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WESLEY LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE
Holston Conference of the United Methodist Church |
November - 2015
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IN THIS ISSUE:
Featured Events
Clergy Notes
Monthly Message
Upcoming Events
Book Corner
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FEATURED EVENTS:
Fleming Lectures 
November 21 - 22
Church Street UMC, Knoxville, TN
Dr. Jim Fleming returns to Church St. UMC for several lectures under the theme, "Finding God in Difficulty." Lectures are free, although lecture notebooks will be available for sale. 0.6 CEUs will be given if attending all lectures.
January 2016 United Theological Seminary, Dayton OH
In partnership with Aldersgate Renewal Ministries, United Theological Seminary is offering a fully accredited 3 year Doctor of Ministry degree in Supernatural Ministry.
This focus group will prepare leaders to live naturally supernatural lives and enable them to encourage the people in their ministries to do the same. This group will examine Spirit-directed and empowered ministry in church history and in the church today. We will look at the Biblical evidence for why signs, wonders and miracles are important. Being filled with the Spirit, intimacy with God, gifts of the Spirit, hearing God, prophecy, healing, deliverance, angelic encounters, raising the dead, "extraordinary miracles" [Acts 19:11] and impartation are some of the topics that will be considered. Enroll by December 15th for January admission. For more information, send an email to Dr. Frank Billman or visit the United website.
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Scroll down to see additional coming events that qualify for continuing ed credit. You can also go to the Holston web calendar to see the full list of upcoming events.
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CLERGY NOTES: Just a note on CEU reporting... The automated online list for reporting attendance at CEU events will be updated around mid-December and all events listed prior to July 1, 2015 will be deleted. So you might want to look through your records and see if you missed reporting one of those earlier events.
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The Rise of the 'Done With Church' Population
- by Thom Schultz
John is every pastor's dream member. He's a life-long believer, well-studied in the Bible, gives generously and leads others passionately.But last year he dropped out of church. He didn't switch to the other church down the road. He dropped out completely. His departure wasn't the result of an ugly encounter with a staff person or another member. It wasn't triggered by any single event.John had come to a long-considered, thoughtful decision. He said, "I'm just done. I'm done with church."
John is one in a growing multitude of ex-members. They're sometimes called the de-churched. They have not abandoned their faith. They have not joined the also-growing legion of those with no religious affiliation-often called the Nones.
For the church, this phenomenon sets up a growing danger. The very people on whom a church relies for lay leadership, service and financial support are going away. And the problem is compounded by the fact that younger people in the next generation, the Millennials, are not lining up to refill the emptying pews. Why are the Dones done? Sociologist Josh Packard describes several factors in his new book, Church Refugees (see book review below). Among the reasons: After sitting through countless sermons and Bible studies, they feel they've heard it all. One of Packard's interviewees said, "I'm tired of being lectured to. I'm just done with having some guy tell me what to do." Will the Dones return? Not likely, according to the research. They're done. Packard says it would be more fruitful if churches would focus on not losing these people in the first place. Preventing an exodus is far easier than attempting to convince refugees to return. Pastors and other ministry leaders would benefit from asking and listening to these long-time members before they flee. This will require a change of habit. When it comes to listening, church leaders are too often in the habit of fawning over celebrity pastors for answers. It would be far more fruitful to take that time and spend it with real people nearby-existing members. Ask them some good questions, such as: 1. Why are you a part of this church? 2. What keeps you here? 3. Have you ever contemplated stepping away from church? Why or why not? 4. How would you describe your relationship with God right now? 5. How has your relationship with God changed over the past few years? 6. What effect, if any, has our church had on your relationship with God? 7. What would need to change here to help you grow more toward Jesus' call to love God and love others? Read the full article here. Thom Schultz is an eclectic author and the founder of Group Publishing and Lifetree Café. Holy Soup offers innovative approaches to ministry, and challenges the status quo of today's church.
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UPCOMING EVENTS:
Be sure to visit the Holston online calendar for a complete list of upcoming events throughout the Conference and beyond.
November:
Nomvember 11 - 13 Southfield, MI 1.5 CEUs
(See featured events)
November 12 - 15 Lake Junaluska 1.5 CEUs
November 14 Washington DC 0.3 CEUs
November 17 Online Course 0.5 CEUs
November 21 - 22 Knoxville TN CEUs TBD
Looking Ahead...
Ray Van Der Laan Event
January 15 - 17 Maryville, TN 0.8 CEUs
Convocation 2016
February 22- 25 Pigeon Forge, TN 2.0 CEUs
Watch your email - brochure and registration available by end of November!
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.THIS MONTH'S FEATURED BOOK/VIDEO
(Remember, each book related to ministry qualifies for 0.3 CEUs, and
3 books = 1 full CEU. Submit name, author, publisher and date, and a brief review for continuing ed credit.)
- by Josh Packard & Ashleigh Hope
As millions of church members fall into inactivity each year, they've probably also started skipping church on Sunday.
We need answers--not statistics. We need to understand and hear from people who are leaving church so we can find a way to turn around the trend.
This book uses in-depth sociological research to get to the heart of the issue. The data is collected from interviews with real people about why they left and who they really are. These aren't the "nones" who have no religious affiliation. They're the "dones" who've been faithfully serving in local churches for years. This is their story.
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Grace and Peace,
Rev. Daniel Taylor, Director
Sue Weber, Editor & Admin. Asst.
Wesley Leadership Institute
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