provide support to mission workers without leaving home. What is your congregation doing? What’s working for you? Come to share your ideas with World Mission staff and other participants and learn what World Mission and others are doing.
27C. Planning and Leading a Mission Trip: Nuts and Bolts. Dick Corso.
Whether you are planning your first or your 10th mission trip, this “Alpha to Omega” session will provide participants with abundant information for setting up and completing your mission. Participants will receive checklists for planning and budgeting as well as resources helpful for completing the mission effectively. Participants will learn how to handle the “unplanned event” as well as the leadership/teamwork skills needed to increase the positive results of the mission.
28C. Discerning a Call to Mission Service. Nancy Cavalcante.
What are the skills and gifts that God has given you that could be of use in service to God’s mission in the world? This workshop will offer participants an opportunity to explore mission service. We will look at ways to be involved in service both locally and internationally. What is in the toolbox of those who are called to mission service and how might you use those tools with which God has gifted you in your toolbox?
4C. Resources for Engaging Your Church in World Mission. Lis Valle, Jen Haddox and Ellen Sherby.
The PC(USA) has a wealth of printed and online resources to engage the church in mission, but we often aren’t familiar with them or don’t know how to use them. Likewise, a host of non-denominational resources for mission involvement, particularly the Perspectives course, can be utilized. Participants will explore a wide variety of denominational and non-denominational resources, share together how to select the ones most appropriate to their church context and look at how they can be used creatively to engage their congregation in world mission.
23C. Effective, Strategic Mission. Bill Young.
Many congregations approach their mission program in haphazard fashion, responding to various requests and ideas with little strategic thinking. In what places should your congregation be engaged? What type of engagement makes the most sense for you? How do you decide? These and similar questions will be discussed.
24B. Going Deeper: Conversations with International Partners and Guests and Mission Co-Workers from Europe. This will be a panel discussion with global partners participating in the Mission to the USA program and possibly other international partners and guests from Europe. Come to hear about what's going on in the region and issues facing the partner churches and/or institutions with whom the panelists minister. Come to share your insights, experiences and questions.
29C. Going Deeper: Conversations with International Partners and Guests and Mission Co-Workers from Africa.
This will be a panel discussion with mission co-workers and international partners and guests from Africa. Come to hear about what’s going on in the continent and issues facing the partner churches and/or institutions with whom the panelists minister. Come to share your insights, experiences and questions.
30C. Crossing Cultures: Welcoming the Stranger in Our Midst. Marti Smith.
More and more people of different ethnicities are moving into our communities. The PC(USA) has set ethnic membership goals for our churches. How do we reach out to these new immigrants and welcome them into our communities and churches? This workshop will help you set aside your anxiety and build bridges with the ethnic communities near to home. You will understand their needs, learn how to grow friendships, share your faith and invite them into your church.
16C. Moving Members into Mission: Principles and Practical Steps. Rob Weingartner.
How can congregational leaders mobilize members for God’s mission in ways that both impact the world and change the culture of the congregation? This workshop will look at principles and practices that can be implemented at the local level to move a congregation from mission activities into missional transformation and faithfulness.
31C. Living Together in the Middle East: Muslim and Christian Challenges. Mary Mikhail and Muhammad Sammak.
Changing dynamics have brought about changes in the relationship of Christians and Muslims in the Middle East. New challenges have arisen for both communities, along with new opportunities. Issues of co-existence, religious identity and citizenship, and competing interpretations of both faiths, which are confronted in particular ways in the region, affect Muslims and Christians worldwide. The Rev. Dr. Mary Mikhail and Dr. Muhammad Sammak will offer Lebanese Christian and Muslim perspectives on these concerns and discuss them with participants.
32C. Think Globally, Worship Locally. Corey Nelson.
When schools, businesses and the media all begin to teach us what it means to be a citizens in a "global village," who is it that teaches us what it means to be global Christians? How can we plan and lead experiences of worship in the local church that will nurture a deep multicultural, multinational and missional faith among our members? The workshop leader will lead a rousing, participatory workshop in which all aspects of worship will be explored through global lenses. Symbols, prayers, litanies and, of course, global songs will all be included along with an extensive resource guide that will be given to each participant.
33C. Stories from the Persecuted Church. Cody Watson and Cuong Nguyen.
Suffering has been one of the marks of the church through the ages and in much of the world today. The One whom we all follow was known as the Suffering Servant. What can we learn from our brothers and sisters in the suffering church? How can we come alongside them? Hear the perspective from Iran, Vietnam, India and Sudan. Until we hear their stories we cannot begin to fulfill the exhortation of Hebrews 13:3, exhorting us to remember those in prison as if we were in prison, and those who are mistreated as if we were suffering.
34C. On Being Evangelized by Mission: Encountering Jesus in Your Mission Partner. Dennis Smith.
Who is mission for? Many mission groups set off to help the needy only to find that they are the ones whose lives are changed. Mission trips offer great opportunities to share your resources and skills with people in need, but we also need to reflect on how mission trips change us. This session will offer opportunities to share stories about how mission experiences have changed your attitudes and transformed your faith journey. Together we will develop strategies for embracing our own conversion as we reach out to others.
35C. Engaging Congregations and Communities for Mission Involvement. Shari Jackson Monson and Sheila Mischke.
Hosting churchwide events like Festival of Hope (fair trade holiday marketplace), Run/Walk for Relief–Burma (awareness and fund-raiser for relief efforts in Burma) and GO Sunday (community service day in lieu of worship services) have proven to generate interest in mission, raise awareness of world needs and effectively call people to prayer and advocacy for the marginalized. These events mobilize volunteers and use a diverse range of gifts and skills in any size of congregation. Learn from experienced, creative practitioners how to capture and nurture people's hearts and minds by means of creative venues for missional engagement. |
