Thursday, Sept. 7, 2023
2:00 - 3:00 p.m.
Leader - Tom Sine
Many pastors and lay leaders in this post pandemic time are looking for creative ways: 1. to secure greater involvement from their laity: 2. to make a difference in their communities & 3. to engage their young people. This webinar will draw on concrete examples from Futures Creativity workshops and the book 2020s Forecast: Three Vital Practices for Thriving in a Decade of Accelerating Change.
Tuesday, September 12, 2023
2:00 - 3:00 p.m.
Leader - Teresa J. Stewart
Small congregations have powerful worship strengths that can’t be used in big settings. Explore lavish worship that fits your gifts and reveals the kingdom of God already among you.
In this webinar, you’ll learn:
● How to start with your small-setting strengths instead of endlessly adapting resources that don’t fit.
● The difference between a performance approach and a participation approach to worship. (Spoiler alert: participation is an overlooked superpower of small settings).
● A new way of worship planning—the Stone Soup model—that increases lay participation, decreases planning time, and invites local gifts.
Registration includes Stone Soup planning forms. With examples for an upcoming liturgical season.
Tuesday, September 19, 2023
2:00 - 3:00 p.m.
Leader - Teresa J. Stewart
Explore two small-setting worship strengths. Each builds upon the participation advantage. Each creates a new expression for your community. And each is rooted in practices of the Early Church.
In this webinar, you’ll learn to shift worship from observation to collaboration with two powerful practices.
● Worshiping with Conversation: Worship itself is a conversation--a call and response with God and the gathered. Discover how to include actual conversation to deepen worship.
● Contact: Liturgy is literally the work of the people. Explore practices that put worshipers to work with hands-on, full-body, creative, collaboration.
Registration includes a guide and planning form for each of these strengths. With examples for an upcoming liturgical season.
Tuesday, September 26, 2023
2:00 - 3:00 p.m.
Leader - Teresa J. Stewart
Small congregations don’t have the same limitations as big ones. Explore these two distinctive, deeply-forming strengths. Learn how to diagnose your local gifts and curate lavish worship with them.
In this webinar, you’ll learn to deepen worship with and for your community.
● Co-creator Gifts: Worship is not limited to sitting, standing, and singing. Imagine new ways to include local interests and talents as actual worship gifts.
● Widening the Word: Sermons are one way to proclaim the good news. But our tradition has so many others that can be celebrated in small settings.
Registration includes a guide and planning form for each of these strengths. With examples for an upcoming liturgical season.
Tuesday, October 3, 2023
2:00 - 3:00 PM EDT
Leader - Pat Baker
Join us to explore the difference between dementia and Alzheimer's as well as normal aging vs. dementia. We’ll look at the 5 key messages about dementia and how to communicate with someone who is facing the challenges of having dementia. Finally, we’ll delve into how your congregation can support people with dementia and their caregivers, and create a welcoming environment.
Thursday, October 5, 2023
2:00 - 3:00 p.m.
Leader - Chris Pomfret
Aging is a reality of life that unites all humans, irrespective of race, creed, location…. We tend to overlook the challenges of aging either by accident or design, and as a result, our later lives can be consumed by “surprises” or issues that could have been handled with prior preparation. Ignoring the realities of aging can also adversely affect the lives of our loved ones. It is imperative therefore that we strive to embrace our aging, especially in our Third Thirty (ages 60-90) and be at peace with the typical inevitabilities. The webinar will discuss how we can Pray, Plan and Prepare for our own aging journey so that the last chapters of our lives can be the best possible, both for us and our loved ones. Getting rid of our “stuff”, downsizing, discussing with our extended family our end of life wishes and discerning what God wants us to do with our post-retired life are just some of the topics that will be covered.
Tuesday, October 17, 2023
2:00 - 3:00 p.m.
Panelists - Rev. Dr. Jack Sullivan, Rev. Dr. Sherry Molock, Rev. Deanna Hollas
Rev. Dr. Jack Sullivan is the executive director of the Ohio Council of Churches. As an ordained minister in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Dr. Sullivan’s anti-death penalty activism stems from his interest in ending cycles of violence, a concern he has known all too well after the 1997 murder of his sister, Jennifer, in Cleveland, OH. Rev. Dr. Sullivan is an ardent supporter of civil rights, gun violence reduction, mental health advocacy, and LGBTQ+ rights. He has given leadership to numerous religious, civic, and social organizations in Ohio, Washington State, and other communities where he has resided and served.
Rev. Dr. Sherry Molock, associate professor of clinical psychology at the George Washington University, has studied the impact of depression and trauma on young African Americans who attempt suicide. As a pastor at a predominantly Black church in Maryland, she’s heard the voices of parishioners in crisis, from mothers whose children have experienced violence to families struggling with mental health challenges. She’s the co-principal investigator (PI) of an innovative new program integrating churches into suicide-prevention efforts among Black youth. The project, dubbed “HAVEN: A Multi-Generational Suicide Prevention Program Embedded in African American Churches,” aims to head off a crisis of suicide among African American adolescents by building on deep-rooted connections between churches and communities.
Rev. Deanna Hollas is the Gun Violence Prevention Ministry Coordinator with the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship and a founding member of Everytown For Gun Safety’s Interfaith Advisory Council. In her role with the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship, Rev. Hollas empowers individuals and congregations across the Presbyterian Church (USA) denomination to embody Jesus’s call to love God and love neighbor by being informed and active in the prevention of gun violence.
Thursday, November 2, 2023
2:00 - 3:00 p.m.
Leader - Deech Kirk
What does the latest research tell us about children, youth, and families? What does it all mean as we approach youth ministry in our post-Covid era? Deech Kirk of the Center for Youth Ministry Training describes some of the common challenges confronting youth ministry today and some of the characteristics of the newer, innovative ministry models that are taking shape.
Thursday, November 9, 2023
2:00 - 3:00 p.m.
Leader - Kay Kotan
Small churches also have what we refer to as a superpower that large churches can’t touch: the ability to be highly relational from the get-go. Too often, small churches concentrate on what they can’t do. We offer this resource to lift up what small churches can do! For example, smaller churches have greater percentages of participation, giving, and engaged members than larger churches, according to the 2020 FACT study. Unfortunately, many resources for churches and church leaders are created for larger churches.
This resource has been created specifically for the small church to learn how to leverage their superpowers and live into their callings as vital, healthy churches having God-sized impact in their communities.
Thursday, November 16, 2023
2:00 - 3:00 p.m.
Leader - Rev. Dr. Tanya Campen
Children are theologians with the ability to recognize and respond to God’s presence in their lives. Listening to the stories of children helps us to understand how children make meaning out of God’s presence and reveals tools that children use as they claim their faith. With this knowledge, adults can then better promote and encourage children’s spiritual growth.
● How does listening to children teach us about God and faith formation?
● What wisdom and insight do children offer to all of us by how they seek understanding of God and God’s presence in their lives?
● How can we guide and support the children in our communities in this work?
