October 4-6, 2010
Ministerial Association Retreat - Cragun's Resort, Brainerd, MN

October 10, 2010
NWC Celebration - Salem Covenant Church, Duluth, MN

October 12-13, 2010
Parish Nurse Retreat - Covenant Pines Bible Camp, McGregor, MN

October 15-16, 2010
Thrive North Dakota - Hope Covenant Church, Grand Forks, ND

October 24, 2010
NWC Celebration - Evangelical Covenant Church, Dassel, MN

November 13, 2010
CONVERGE Workshops - Roseville Covenant Church, Roseville, MN

January 8, 2011
Recharge - Berean Baptist Church, Burnsville, MN

January 31-February 4, 2011
Covenant Midwinter Conference, Chicago, IL

April 28-30, 2011
NWC Annual Meeting - Crossview Covenant Church, North Mankato, MN

June 11-18, 2011
Adventures in Leadership - Adventurous Christians, Grand Marais, MN

June 25-28, 2011
The Feast - Estes Park, CO

Superintendent
Jim Fretheim

Associate Superintendent
Mark Stromberg

Director of Church Planting
Mike Brown

Director of Mission Development
Jon Kramka

Office Administrator
Cheryl Theilen

Director of Communications
Bryan Malley

The Northwest Conference
3106 47th Ave. S.
Minneapolis, MN 55406
612.721.4893
800.756.6692

Pastors and spouses are invited to the 2010 Ministerial Association Retreat, which will take place at Cragun's Resort in Brainerd, MN, Oct. 4-6. The brochure for the retreat, available at the link below, contains expanded information about the speaker for this year's retreat, as well as general information about the schedule, scholarships and the resort itself. Registration Forms and Retreat Scholarship Applications are also available on the site.

Spiritual Direction: Are you tuning in to the voice of God? We will again be offering opportunities at this fall's retreat for pastors or spouses to have a session with a trained spiritual director. Several of our own ministerial association members will be available to help you listen more closely to the voice of the Spirit in your own life. Whether you are new to spiritual direction or not, you are welcome to sign up for a session at the registration table at the retreat.
 
NWC Ministerial Association web page
 
Town and Country Commission Conference
Interested in developing your leadership skills in a town and country ministry setting? Make plans to attend the FREE Town and Country Commission Conference preceding the Ministerial Association Retreat.
 
About the Speaker: Mark McCloskey, PhD., Professor of Ministry Leadership; Lead Faculty, Master of Arts in Transformational Leadership

A staff member with Campus Crusade for Christ for 24 years, McCloskey served in a variety of leadership capacities, including campus director at the University of North Dakota, area director for the upper midwest, director of human resources, director of strategic planning, director of international student outreach, and national director for leadership development. He is a consultant and workshop leader in the areas of strategic planning, leadership development, and team building. McCloskey is the author of "Tell It Often, Tell It Well," a textbook on evangelism.
 
A promotional flyer for the Town and Country Commission Conference will be available soon!

Thriving Churches International is bringing a one day version of its THRIVE Conference to Grand Forks, ND, Oct. 15-16. THRIVE ND will feature general sessions filled with inspiring worship, gut-splitting laughter, and thoughtful, encouraging messages-plus many of the "unexpecteds" THRIVE is known for-in each of its three general sessions.
 
THRIVE ND will also feature two separate workshop times offering 25 different topics of interest ranging from marriage, personal finances, and parenting to leadership, small groups, and advanced preaching technique.
 
THRIVE ND is being hosted and sponsored by Hope Covenant Church in Grand Forks and co-sponsored by the Northwest Conference. The cost is ONLY $49 per person. As an additional bonus, any pastor who brings at least five people from his/her church and registers by Sept. 30 will receive an invitation to a free lunch and roundtable discussion with Bayside Church founding pastor Ray Johnston.
 
Space is limited so please get your registrations in today.
 
Expanded information on THRIVE ND, and a link to online registration, is available on the NWC website.

Elective workshops will include:

• Effective Church Finances
• Developing a Powerful Communications Strategy for Your Church
• MissionInsite: Practical training with a new demographic instrument available to NWC churches desiring to do local "Soil Analysis" in their communities
• How to Evaluate the Effectiveness of Church Programs
• Church Constitutions and Local Church Governance
• Developing New Ministries Within Your Community
• KidShift: It's a New Day for Children & Family Ministry in Today's Effective Church
  

Beyond the workshops, there will be a time of worship and inspiration. Lunch will also be included with each registration. The cost for the event will be $15/person with a maximum total cost per church of $100.

Prayer: Elias Ebb, son of Pastor Don Ebb (Maplewood Covenant, Maplewood, MN) died on Saturday, Aug. 14. A memorial service will be held on Saturday, Aug. 21 at 2:30 p.m. at Maplewood Covenant Church, 2691 White Bear Ave. N., Maplewood, MN. Please pray for the family as they mourn this loss. And pray for Eli's brother, Zach, who is not a believer.
 
Praise: For protection for Marc and Sherri Peterson (Crossroads Evangelical Covenant, Forest Lake, MN) in a recent motorcycle accident. 
 
Praise: For continuing recovery and renewed strength for Karen Krasky (wife of pastor Rick Krasky, Anoka Covenant, Anoka, MN) after cancer surgery earlier this summer.

It is our privilege to help our sister churches in Shaktoolik and Unalakleet, Alaska. We have three work teams going this summer to help repair and remodel our church buildings in these villages.
 
Our current need is to raise additional funds to pay for materials and the transportation costs to transport the supplies. We need to raise an additional $15,000 to cover these costs.
 
I want to encourage our churches and individuals to consider sending us a special contribution of any amount to help us cover these expenses. There are so many needs in these churches. Please pray for these brothers and sisters in Christ.
 
Please contact the Northwest Conference office if you have questions.
 
Jim Fretheim,
NWC Superintendent

One great feature of the new Northwest Conference website is our ability to connect churches with specific needs, with those who have resources to share. The site features a "Church Resource Bank," and our vision for this page is that churches with items or resources (e.g. curriculum, equipment, other assets) they no longer have need for would post them for those who might find the resources helpful.
 
If you think your church has something to share, please email What's Available, Church Name, a brief Description, and Contact Information, to Cheryl at the Northwest Conference office.

The Northwest Conference recently released a series of video segments designed to highlight ministry priorities of the conference, including: "Congregational Vitality," "Church Planting" and "Children, Youth & Family."
 
The videos are designed for use throughout the year in church new member classes, services and other adult education opportunities to help congregations better understand and engage the work of the Northwest Conference.
 
The series is currently available on the new NWC web site's video page. The videos are also available in even higher definition on Vimeo (click here) and this would be the ideal source for streaming the series in your church or group.