wfn.org | [PCUSANEWS] Small churches huddling next month

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Note #7084 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

Small churches huddling next month
11-March-2002
02093

Small churches huddling next month

Participants may learn how to make their churches a little better

by Evan Silverstein

LOUISVILLE - How are small churches to reach out and welcome Gen-Xers into the pews? How can they minister to the "grunge" generation, whose spirituality is shaped by popular movies, music and television?
Participants at the fourth Small Church Celebration of the Presbyterian Church (USA) will try to find out when they assemble next month in Austin, TX.

God's Living Water is the theme of the April 13-16 conference, which will bring together members and pastors of small churches from throughout the denomination to share information on new and better models of worship, education, mission and evangelism. 

"Our theme this year  emphasizes the good gifts that God gives," said the Rev. Dale Jackson, associate for Small Church Development in the denomination's Evangelism and Church Development program area. "We hope it will remind leaders of small churches that they are not alone, and that God has gifts to far surpass their needs."

The four-day event at the Omni Austin Hotel Southpark will also be a time for celebrating, networking, acquiring skills, sharing stories and discovering how smaller churches can grow and become more vital, Jackson said, noting that there are 8,000 PC(USA) congregations categorized as small - that is, having average Sunday worship attendance of less than 100. 

 	"We are excited to provide this time of learning, refreshment and growth for small-church leaders," Jackson said. "We pray that their ministries will be strengthened through our time together."

About 116 people had registered as of March 8, with a total of 250 participants expected to turn out for the event, which will feature the unveiling of a new small-church development logo. Twenty-two workshops on a variety of small-church ministry topics have been organized for the gathering sponsored by the Small Church Network Team of Evangelism and Church Development. Three church leaders have been lined up to provide leadership for the conference, the first since 1999.

Jackson will conduct a workshop titled How to Welcome New Generations, which will explore how Gen-Xers (people born between the late 1960s and mid '70s) can be ministered to - grunge, body piercings , tattoos, and all. 
Other workshops include:

* Pastoral Ministries with Rural Families, which will consider ways of ministering to diverse needs and interests in a small congregation, strengths and concerns of rural families; and resources to support pastoral ministry with rural families. The leader will be Jennie C. Kitching, associate director emerita of the Texas Cooperative Extension.

* Redeveloping the Small Church, which will explore church redevelopment and how it can move congregations in "new and inviting" ways. The leaders will be Rallah Madison, a former elder moderator of Minnesota Valleys Presbytery, and Judy Hay, of Saint Andrews Presbyterian Church, Rochester, NY.

* Taking the Lead in Spirituality: Small Congregations as Spiritual Mentors, which will focus on how small congregations can nurture spiritual growth in the lives of their members. The leader will be David Johnson, director of supervised practice of ministry at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary.

* Focus on Urban Ministry, which will consider different models of urban ministry for smaller congregations. The leader will be Phil Tom, coordinator of PC(USA)'s Urban Ministry Office.

For more information and registration materials, contact Eva Slayton, administrative assistant, by mail at 100 Witherspoon Street, Room 3619A, Louisville, KY 40202, by phone at (888) 728-7228, ext. 5244, or by email at eslayton@ctr.pcusa.org.

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