wfn.org | Church-Renewal Conference Starts Jan. 20

[PCUSA NEWS <pcusa.news@ecunet.org>]

7-January-2000 
00012 
 
    Church-Renewal Conference Starts Jan. 20 
 
    Theme is `change' - the cause and effect of redevelopment 
 
    by Evan Silverstein 
 
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - How many Presbyterians does it take to change a lightbulb? 
 
    That's the rhetorical question posed by this year's program booklet for 
the Fourth National Church-wide Redevelopment Conference. 
 
    It's an appropriate question, because "Change" is the theme of the Jan. 
20-23 conference at the Hyatt Regency Hotel here. Participants will discuss 
ways of helping congregations deal with changing church memberships and 
with change in their communities. 
 
    The event is for church members, pastors and presbytery committee 
members from rural, urban, and suburban congregations engaging in 
redevelopment ministries throughout the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). It is 
co-sponsored by the denomination's Church-wide Redevelopment Training 
Network and the Evangelism and Church Development program area. 
 
    The Rev. Steve Boots, the PC(USA)'s associate for Congregational 
Redevelopment and a conference planner, noting a passage from the 
conference program, said: "In the scripture passage from Romans, we are 
invited to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. That's what the 
true purpose of the conference is - to be renewed by God's spirit." 
 
    Participants will choose from more than 20 redevelopment workshops led 
by leaders of innovative churches and go on field trips to churches 
involved in redevelopment. Three keynote speakers will address the 
estimated 500 people expected to turn out. 
 
    The keynoters are Emily Chandler, a member of the faculty of the 
Institute of Health Professions of Massachusetts General Hospital in 
Boston, whose professional interests include spirituality and well-being, 
prayer and healing, and end-of-life issues; Thomas Bandy, a senior partner 
with Easum, Bandy & Associates of Aransas, Texas, a leading thinker and 
writer on church growth and transformation; and Robert Burkins Sr., senior 
pastor of the Elmwood United Presbyterian Church in East Orange, N.J., 
whose congregation has grown from about 300 members to nearly 900 since 
1987 and is one of the fastest-growing African-American churches in the 
PC(USA). 
 
    The registration deadline was Jan. 6, but reservations are still being 
accepted on a first-come, first-served basis. For additional information, 
call Debra Lanham, (502) 569-5242, or Salome Cavalcante, (502) 569-5426, or 
visit the conference web site at 
<http://horeb.pcusa.org/redevelopnet/events/crc-jan2000.html>.   

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