Over the next couple of weeks, one of United's students, faculty, staff or volunteer alumni/ae will be calling those who have not yet pledged to the 2011-2012 Annual Seminary Fund campaign. Expect someone to call your home between October 11-15 and 18-21. If you have not yet pledged, there is still time to respond online .

We are also looking for volunteers to make calls on campus or from your own home. If you plan to call on campus, please contact Rev. Brice Thomas at 937.529.2256. If you are willing to call 10-15 alumni/ae from your home, please respond to bthomas@united.edu with your name, mailing address, contact number and whether you would prefer to call alumni/ae from a specific class, or from your local area. We will send you all the information you need to get started!

There are incentives for making calls. Each caller signing up for a four-hour shift will receive a $10 gift coupon from Cokesbury and be entered to win one of several $100 gift certificates or an iPod shuffle. Every call will help increase United's scholarship and institutional support.

Is God calling YOU to call others? Please respond by Monday, Oct. 10, so we have plenty of time to get your list in the mail! THANK YOU!

The 2011 "Change the World" conference, held annually at Ginghamsburg UMC, Tipp City, OH, is scheduled for October 19-21. United is co-sponsoring the event, and will also be offering a class in conjunction with the conference, "Seminar in Church Renewal," taught by Dr. Jason Vickers.

Featured speakers at the conference include Alan Hirsch, an in-demand author and speaker who serves as a mission strategist for churches across the western world; Mike Slaughter, the three-decade leader at Ginghamsburg and spiritual entrepreneur of ministry marketplace innovations; and Rudy Rasmus, a dynamic urban church messenger and co-pastor of St. John's UMC in downtown Houston.

For more information about the conference or the class please click here .

The Center for Worship, Preaching and the Arts is sponsoring a preaching workshop on Friday, October 28, entitled "Preaching Advent/Christmas: Rebuilding the Ancient Ruins," led by Dr. Richard Eslinger, Professor of Homiletics and Worship. The program runs from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. at the Pohly Meeting House at the seminary. Cost for the event is $50, which includes lunch.

For more information, please contact Tesia Mallory at cwpa@united.edu or 937.529.2279.

Register Online

On Monday, November 14, Rabbi Brad Hirschfield is the featured speaker at a fireside chat from 7-8:30 p.m. at Stillwater United Methodist Church (6911 Frederick Pike Dayton). Come ask questions about Judaism, Jewish practice, holidays, beliefs, politics and more! Rabbi Brad visited Stillwater Church last December, though the snow made his visit 'virtual' through Skype. Come meet him in person, and enjoy an evening of invigorating conversation and fellowship across traditional borders!

United is co-sponsoring the event, along with Stillwater UMC. For more information about Rabbi Hirschfield, please visit his website. For event information, please contact Stillwater at 937.454.9405 or Dr. Lisa Hess at lmhess@united.edu.

United's music ministry certificate program, the Floyd and Elaine Flake Certificate in Music Ministry, will resume in November with a six-course program designed to provide outstanding leadership of music ministry in the twenty-first century Christian church. The majority of the program is offered online.

Courses include Teaching Biblical Faith and Ministry, Theology in Music, Spiritual and Music Ministry Formation, Congregational Songs, Technology in Music Ministry, and Ensemble Leadership. For more information about this program, please visit the website or contact the program's director, Jeremy Winston at 937.529.2201 or jwinston@united.edu.

On Friday, January 13, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., the Rev. Dr. Barbara Blodgett, Minister for Vocation and Formation for the United Church of Christ in Cleveland, OH, will present a workshop at United entitled "Becoming the Pastor You Hope to Be: Four Practices for Improving Ministry" based on her new book of the same name. The workshop is a partnership between the UCC House of Studies and the Pohly Center for Supervision and Leadership Formation.

Grounded in long and rich experiences, this workshop looks forward to a church and to leadership styles needed for the future, and provides reality-tested practical advice on key practices for pastors who seek to be excellent in their ministry. The cost is $85, and includes lunch and .4 CEUs.

For more information or to register online, please visit the website.

If you haven't had a chance to respond to United's Alumni/ae survey, you can still do so by clicking here.