Conference on Ministry

Conference on Ministry 2019

Registration

Life Enrichment Center Information      Life Enrichment Center Map

Program and Agenda

New to the Synod and Deans
Oct. 13-14, 2019

 SUNDAY

Noon–3:30 PM       Staff Arrives
3:00                          Deans, New to Synod may check in
4:00                           Meet, Greet, Bishop’s Time (Cokesbury Room)
5:30                           Dinner (Cafeteria)
7:00                           Worship/evening prayer w/communion         (Cokesbury Room)
8:00                           Fellowship (Cokesbury Room)

MONDAY

7:30-8:15 AM      Breakfast (Cafeteria)
9:00              New to Synod (Room 1 – Auditorium) (Connie/Michele); Deans (Room 2 – Auditorium) (Bishop/DEMS)
10:00             Break
10:30             New to Synod (Room 1; Deans (Room 2) (Bishop/Connie)
12:00-1:00        Lunch
 

Conference on Ministry 2019
Oct. 14-16, 2019
Monday 10/14
12:45         Gathering Music
1:00           Welcome, Introductions, Overview of Agenda, Prayer (Auditorium)
1:30           Workshops I

• Cokesbury Room: Healthy Leadership in stormy spaces (Bishop and Connie)
• Room 1: Now What Can We Do? Helping Your Church Mobilize Ministry. (Pr. Alexa Salvatierra)
• Room 2: Anchor Churches/Churches birthing churches (Pr. Rob James, ELCA)
• Room 3: Self-care and Compassion Fatigue (Pr. Rick Malivuk)
• Room 4: Humor and Faith (Al Ernst)

2:15           Workshops II

• Cokesbury Room: Healthy Leadership in stormy spaces (Bishop and Connie)
• Room 1: Immigration and social issues (Pr. Alexa Salvatierra)
• Room 2: YAGMs (Stephen Bryant, Courtney Noya)
• Room 3: Living Large: Growing quality disciples in a quantitative world (Pr. Jon-Marc McLean)
• Room 4: Praying on Empty (Pr. Marjorie Weiss)

2:55           Break/Gathering Music
3:00           Bishop’s Time (Auditorium)
3:40           Reports, Presentations (Auditorium)
4:05           Break
4:30           Eucharist (Auditorium)
5:30           Dinner
7:30           Workshops III

• Cokesbury Room:
• Room 1: “Ask a Millennial Pastor” (Pr. Sarah Locke)
• Room 2: ELCA Grants and navigating processes to find funding (Pr. Rob James)
• Room 3: Emmanuel Academies and innovative leadership formation (Pr. Steve Wigdahl)
• Room 4: Spiritual practices from a Lutheran perspective (Pr. Gabriel Morgan)

8:15    Reception & Fellowship
 
Tuesday (10/15)
7:30AM    Breakfast
8:30           Gathering Music
8:40           Morning Meditation (Auditorium)
9:00           Reports, Presentations (Auditorium)
9:30           Vitality and Ministry Tables
10:00        Pr. Rob James, ELCA Learning and Evaluation, Congregational Vitality (Auditorium)
10:45        Break
11:00        Joel Anderson, Repurposing Property (Auditorium)
12:00        Lunch
1:00           Mid-day Meditation (Auditorium)
1:15           Connection, collaboration and community building     **See below
5:30           Dinner
7:00           Comedy with Al Ernst (open to public)
8:15           Reception & Fellowship
Tuesday Afternoon (1:15-5:00) **

Luther Springs Field Trip – Construction begins on the Atonement Chapel and the 3-ton back-up generator will be in place. Those new to the synod will enjoy this tour of Luther Springs to see the facility and see what God is doing in the church. Dale Nettnin will join Pr. Jan Setzler on this tour – transportation will be provided.

Golf Outing – Plantation Golf Club 

Wednesday 10/16
7:30AM    Breakfast
8:30           Gathering Music
8:40           Reports /Presentations
9:50           Closing Thoughts from Bishop Suarez
10:10        Prepare for Worship
10:30         Closing Worship

Workshop Descriptions

Workshop I

Workshop Title: Healthy Leadership in Stormy Spaces
Presenters: Bishop Suarez and Deacon Connie Schmucker
Workshop Description:

Workshop Title: Now What Can We Do? Helping Your Church Mobilize Ministry
Presenter: Rev. Dr. Alexia Salvatierra
Workshop description:
Presenter Info: Rev. Dr. Alexia Salvatierra is the author with Dr. Peter Heltzel of “Faith-Rooted Organizing: Mobilizing the Church in Service to the World” (Intervarsity Press) and the founder of the Faith-Rooted Organizing UnNetwork. She is a Lutheran Pastor with over 40 years of experience in congregational (English and Spanish) and community ministry, including church-based service and community development programs, congregational/community organizing and legislative advocacy.  She serves as Affiliate Faculty for the Centro Latino and School of Intercultural Studies for Fuller Theological Seminary and ongoing Adjunct Faculty for various other seminaries and universities. In addition to coordinating the Ecumenical Collaboration for Asylum Seekers, serving on the leadership team of Matthew 25/Mateo 25, and assisting at Hope Lutheran Church, she serves as a consultant (training, facilitating, organizing and leading strategic planning) for a variety of national/international organizations, including World Vision, Intervarsity Christian Fellowship and the Christian Community Development Association.

Workshop Title: ELCA Congregational Vitality/Anchor Churches/Churches Starting Churches:
Presenter: Pr. Rob James
Description: Congregational Vitality, “Communities of Jesus nurturing life changing relationships with God, One Another and the Community.” Could your vital congregation partner with another existing congregation for the sake of vitality?  Could your congregation start a new congregation in an underserved community? We are church together, and we are more vital when we collaborate and partner together. Share your story and hear more about where we are seeing vitality through partnership.
Presenter Info: Pr. Rob James is the ELCA Program Director for Learning and Evaluation
As a Mission Developer, Coach and Hosta Farmer I love to help communities, people and plants grow!  In 2006 I headed to my first call as the Mission Developer of GPS (God’s People Serving) Faith Community in Machesney Park, IL. GPS was started as a Satellite of Grace Lutheran Church and organized as an ELCA congregation in 2010. Last September I took my second call to join the ELCA Congregational Vitality Team as the Program Director for Learning and Evaluation, and love connecting with and partnering with others to serve the larger church.

Workshop Title: Self-Care and Compassion Fatigue
Presenter: Pr. Rick Malivuk
Description:

Workshop Title: Humor and Faith
Presenter: Al Ernst
Workshop Description:
Presenter Info:
 

Workshop Title: Praying on Empty
Presenter – Pr. Marjorie Weiss
Workshop Description: Living out God’s calling to parish ministry as a Rostered Leader can be thrilling, fulfilling, and awe-inspiring as God uses you to embody the Light of Christ.  It can also, for many, lead to isolation and the loss of being able to be a “normal” person.  Betrayals and blindsiding can happen on a regular basis.  This workshop will explore those challenges while also giving practical ways to cope and stay emotionally healthy.  It would be helpful to have read in advance (but not absolutely necessary) the presenter’s memoir, Praying on Empty, A Female Pastor’s Story which is available on Amazon.com as an e-book or in print.  She will bring copies for a discounted purchase.

Workshop II

Workshop Title: Healthy Leadership in Stormy Spaces
Presenters: Bishop Suarez and Deacon Connie Schmucker
Workshop Description:
Presenter Info:

Workshop Title: Immigration and Social Issues
Presenter: Rev. Dr. Alexia Salvatierra
Workshop description:
Presenter Info: Rev. Dr. Alexia Salvatierra is the author with Dr. Peter Heltzel of “Faith-Rooted Organizing: Mobilizing the Church in Service to the World” (Intervarsity Press) and the founder of the Faith-Rooted Organizing UnNetwork. She is a Lutheran Pastor with over 40 years of experience in congregational (English and Spanish) and community ministry, including church-based service and community development programs, congregational/community organizing and legislative advocacy.  She serves as Affiliate Faculty for the Centro Latino and School of Intercultural Studies for Fuller Theological Seminary and ongoing Adjunct Faculty for various other seminaries and universities. In addition to coordinating the Ecumenical Collaboration for Asylum Seekers, serving on the leadership team of Matthew 25/Mateo 25, and assisting at Hope Lutheran Church, she serves as a consultant (training, facilitating, organizing and leading strategic planning) for a variety of national/international organizations, including World Vision, Intervarsity Christian Fellowship and the Christian Community Development Association.

Workshop Title: Learning from/with YAGM
Presenter: Stephen Bryant and Courtney Noya
Workshop Description:  Stephen and Courtney recently returned from a year of service through Young Adults in Global Mission (YAGM).  They will share a bit about their experience in Rwanda and Mexico, and facilitate a discussion about the impact of YAGM in the lives of young adults, how congregations can empower young adults to pursue their vocations, and how congregations can support young adults who choose to do a year of service.
 
Workshop Title: Living Large: Growing quality disciples in a quantitative world
Presenter: Pr. Jon-Marc McLean, pastor at Hope Lutheran Church, The Villages.
Workshop Description:

Workshop Title: Praying on Empty
Presenter: Pr. Marjorie Weiss
Workshop Description: Living out God’s calling to parish ministry as a Rostered Leader can be thrilling, fulfilling, and awe-inspiring as God uses you to embody the Light of Christ. It can also, for many, lead to isolation and the loss of being able to be a “normal” person. Betrayals and blindsiding can happen on a regular basis. This workshop will explore those challenges while also giving practical ways to cope and stay emotionally healthy. It would be helpful to have read in advance (but not absolutely necessary) the presenter’s memoir, Praying on Empty, A Female Pastor’s Story which is available on Amazon.com as an e-book or in print. She will bring copies for a discounted purchase.

Workshops III

Ask A Millennial Pastor Anything
Presenter: Pr. Sarah Locke, Jacksonville Campus Minister
Description:  Ever wonder exactly what those young people are thinking? Trying to start a young adult ministry? Ever get frustrated by the younger generation but don’t know who to talk to about it? Instead of talking about millennials, come talk to a millennial. Chat with Sarah Locke, millennial campus pastor, and ask all of your burning questions about the younger generations of church leaders. While she can’t speak for all millennials everywhere, she might be able to help crack the mystery of “nones” and “dones” and those pesky millennials.

Workshop Title: Marks of Congregational Vitality
Presenter: Pr. Rob James
Description:
Presenter Info: Pr. Rob James is the ELCA Program Director for Learning and Evaluation

Workshop Title: Emmanuel Academies and Innovative Leadership Formation
Presenter: Pr. Steve Wigdahl, Emmanuel Lutheran Church, Naples
Description:

Workshop Title: Spiritual Practices from a Lutheran Perspective
Presenter: Pr. Gabriel Morgan, St. Paul/Faith Lutheran Church (Lutheran Urban Parish), Tampa
Workshop Description:
The benefits of meditation are well documented and widely sought, yet few are aware that Martin Luther maintained a practice of meditation that we can learn from today. The purpose of this workshop is to introduce participants to a broadly Lutheran approach to meditation, with some introductory remarks and then an example practice of this approach. Luther was quite fond of St. Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153), a French abbot who popularized the Benedictine method of meditation called lectio divina or divine reading of scripture. This method of meditation emphasizes reading more slowly, ruminating on, and praying the scriptures, rather than reading them for information (Ps. 1:2). In the Preface to the Wittenberg Edition of Luther’s German Writings, Luther describes a modification of this approach, which still focuses on prayer to God and meditation on God’s written Word, but then looks to the experience of the power of God’s Word as it speaks into the trials of daily life (LW 34:285). Because of their rich and life-giving nature, and because he was such a careful scholar of Luther, we will also explore a few ways Dietrich Bonhoeffer developed this Lutheran approach in his emphasis on the use of the Psalms in prayer, an approach that was enthusiastically received by the Benedictine monks at Ettal when Bonhoeffer sought refuge there in the winter of 1940, where he also wrote the chapter on ‘Ultimate and Penultimate Things’ for Ethics.

Tuesday afternoon
Laughter Yoga
Presenter:  Trixie Richter
Description: Laughter Yoga is not poses or shapes but deep breathing, laughter, and childlike play.  Be prepared to laugh as you have never laughed before! A daily dose of laughter is the one solution which has the power to unwind stress and uplift joy; the power to slow down a racing heart and strengthen the mind; the power to raise the spirit and fend off pessimism…Let’s go laugh and play!  All abilities welcome!
 Presenter Info:  Trixie Richter is a seminarian at Wartburg Theological Seminary and serves at Redeemer in Winter Park, FL as Congregational Life and Youth Director for the last 20 years.  She is a certified Laughter Yoga Leader and believes a day without laughter is a day wasted.

Worship Band and Musicians

The worship musicians this year will be from People of Faith Lutheran Church, Winter Garden.  Musicians will lead a variety of music in worship, and provide special music at other times throughout the agenda.

Display Tables

As in years past, there will be a limited number of display tables to highlight a variety of ministries and resources from the synod and churchwide expression. This year’s display tables will include:

• ELCA Foundation
• Florida-Bahamas Synod Global Mission Committee
• NovusWay/Luther Springs
• Portico
• Lutheran Counseling Services
• ELCA World Hunger
• Synod Youth Ministry