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| Photo courtesy of Margaret Marcuson |
| Margaret Marcuson |
“Strengthening Your Small Congregation” is the title of a day-long
event planned for Saturday, April 13, from 8:45 a.m.-4 p.m. at Camp
Alexander Mack in Milford, Ind. The gathering will be devoted to
encouraging and equipping pastors and lay leaders of small
congregations. It is designed especially to reach those in Indiana,
Michigan, and Ohio who can travel to Camp Mack within a reasonable
amount of time, but it is open to anyone.
Keynote leadership will be provided by Margaret Marcuson, whose
presentation will be on “Leaders Who Last: Sustaining Yourself in Small
Church Ministry.”
Congregational Life Ministries executive Jonathan Shively reports
some of the story behind the event, featuring two Indiana pastors: Kay
Gaier of Wabash Church of the Brethren, and Brenda Hostetler Meyer of
Benton Mennonite Church.
The two women met through a Lilly-funded program for small church
pastors. “Kay approached me in 2010 about their enthusiasm for the work
they’d done and their desire to pass along the same encouragement and
insight to other pastors and leaders of small churches like theirs,”
Shively remembers. “We had them do an insight session in Grand Rapids
(at the Annual Conference), which was standing room only and very well
received.
“A few months ago Kay contacted me and said that they were planning a
day-long event for small church leaders and that they had already
arranged for the keynote leader, Margaret Marcuson, who had worked with
them in the Lilly process. They were looking for some support from
Mennonite and Church of the Brethren folk. They realized quickly that
you don’t just put together a conference, and so we’ve been working
collaboratively to give shape to the event.
“I love the initiative of these two pastors and the vision they have
for supporting others in the vital ministry of smaller congregations!”
Contributing partners are the Congregational Life Ministries, the
Indiana-Michigan Mennonite Conference and the Central District
Conference of the Mennonite Church USA, and the Anabaptist Mennonite
Biblical Seminary. Endorsing partners are Bethany Theological Seminary,
the Brethren Academy for Ministerial Leadership, and two Church of the
Brethren districts: Northern Indiana and South/Central Indiana.
Marcuson speaks and writes on leadership and works with church
leaders in the US and Canada as a consultant and coach. She is author of
“111 Tips to Survive Pastoral Ministry,” “Leaders who Last: Sustaining
Yourself and Your Ministry,” and “Money and Your Ministry: Balance the
Books While Keeping Your Balance” (forthcoming). She has taught in the
Leadership in Ministry workshop, a family systems training program for
clergy, since 1999. An American Baptist minister, she pastored First
Baptist Church of Gardner, Mass., for 13 years, where the average
worship attendance was 80 people.
The schedule for the day includes opening and closing worship, a
keynote address in the morning, followed by a panel discussion with
small church pastors, lunch, and two afternoon workshop sessions.
Workshops will be offered on the following topics:
- “Worship in Your Own Voice”
- “Fair Fighting in the Small Church: Caring for Each Other Through Divisive Issues”
- “Money and Your Ministry: Balance the Books While Keeping Your Balance”
- “Discerning Our Congregation’s Future: Finding the Meeting Place of God's Intention and Our Hope”
- “The Pastoral Care Team: Elders and Deacons and Pastors, Oh My!”
- “The Gift of Leadership: Structures for Small Congregations”
- “Welcoming and Nurturing Children within the Small Congregation”
- “Evangelism: A Mindset for Mission”
Also an open coaching session with Marcuson will be offered.
Participants are invited to bring a challenge from their own churches to
this session, at which Marcuson will coach several participants and
observers will have the chance to think through possibilities and
solutions for their own leadership settings.
Cost is $50 for the first person from a congregation, and $25 for
each additional person from the same congregation. Students enrolled in
ministry training may attend for $25. Continuing education units are
available for an additional $10 fee.
Find out more and register at
www.brethren.org/smallchurch . A Facebook page is available at
www.facebook.com/smallchurch or go to
www.facebook.com/events/173968569409127 . A Twitter stream is planned as well, to be found at #smallchurch2013. For more information, contact 800-323-8039 ext. 303 or
congregationallife@brethren.org.
Source: 1/10/2013 Newsline
Three
coordinators have been named for National Youth Conference 2014, to be
held July 19-24, 2014, on the campus of Colorado State University in
Fort Collins, Colo.: Katie Cummings, Tim Heishman, and Sarah Neher.