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Caring for Clergy while the Church is Changing
Our conference theme for this year has been selected because of the numerous conversations taking place around the PCUSA about the difficulties presbyteries are experiencing in adjusting to the decline in financial support and ministry resources.
We also want to address the disconnects that congregations often feel with their presbyteries, and the perceptions that governing bodies need to rethink the ways we go about training ministers, consummating calls, resourcing congregations, and doing ministry in the post-denominational and technological era of the 21st century.
We have invited a creative presbytery executive, a seminary professor and a research director from the Lilly Endowment project on pastoral excellence to help us to think together about adaptive changes we need to be making at presbytery levels and within our congregational life to care and support both healthy pastors and healthy congregations.
We have scheduled our conference the day before the opening of the Big Tent. We encourage you to visit their site click here to learn what other exciting opportunities present themselves.
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Laughter From the Well
Following up on their CD, A Deep Well for the Pastor, a new CD is being released, Laughter From the Well. This CD combines comedy sketches by Stephen McCutchan with songs by David Bailey and Bryan McFarland. Click here to see the CD cover.
Seventy minutes of humor and music designed to interrupt the stress of ministry and remind us of God's call to each of us. The CD is dedicated to David Bailey who taught us to laugh and sing in the face of the challenges of life.
You can purchase your copy of Laughter From the Well from www.cdbaby.com for $15.99 (coming soon) or you can purchase a copy at the conference. And, for the Facebook Fans, check out Laughter's Facebook page.
All profits from the CD will go to support the work of PPCN. |
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Pastor Family Fun
Too often, when we want to have fun with our family, we don't know what to do. Here is a simple game that the family can play that both provides a fun experience and builds anticipation about what the family can do for fun when the next opportunity arrives.
The family can gather at their favorite spot in the home. Have some special refreshments available to mark this as a different time..
A deck of cards is set in the midst of the family and a bottle for spinning. The game begins by spinning the bottle and seeing to whom it points. That person then cuts the deck of cards and turns up the card below the cut. If the cut is from 2 to 5, that person is to suggest a fun activity for the family the next time there is a free evening. It should be inexpensive, near or in the home, and involve the whole family.
If the cut reveals a card from 6 through 10, then the person can describe and adventure for the family that might take a whole day and cost a little bit more.
If the card is a face card, Jack, Queen, or King, the person describes a fun vacation that might take more planning and involve a week or more. If the card is an Ace, then the person picks a place to go for a family meal and they get to choose the dessert.
When the person is finished, the bottle is spun and the sharing moves on to someone new. A list of the different suggestions is kept in preparation for the next time the family wants to have some fun together. |
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Free Event at Trinity University, San Antonio
Our Abundant Communities: A Gathering of Congregations, Campuses, and Communities! April 27 - 28. Featuring Peter Block, Walter Brueggemann, and John McKnight. For more information and to register call 210 - 733 - 7169, email
[email protected]. |
