wfn.org | Urban renewal: April conference will focus on Pittsburgh church's transformation

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

Note #7059 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

21-February-2002
02070

Urban renewal 

April conference will focus on Pittsburgh church's transformation

by Jerry L. Van Marter

PITTSBURGH - Fifteen years ago, historic East Liberty Presbyterian Church here was a hollow shell of its former self. Attendance at the once-prestigious church had dwindled to a handful of worshipers and the church building was in disrepair.

Today it is again a thriving congregation, with booming attendance and a myriad of religious and social-service programs that keep the building continually bustling.

Staff and members of East Liberty will share stories about the church's 14-year transformation in ministry, membership and finances when they host an April 15?17 conference titled, "Transforming the Mainline Church." The event will include workshops, conversations and lectures meant to inform and inspire pastors and others who would like to transform their own churches.  

The Rev. Robert A. Chesnut, East Liberty's pastor for the past 14 years, will be the keynote presenter at the conference, which shares its title with a 2000 book in which Chesnut told the story of the inner-city church's remarkable turnaround. Chestnut plans to retire at the end of April. 

Other featured speakers include: 
	
* Wade Clark Roof, a professor of religion and society at the University of California, Santa Barbara, author of Spiritual Marketplace: Baby Boomers and the Remaking of American Religion;

* Horace Clarence Boyer, professor emeritus of African-American music at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, author of How Sweet the Sound - The Golden Age of Gospel;

* The Rev. Douglas G. Adams, a professor of Christianity and the arts at the Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, CA, author of Eyes to See Wholeness: Visual Arts Informing Biblical and Theological Studies in Education and Worship; and,

* Nancy Chinn, an artist from Oakland, CA, whose paintings and large, architectural-scale artworks have been placed in churches across the country.

Services during the conference will allow participants to experience East Liberty's diverse worship styles, including the popular Taize Sung Prayer service and its creative use of visual art, dance and music. 

For more information, call the church at (412) 441-3800, ext. 28. 
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