July, 2008
LEADERSHIP. One of the greatest needs for each person in ministry is developing leadership skills. It is a continued call to serve Christ by being a better leader. It is out of that concern that Dr. Pat Day and Dr. Bob Pierson created a leadership conference at First United Methodist Church in Shreveport. They have ar
ranged for some of the best church leaders in the nation to speak, including:
Bishop Robert Schnase Rev. Tyrone Gordon
Rev. Michael Ward Rev. Jessica Moffatt Seay
Dr. Bob Whitesel Kurt André
Dr. David Trickett Claudia Lavy
David Wetzler Dr. Everett Piper
Dr. Tim Walker Dr. Brian Bauknight
Bishop Schnase
Many churches provide the financial support for clergy and staff to attend training conferences. This conference on leadership should be a priority for all clergy and a good way to use those funds. Many churches and church organizations require continuing education units, and you will receive 2.0 CEU’s for attending this conference.
The conference will have exhibitors, and the sessions are organized for networking with other professionals. The lunches are organized in smaller rooms hosted by one of the speakers to giving you the chance to get into personal conversations with these expert leaders. The early registration cost is $285 which is an unbelievable bargain. To see the brochure click here: www.leadershipnexus.net/ShreveportBrochure.pdf.
HELP IRINA. Irina Mitina was an English teacher at the University of Voronezh, Russia when she accepted Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior and out of that experience felt the call of God to become a pastor. A group of Americans were in Voronezh in 1993 as part of a tour organized by Dr. Bob Pierson to help start United Methodist Churches in Russia. At a small public worship service held in the library on the town square of Voronezh, Irina was serving as a translator for the team from Oklahoma. God spoke to her, and in the midst of that meeting her life was changed. Now she is changing lives in Russia.
The church where she is pastor is called Resurrection United Methodist Church. They have helped start 12 other churches in the Voronezh area. With the help of their American friends they have been able to purchase a building in downtown Voronezh that is perfect for doing ministry in this large, urban, university city 500 miles south of Moscow. They have been able to refurbish the first floor of the three-story building and they need help to make the second floor usable as their sanctuary. It is a perfect opportunity to help where your assistance is really needed. The initiative is being done by the Russians and the inspiration is being led by a strong, deeply committed Russian woman pastor. However with the Russian economy as it is they simply can’t afford to make the space they now own usable.
Leadership Nexus is very enthusiastic about the work of Irina Mitina and Resurrection UMC in Voronezh. Your help is needed! A friend in Tulsa, Oklahoma has made a $15,000 matching pledge to encourage other churches and individuals to donate to Irina’s church. For more information click here: www.leadershipnexus.net/Russia.pdf.
LOCAL CHURCH EFFECTIVENESS. In the midst of the struggle to find materials and ideas for the revitalization of the local church and effective leadership, the need has called many to respond with suggestions and answers. The new book by Bishop Robert Schnase titled Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations offers some clear things that a church can do to find that revitalization. Craig Miller of the General Board of Discipleship of the United Methodist Church has done significant work through what he calls the Church Vitality Indicator.
Among the programs that are being used by many churches around the world is a program called Natural Church Development, developed by Christian Schwarz. Of all the answers being offered today for effectiveness, only Natural Church Development is based on extensive research involving more than 50,000 churches, 1.5 million participants, and 136 million responses. It is the only program that has been developed in a multicultural way. Schwarz’s research shows that there are 8 factors that make a church strong and growing. The United States program is directed by David Wetzler, head of ChurchSmart Resources. For more information click here: www.ncd-international.org.
YOUR DOCTORATE. Education is important for every professional. No matter your church background, denomination or seminary training, we all need to continually update our skills. A new doctorate program has been put together by Lawrence Wilkes at California Graduate School of Theology. Lawrence is former Dean of the Robert Schuller School for Preaching at the Crystal Cathedral, and he served as the evening service speaker there for 10 years. The doctoral program created by Dr. Wilkes specializes in 5 areas of ministry called Spiritual Formation Tutorials. You can see the brochure by clicking here: http://www.cgsot.edu/pdf/dminprogram.pdf.
RETREAT FOR CLERGY. The Large Church Initiative of the United Methodist Church is conducting a retreat for clergy led by Don Cummings. The retreat will be September 14-19, 2008 at Deer Valley Ranch in Nathrop, Colorado (near Buena Vista). If you would like more information email Don at: don_cummings@msn.com.
NEEDS-BASED EVANGELISM. Dr. Bob Pierson is doing Needs-Based Evangelism conferences and workshops all across the country. Last fall he did training in Oklahoma City; Midland, Texas; Shelby, North Carolina; Florence, South Carolina; Orlando, Florida and Dallas, Texas. Basically Dr. Pierson offers training in two ways. One is training for the local church where he comes to the church for the weekend and meets with leadership for training on Saturday. He then preaches on Sunday and does training for the whole congregation on Sunday afternoon. Later that day he conducts a planning conference in evangelism on Sunday evening with the evening concluding by church members committing to chair and serve on committees to implement the ideas that were learned and discussed in the earlier sessions.
The second form is training for clergy and local church leaders from 9:30 am to 4:00 pm, providing intensive training on how to do Needs-Based Evangelism as well as how to do the basic effective skills that have been proven in reaching new people for Christ and His church.
This fall workshops have been scheduled in Shreveport, Louisiana; Amarillo, Texas and Clovis, New Mexico. Plans are also being developed for training in Iowa, Atlanta, Central New York, and Rhode Island. For more information on scheduling these workshops in your area please email me at bpierson@leadershipnexus.net.
CREATIVITY AND THE CHURCH. Leadership Nexus has held two creativity conferences in Orlando. The next one is being planned for early January 2009. It is being offered in cooperation with committed Christian staff members of Disney and Universal Studios who want the most creative possibilities for the local church. Among those helping are Jennifer Brassard and Alice Bass as well as other church leaders. This conference will include time at Disney, time with the group of very creative church leaders, and workshops on various methods of developing your creativity. If you have any suggestions about this creativity conference please email Leadership Nexus (Attn: creativity conference planning team) at events@leadershipnexus.net.
INSPIRING TRADITIONAL WORSHIP. In the midst of all of the discussion about effective worship and choices between traditional, contemporary, emergent, and other forms of worship, many local churches are finding that traditional worship still works best. Jim Bankston, staff, and members of St. Paul’s United Methodist Church in Houston are planning to conduct a workshop in November on Effective Traditional Worship. In helping with the planning for this workshop would you email bpierson@leadershipnexus.net with your answers to the following questions?
1. Do most churches need to have inspiring traditional worship?
2. What are the characteristics of a well-planned worship service that we need to learn most today?
3. What are the resources needed by pastors and music/worship leaders to be effective in traditional worship?
4. What are some variations in traditional worship that seem to make it more effective for you today?
5. Who would be helpful speakers and workshop leaders for this type of workshop?
Please email us your ideas. We want this to be a very powerful and helpful conference.
MIDNIGHT OIL. Two of the most creative people helping develop effective, inspiring worship are Len Wilson & Jason Moore. Len and Jason have linked their creative skills together in an organization called Midnight Oil, and they do training on digital ministry and communicating in worship. Their workshops are powerful and helpful. For a schedule of their upcoming workshops visit their website: http://www.midnightoilproductions.com/seminar/dates.php.
