East Ohio Joining Hands - Summer 2010

East Ohio Conference of The United Methodist Church SUMMER 2010 | Volume 10 | Issue 4

joining hands east ohio

- informed, inspired and in touch.

t n v n a ion o I The Vision of the East Ohio Conference of The United Methodist Church is to make and mature disciples of Jesus Christ.

East Ohio Joining Hands Summer 2010

Vol. 10 No. 4

East Ohio Conference of The United Methodist Church Office of Communications Editor/Director of Communications Kay L. Panovec kay@eocumc.com Graphic Designer Sue Zakovec sue@eocumc.com Subscriptions/Administrative Assistant Lois Speelman lois@eocumc.com Contributing Writer John Booth Under the direction of: The Conference Board of Communications, Rev. Steve Bailey, Chairman Mail: Editor East Ohio Joining Hands 8800 Cleveland Ave. N.W. North Canton, Ohio 44720 Phone: ext ext. ext.

800.831.3972 118 Editor 105 Graphic Designer 119 Subscriptions

Web site: www.eocumc.com Submission of articles is encouraged.

The deadline is Aug. 15 for the Fall 2010 issue. Our theme is, “Bridging the Gap.” East Ohio Joining Hands USPS (005-882) is published quarterly by the East Ohio Conference of The United Methodist Church, Office of Communications, 8800 Cleveland Ave. N.W., North Canton, Ohio 44720. Periodical Postage paid at Canton, Ohio.

Postmaster: Send address corrections to: East Ohio Joining Hands 8800 Cleveland Ave. N.W. North Canton, Ohio 44720

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Innovation: Saving lives saving souls

By Kay Panovec*

D

uring a recent visit to my physican’s office, I realized that times certainly have changed. Instead of flashing my insurance card at the receptionist, now she sticks it in a card reader scanning all the pertient information. Everything from blood pressure readings to temperature to weight are measured digitally. Even my physician carries a laptop, entering information as we speak. Prescriptions are sent electronically and available for pick up shortly after leaving the doctor’s office. I am considered a web-enabled patient so my doctor can e-mail me with test results and I can ask questions of her between visits. In many ways, innovation has made life much easier for the doctor and patient. And, in the process, more patients may be served which, then increases profits.

Of course, no one liked the changes initially. Patients complained that doctors paid less attention to the patient while they were learning how to use the new technology.

Doctors complained about not understanding the new software or feeling pressured to use the technology in the first place. But eventually, everyone adapted.

Yet, when we think of using innovation in the church, some people just shake their heads.

Over and over again, I hear people say: “I like my church just the way it is.” And even others have said: “We don’t need new people in the church.”

If we are willing to accept innovation to save our bodies, shouldn’t we be willing to accept innovation to save our souls? Better yet, to save the souls of others who do not know of the healing power, grace and love that is available through Jesus Christ?

I accepted Christ on a hillside at Camp Wesley. It was a powerfully moving experience.

A mountaintop experience. But funny thing, I never came completely down from the mountain.

My life has never been the same.

When the Board of Camping and Retreat Ministries needed to tighten their financial reins, it became apparent that selling Camp Wesley would be in the best interest of the entire

program. At first, my heart was broken. That is where my heart was changed. That hillside held special memories for me. I wanted it to always stay exactly the way it was no matter what the cost. I watched as the members of the East Ohio Annual Conference discussed and finally voted to move from five camps to three. I remember standing there teary-eyed as I witnessed the end of an era.

Fast forward several years. The ministry of our camping program has been going strong and lives continue to be changed just not in the same location where my life was changed.

Although faced with a painful and less than popular decision to make, the Camps Board members were innovators. They knew that decisions needed to be made to strengthen the entire program. Initially, no one liked it but everyone adapted.

If the mission of our church is to make and mature disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world, shouldn’t we be willing to do whatever it takes? In this issue of Joining Hands, we will see innovators who made changes – some great and some small --- in an effort to reach others for Christ. Read about two great cathedral churches, facing eventual financial ruin, that came together to create a new, stronger congregation. Or how a new faith community teamed up with a local elementary school to reach children on the fringes. These are just two examples of how innovation, introducing something new, can change lives forever.

The doctor’s office isn’t the only place where innovation is apparent. As you go about your daily life think about how little changes have made a big impact on your world. Then ask yourself, how can God use me and my church to make an impact on His people? What innovations are necessary to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world?

Small changes can make a difference. *Kay Panovec is the director of communications for the East Ohio Conference of The United Methodist Church

Innovation requires an innovator

By John L. Hopkins*

Long before Sputnik and President John F. Kennedy’s challenge to put a man on the moon, I wanted to be a scientist or an explorer.

It might have started in 1954 when I lined up in Montgomery, Ala., for a series of three painful polio shots in one of the first field tests in the nation of the new vaccine by Dr. Jonas Salk. As a young child instilled with the fear of polio from pictures of braces and iron lungs, I grimaced as I received the injection but was grateful for an innovator I did not know who was to protect a world of children from a terrible disease.

From an early age I have been fascinated by how things work. Curiosity about watches, electronics, snakes, trees, airplanes, the solar system, the human body — is not far from praising God for the abundance of all creation. When I was called to be a pastor the love of innovation stayed with me as I felt deeply with the Psalmist, “The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims his handiwork.” (Ps. 91:1)

Along the way, I discovered that innovation needs an innovator who loves the creator of what “is” enough to envision what “might be,” risking failure and ridicule for even trying to create something new.

You have to appreciate — no, love — your subject so much that you are not afraid of losing the past to have a better future.

One of my early “experiments” was to make a tin can walkie-talkie. You know where you get two tin cans and punch a tiny hole in the center of each can. Then you get a long string and push each end into one of the tin cans and tie a button on the end of the string. Finally, you have a friend stretch the string out tight and whisper loud into the can. With the other can up to your ear, you can hear what the person says!

Of course, most of the time is spent yelling to your friend that it is your time to speak and she needs to stop talking and hold the can up to her ear. Communication is always required for innovation because we need to explain what we are trying and learn from what other are trying.

East Ohio has been graced with an outstanding communications innovator in Kay Panovec over the last 12 and a half years. True to all innovators she loves her

subject so much that she can find the hand of God — the Spirit of Christ — in every story she covers. It is no secret that Kay knows the love and power of Jesus Christ in her life and wants to share it with others. She is at her best listening to a pastor or church member tell their story or share their ministry so she can give voice to the saving power of God.

Kay has been an innovator because she hasn’t been afraid to fail. She has, with the help of her staff, moved the East Ohio Conference from a newspaper to a magazine, from a bulletin board to a web site, from one-way vertical communication to horizontal social communication with blogs, Twitter and Facebook.

She has directed countless people with encouragement and enthusiasm onto the stage of Hoover Auditorium and transformed Annual Conference into a testimony of God’s work. Her contagious energy and unbounded, faith-based optimism have lifted many conversations that were spiraling in a downward direction. Her innovation has served the East Ohio Conference well and we will miss her as she begins her work for our United Methodist Communications headquarters in Nashville, Tenn.

We need innovation to tell the new generations about the glory of God. Who are the innovators you work with to help advance the mission of Jesus Christ? Do you love the United Methodist movement and your local church enough to build on the past and imagine a new and better future?

Top: June 13, 1958: This day, the story on the space race was presented not by experts, but by elementary school pupils in Hagerstown, Md. Their science program A Visit to the Planets was televised in classrooms across the city. The pupils: Judy Snyder, left, Nancy Grove, Larry Michael and Stephen Murray. AP Bottom: Children line up for their shots.

Sept. 1961. Photo: Sydney Morning Herald

*John L. Hopkins is the resident bishop for the East Ohio Conference of The United Methodist Church.

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Mobilizin g middle-s chooler s for min istry

Safe Haven:

An alternative for suspended students

By Peter Chakerian

Inappropriate behavior at school sometimes requires action beyond reprimand.

Suspensions are common, where students are removed from everyday student lessons and activities from a day to several weeks.

For students serving out-of-school suspensions, Broadway United Methodist Church, North Coast District, in Slavic Village offers a place where these students can go – an alternative to lounging at home or wandering the streets.

It’s called, fittingly enough, Safe Haven. The community-based youth curriculum supports Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD) students serving suspensions from their regular school with durations ranging from two to 10 days in length.

These students are supported in the onsite suspension alternative through key behavioral and academic means. In lieu of making up lost time and homework at their home school, students receive credit for work and days completed during the program. Breakfast and lunch are provided during the day as well.

“Safe Haven supports the schools throughout the neighborhood and provides a shelter or place to spend the day for students suspended from school,” said the Rev. Dr. V. Yvonne Conner, district associate for programs and missions at the North Coast District United Methodist Church.

Conner said Safe Haven keeps students on track by assisting them with class assignments issued during their suspension. But there’s a lot more to the program than academics, including student conduct and the importance of relationship building between peers.

Most importantly, students participate in “peer-to-peer exchanges” at Safe Haven, which helps to enhance their interpersonal communication skills and successfully deal with situations that might arise during the course of a regular school day.

The student’s host school receives summary reports detailing the day.

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“As of today, we have served close to 100 children, and our school partnerships have expanded to charter schools in our area as well,” Conner said. “It’s not good that children are suspended from school, but it is good that they have a place to go during this time of separation.”

Participation in the program is initiated by the school’s principal, who enrolls the suspended student with a “Student Intake/Exit” form and a household letter of support signed by the parent and student.

Since Broadway United Methodist Church is the host site, priority is given to schools in the adjacent Slavic Village neighborhood. Slots for students are filled by recommendation of a school’s principal.

The program is having an impact on its students, some of whom have returned to Safe Haven without a disciplinary reason. “Early on, we had a young lady that spent five days with us. She came back to visit one morning and we were wondering why she was not in school,” Conner said. “She felt so comfortable here that she brought her brother with her so they could have breakfast. That was touching.”

Some have also returned to the program to volunteer their time.

Lay volunteers are equally important in carrying Safe Haven’s mission forward.

Broadway UMC offers short-term volunteer opportunities — in blocks as small as eight hours a month — to provide academic support to CMSD students.

Volunteers help students to complete homework packets on a schedule that mirrors the CMSD school calendar and can make a difference in the lives of the students participating in the program.

Interested parties should e-mail Conner at rev.y.conner@sbcglobal.net.

Learn more about Broadway United Methodist Church in Slavic Village and the Safe Haven program by visiting www.thebroadwayumc.org.

From Thoburn UMC, Ohio Valley District, kids are leading the way in making differences far and wide.

“We have a weekday children’s program, and we did away with our arts and crafts period this year and did kid-sized missions,” said church director of Christian education Linda Hudson. “We have 145 kids in that program … from all over town. Last October, our local middle school contacted us about how to get kids involved in serving their community and beyond. We just generated this giant list of things.”

Working with St. Clairsville Middle School’s sixth-graders and teacher Carol Henderson-Drake, the group’s first project was to finish assembling the stuffed animals known as “Comfort Critters,” which the church’s Vacation Bible School students had begun last summer. They then donated the plush toys to the local Salvation Army.

“It’s part of an overall concerted effort that we do to help the whole congregation – of any age – see that it’s about more than the church,” Thoburn pastor Brad Call said. “This is just one piece of that bigger picture. Linda’s great. She’s got a good sense of things like that, and she’s able to help them make these kinds of connections.”

Next up was an effort to collect recyclable aluminum soda can tabs to benefit the Ronald McDonald House in Morgantown, W.Va.

“That’s the big one they latched onto,” Hudson said. “They figured out how many pop tabs … it was going to take to (equal) a mile. By the time we collected them all, it was 175 pounds. They were just so impressed at how easy it is to make a difference in the lives of people by doing something as simple as collecting pop tabs.”

Just a day after delivering the tabs, the group teamed up with the city of St. Clairsville in an effort to encourage and establish a curbside recycling program. Two neighborhoods – about 300 homes – previously were targeted to gauge interest in recycling, and the group handed out flyers in those areas along with a notice that they’d return to pick up recyclables. The materials were gathered, measured and taken to the city as part of its curbside program research.

“(It’s about) getting them involved in helping others,” Hudson said. “The plan next year is to keep these kids involved, and involve the (new) sixthgraders so that we’re building from the sixth grade up. I believe kids are capable of great things – and they have been doing them.”

Small strides offer big assistance to people in need At Grace UMC, Three Rivers District, in Coshocton and Perry UMC, Western Reserve District, in Lake County, churchgoers are finding that drops in the bucket – or “The Bin” and “The Tin Cup” – can make waves of difference.

For two months prior to Easter, Grace’s adult Sunday School class, “The Seekers” created a project they called simply “The Bin.” The idea was to use discretionary money to donate food and taxable items – things not covered by food stamps, for example – and place them in The Bin for anyone who needed them.

“I guess I was motivated by having read the passage in Acts 4:32-35,” said teacher Connie McConnell. The verses note that among Jesus’ followers, “There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold and laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need.”

Early on, The Bin provided boxes of food to several families, sometimes directly, other times through the actions of a church member who saw a neighbor in need.

“We would set everything out every Sunday, and we’d say, ‘Take what you need,’” McConnell said. “We found out during the week that when people would come into the church and ask the church secretary (about assistance) … she directed them to the bin and they would take whatever they needed.”

Perry UMC’s Tin Cup Ministries also looked to the idea of collecting offerings for simple, everyday assistance.

Nothing flashy, just a provision or a nudge or that little lift that can mean a lot.

Church secretary Debbie Ashburn’s husband Brad was inspired by the case of his wheelchair-bound brother, who leads an active, outdoor life but found his well-worn chair in need of replacement. Unable to cover the gap between what insurance would pay and the price of a new chair, he received $736 from Tin Cup donations to cover the expense.

A second recipient of Tin Cup’s goodwill was Madison artist Kevin White, a quadriplegic who creates computergenerated art. A Tin Cup Ministry luncheon raised $647 for a software upgrade to replace his outdated graphics program.

“Everyone has needs,” Ashburn said. “We wanted to help people with things that are just a tiny bit out of reach.”

Special needs people accepted, loved, and confirmed at Roscoe Church Misty-eyed parents and mentors lined up to take pictures of the new confirmation class as its members prepared to become members of the Roscoe United Methodist Church Three Rivers District. Seven people with special needs proudly committed their lives to following Christ as the church family clapped and celebrated.

Using the United Methodist curriculum “Claim the Name: Teaching Plans for Including Youth with Special Needs,” Pastor Coralee Cox and members of the Roscoe Church helped teach the confirmation class about God, Jesus, The Bible, The Sacraments, and what it meant to be confirmed into the church.

“It has been a great blessing to go though this class,” said Cox. “We didn’t expect the supreme joy in watching the kids growing on their journey of faith. It’s been an incredible privilege.”

The Special Needs Ministry at Roscoe, called “Faith, Hope and Love,” began in 2005. The ministry provides Sunday morning respite care every week at 10:30, while parents/caregivers are in worship. Additionally, “Parent’s Time Out” is offered every six weeks or so on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. During this time, the students worship, hear a Bible story, play games, do a craft, have lunch, and an incredible amount of fun! Volunteers are from 5th grade through adult, and receive training twice a year in CPR, First Aid, and crisis management. This ministry is open to anyone who will come. They need not be members of the Roscoe congregation in order to participate.

Pictured left to right: Kevin White and Brad Ashburn, founder of the Tin Cup Ministry.

Pictured above: Artwork by Kevin White. White’s artwork can be found at www.donsphotos.com/ KevinWhite.

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Christ Care groups reinvigorate Westlake congregation

Community garden taking root The dream of a community garden is finally taking root. After months of planning, organizers from the Real Life Community of Faith, Southern Hills District, have begun the growing season. The community garden is an all-volunteer project located on the Union Local school campus. Half of the garden is tended by volunteers and its produce will be given to the Soup Kitchen of Greater Wheeling. The other half of the garden is open to the public. Seventy-nine plots, measuring 10-feetby-10-feet each, are available. Tools and water are provided.

On a visit this spring, Bishop John L. Hopkins asked volunteers to hold out their hands over the garden soil while they prayed. “Bless the people who come here and the seeds that are planted,” Hopkins prayed. Prior to the blessing, Hopkins spoke of the far-reaching impact the garden will have on the community. “(This garden) will provide more than food,” he said. “It will provide the kind of interchange that we’re missing in our society.”

The garden’s blueprint includes plans for that interaction.

The rectangular garden is divided by a cross-shaped gravel path. In the center, benches will line a reflecting pool.

Organizers also hope to put picnic tables nearby.

The Union Local Board of Education was among the first to contribute. When the school board was approached last summer, members quickly offered use of its land, an acre located near the middle school just off of Route 149.

Also, school board member Ed Stenger donated topsoil and fertilizer for the garden’s location. More generosity quickly followed, including donations of additional topsoil and fertilizer. Volunteers worked to build wooden plot boxes and began measuring and marking where each would go.

There are plans to hold two canning classes at the end of the growing season.

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While outreach and mission work are part of Westlake United Methodist Church’s, Norht Coast District, Christ Care initiative, participants in the Stephen Ministry small group program are learning what it is to be agents of change.

During Lent, enough Westlake members signed on to form nine Christ Care groups of roughly a dozen people each. “We recruited leaders and we did training for the leaders, and then we had the leaders pick times that were convenient for them to have meetings,” said Don Lefelar, a trained Stephen Minister and former pastor of Garfield Memorial UMC. “Then we put a big push on to recruit people.”

Each group studied the same curriculum, though they also selected different mission projects to tackle.

“This is one of the great things, because people come up with different stuff,” Lefelar said.

The mission projects – which extend beyond the eight-week study period – included things like serving meals at the local mission to hosting a tea at Wesley Village to planting a garden and donating produce to a food bank.

Lefelar said when he oversaw the same program at Garfield, it became one of the most transformative projects he has witnessed.

“It encouraged a sense of community,” he said. “It encouraged new initiatives across these groups. People said they were much better listeners. All this stuff, it just changed the whole way people looked at things.”

It didn’t happen overnight, of course. He says the fruits of the efforts became more apparent after several years, but those taking part in Westlake’s Christ Care are finding their eyes opened.

“The reports that I’ve gotten have been things like, ‘I’ve been in the church for 12 years and this is the first time …

I’ve been really connected with anybody,’” Westlake Pastor John Butchko said. “Others will say things like, ‘We’ve all been friends for awhile, but we realized how little we knew about each other.’”

Heart 4 the City, Canal District, is one of the new expressions of God’s love in East Ohio.

It is a lay-empowered, multi-site campus of Northampton UMC in Cuyahoga Falls. Lay people are the driving force behind this new ministry venture. Heart 4 the City is about a people with a passion for Christ and for others seeking innovative ways of experiencing and expressing the life-transforming love of Jesus in Christian community.

The trajectory of ministry at Heart 4 the City is intentionally other-centered and outreach-oriented. We believe the mission of Christ cannot be lived from the vantage point of a church pew. We believe the church is at its best when it is faithful taking the love of Christ into places of greatest human need and suffering. Heart 4 the City seeks to be a multigenerational, multi-ethnic community of faith serving the East Akron area.

Heart 4 the City was born out of the dream of Canal District District Superintentendent, Rev. Valerie Stultz and the people of Northampton UMC as they prayed about the possibility of developing a second site. As the former Faith UMC was preparing to close Stultz and then Pastor David Scavuzzo were inviting the people of Northampton to dream about what a second campus might look like.

How could the DNA of Northampton UMC be replicated in creative ways toward the creation of a new and vital worshipping community there?

As the newly appointed pastor at Northampton, Pastor Eli Dorman continued leading the people through the process of discerning God’s call. By fall 2009, the congregation decided to embrace the opportunity to start a new community of faith at the former Faith UMC site.

Since then God has been doing some amazing things. One of its earliest ministry ventures was a partnership between Heart 4 the City and Bettes Elementary School. Bettes was a school in great need. Last fall Bettes

Lay driven ministry has a

By Rev. Eli Dorman

was on academic watch. Its nearly 240 students were under-achieving in reading with some of the lowest test scores in the city. Principal Marla Knabel said the school only had three reading tutors and was in desperate need of more.

Two lay people from Northampton UMC, Karen Price and Lichelle Chirakos, caught the vision for what a partnership between Bettes and Northampton might look like and they mobilized a small army of 22 dedicated reading tutors who met with students every day from January 2010 until the end of school in May. Bettes was participating in the 100 Book Challenge program, a national program challenging elementary aged students to read 100 books in a year. By the end of the school year every student at Bettes Elementary achieved or exceeded this goal and the school was awarded top honors in the State of Ohio and was the only school in the nation to achieve this goal.

From the Bettes Elementary School partnership was born one of our newest summer ministries: Wednesday Club. Wednesday Club is a weekly day program for third-through fifthgrade students. Students arrive at 7:45 a.m. and finish the day at 5 p.m. While on site they are fed both breakfast and lunch. Volunteers work with the children throughout the day on projects and activities, opportunities to learn new skills including gardening, fun outings, and Bible teaching time. The ministry is staffed by many dedicated volunteers both from Northampton UMC and from those beginning to connect with Heart 4 the City as their family of faith.

Northampton member, Stan Rittgers had a

dream of how planting a garden might create opportunities for community and connection in the neighborhood surrounding Heart 4 the City. Stan mobilized a group of volunteers who have tilled, planted, and nurtured the produce growing in the garden. Our neighbors are very curious about the garden and God is using it as a wonderful opportunity to connect with new people.

Other new ministries include a Bike Shop for Kids, and a partnership with the Akron/ Canton Regional Food Bank providing a food pantry and soup kitchen.

We are currently worshiping together once a month on the fourth Saturday at 6 p.m. We begin the night with an openinvitation community meal at 5 p.m. and move toward worship together at 6 p.m. Under the consultation of our church planting coach and as we prayerfully discern God’s leading we are exploring the possibility of launching regular weekly worship in October 2010. We’d love to host groups from around East Ohio who’d like to join us for worship.

We are grateful for the support of the East Ohio Conference in awarding us a congregational development grant to help seed this new congregation.

We are also grateful for the prayers and encouragement of our brothers and sisters in churches all over East Ohio.

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The church’s people, not buildings, plant new roots in University Circle

By John Booth

About three miles of Cleveland streets separated First United Methodist Church and Epworth-Euclid UMC, North Coast District.

Both traced their roots back nearly 200 years and both made their homes in early-twentieth-century constructs, which became local landmarks.

Now they’re gone.

In the span of a year, First Church and Epworth-Euclid took the bold step of leaving their old selves behind and forming a new church – University Circle United Methodist Church, which celebrated its official formation in March.

Both buildings remain, and the devoted people comprising their congregations remain, but services now are held in EpworthEuclid’s former home, its characteristic spire a signature on University Circle’s skyline. And Rev. Dr. Kenneth Chalker, longtime First Church pastor who since 2009 also served as Epworth-Euclid’s minister after Rev. Chris Martin’s retirement, is University Circle’s pastor.

“We chose to approach it as not one church giving up and joining another church, but as a merger from the standpoint of creating a new church, and so we gave it a new name,” said University Circle UMC director of administration Kay Hogg, who has worked with Chalker for 19 years.

“Psychologically, that was absolutely the right thing to do.”

The first seeds of the new church were sown in late 2008 during a conversation between Chalker and Bishop John L. Hopkins as they pondered the UMC’s presence and future in Cleveland.

While both First Church and Epworth-Euclid had long histories and prominent roles, each was facing significant hurdles: EpworthEuclid’s cozy congregation – average Sunday attendance ranged from 40-70 people - was slowly shrinking, while First Church had a

First United Methodist Church

Epworth-Euclid UMC

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robust membership (250-300 typical Sunday attendees) but faced mighty budget struggles in the upkeep of its facilities.

“One of the great challenges for First Church was that the ministry we wanted to be creating, the mission work, was being blocked because just keeping the building open was using up every bit of our resources,” Hogg said. “At Epworth-Euclid, their operating budget was being funded about 3-to-1 by their endowment.”

at First Church’s home. Soon after, each congregation easily surpassed the two-thirds majority of member votes needed to move toward establishing University Circle, Hogg said, and the new church held its first unified service in January. Its “birthday,” however, will be based on the March 14 official vote.

“There has been great sacrifice on both sides,” Hogg said. “We have that heartache of people leaving a building, leaving a sacred space that was very important to their religious

Bishop Judith Craig

Rev. Dr. Kenneth Chalker

Each church then began exploring the notion of making a hand-in-hand step toward preserving their pasts and establishing a joint future. When Martin retired, for example, worship service times were shifted so that Chalker could speak at both churches. Retired Bishop Judith Craig also came on board to help smooth the process.

After all, this was unexplored territory for both churches. “The most difficult thing in any effort, and certainly this one, is coming to terms with the reality that worthwhile outcomes – no matter how needed – are never guaranteed,” Chalker said.

Last October, on World Communion Sunday, the congregations held their first service together at Epworth-Euclid. The first Sunday in November, they worshiped together

life. And then we have all the Epworth folks here suddenly having an influx of people.”

Doug Craver, a member of First UMC, said that among his friends, most saw the new church as a movement forward. As with any dramatic change, he said, there was some worry and even a bit of opposition.

“But I’ve been involved with enough of these types of efforts to know that it really has to do with one’s comfort level, and our calling to do God’s work has nothing to do with a building,” he said. “We have a responsibility to put ourselves in the most optimum position to do God’s work in terms of outreach and other involvement in the community.”

Being in University Circle – which is both an urban and cultural growth hub in Cleveland

as well as a neighbor to some of the city’s most economically depressed areas – puts the new church in just the right place, Craver said.

Former Epworth-Euclid lay leader Kip Reader agreed.

“Change of this magnitude is difficult for some to accept, and it was obvious that there were some differences between the style of worship and other aspects that were a little unsettling to some,” he said. “But for the most part, excitement, optimism, gratitude, enthusiasm, and thanks to God were the watchwords at Epworth-Euclid.”

He also called the formation of University Circle UMC “an exciting, promising and uplifting opportunity to revitalize United Methodism’s impact in the Cleveland community.”

Adjustments to the new way of life, though, are dramatic and ongoing: Former Sunday School rooms, which had been converted to other purposes as classes dwindled, are being refurbished; staff offices and other facilities have relocated; and University Circle UMC has launched a new online presence in the form of OneCoolGod.com but is still working on setting up a new web site.

There’s also the matter of change at the former First Church home: With its expansive classroom space, the church’s educational facilities soon will house the Campus International School, a kindergarten-through12th grade school run by the Cleveland Metropolitan School District and Cleveland State University. CSU is leasing the space for $180,000 a year and will assume the repair and upkeep responsibility, although its agreement does not cover the sanctuary.

In fact, University Circle UMC offered that worship space to the congregation of Euclid Avenue Congregational Church, which was all but destroyed in a March fire. A year-long lease is in the works to give that church a home during its recovery, Hogg said.

Asked about any pleasant surprises along the way, Chalker quipped, “The view out my new window!” He went on: “The most wonderful thing in all of this is that God has been with us enabling us to accomplish a kind of dynamic merger of complex urban ministries in a way that has never been done before.”

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Editor’s Note: A year ago, Lakewood and Mentor United Methodist Churches decided to provide “New Places for New People,” by offering innovative worship services called Impact and iConnect respectively. Read on to see what has happened in the meantime.

Goal remains the same while Lakewood “rethinks church”

By Peter Chakerian

“Intentionally growing in our faith and sharing the love of Jesus Christ,” is the motto at Lakewood United Methodist Church, North Coast District. Like many UMCs in the East Ohio Conference, part of that growth has included the founding of an alternative worship service.

The church situated in Cleveland’s west side inner ring has reimagined how the message of Jesus and the Good News can be presented to a new generation of worshippers with Impact — a “memorable and experiential worship that speaks to Christians in the 21st century.”

Centered on personal spiritual growth, connecting parishioners and community members was the beginning of a wish list that Rev. Laura Jaissle, Pastor of Discipleship at Lakewood United Methodist Church, had in mind for such a service.

“We had a challenge at LUMC over two years ago to rethink church and to do something different to reach those in our community,” Jaissle says.

“There are many people in our community who were seeking a new way to worship God. Some may have wandered away from the church or become bored with traditional worship.”

The challenge was to rethink worship service in a way that would meet the needs of those not comfortable in a traditional church setting—while maintaining integrity in the message.

“Impact was the result of a much-desired need to reach out to a demographic the church realized was not being directly targeted,” Jaissle says. “For many years, only one service was offered here and for those we felt were missing, a second service was needed.”

Jaissle worked with a group of dedicated church members to create Impact, which

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launched on April 5, 2009. At its core, Impact “is centered on personal spiritual growth, connecting with others, and serving the local community and world,” she says.

The aim was to be anything but traditional.

LUMC’s Impact Band leads a nontraditional service with contemporary Christian and secular music fortifying the message. Just as many other services popping up around the conference do, LUNC implements multimedia and video clips to aid thematic, experiential worship.

Jaissle says that “many hours were spent in prayer, out in the community, and around a large table planning and deciphering” what Impact would look like and how it would feel.

“We had to be cutting-edge, modern, relaxed, and extremely informed about whom we would focus our attention on,” she adds.

But Impact’s purpose was to be more than a place to be — a happening to help equip parishioners “with an understanding that a God greater than our universe loves them.”

“When planning and dreaming about Impact, there were three key scriptures that the Impact New Worship Design Team chose to use when casting our vision,” Jaissle adds, pointing to Matthew 22:37-39, Matthew 28:19, and Matthew 6:33-34 as inspiration.

A handful of strategic events helped to pique interest in the community and ultimately formulate Impact’s direction. LUMC stationed a booth at the popular Lakewood Arts Festival, where church members handed out information and asked people what they were looking for in a church.

They also planned a “Prayer Walk,” with designated teams dispersed to areas in Lakewood to observe and pray for the needs of the community; participated in the Lakewood Community Festival at Madison Park, and supported a local “night spot comedy show” at Sullivan’s Pub.

LUMC’s Impact team also initiated truly fun T-shirt advertising campaign for Impact — featuring messages such as “These are my Sunday Clothes …”— rounding out the firstyear marketing campaign.

“We like the word transform at Impact and feel that church and worship are about transforming lives as people develop a relationship with God,” Jaissle says.

Impact has made exactly that — an impact.

Jaissle offers that the average attendance to Impact services experienced a 9 percent jump over the last 12 months, with their largest crowd during the last 12 months taking place for Impact’s Easter services.

“We just had two more teenagers baptized this past Sunday,” Jaissle adds, offering that nearly a dozen attendees have been christened at Impact — something not happening with regularity at many other alternative worship services.

To that end, Impact is helping LUMC membership rethink church, but the ultimate goal is the same.

“We are about making disciples. Impact is about impacting people with God’s love and Grace. When we say the word Impact, we are implying impacting people to a level that they are transformed that they are new creatures because they have a relationship with Jesus Christ,” Jaissle says.

“We are about offering and teaching others about the greatest gift we will ever receive and that is the gift of eternal life that God has given us.”

Impact service is held on Sundays beginning at 11:15 a.m. (gathering time, with coffee and bagels) followed by worship commencing at 11:30 in Daniel’s Hall at Lakewood United Methodist Church.

Learn more about the Lakewood United Methodist Church at www.lkwdumc.org and the Impact service at www.lkwdumc.org/ impact.

iConnect2Jesus -

Mentor service uses technology, music, dance to reach new generation of Methodists

relevant, relational, real

By Peter Chakerian

Many United Methodist churches throughout the East Ohio Conference are moving toward out-of-the-pew thinking when it comes to attracting and retaining younger parishioners.

Leading the way is Mentor United Methodist Church’s contemporary iConnect worship service (Western Reserve District) — an all-ages service designed to provide a “more comfortable, less formal” worship environment for audiences the church feels they’ve been missing.

“There was a group here that had attempted sporadic contemporary services built around evening confirmation classes,” said Shawn Harris, director of youth ministries.

“They were ready to launch a more upfront alternative service when I came on staff, and asked if I knew how to plan a service like that, which I did.”

With a bachelor’s degree in youth ministry and preaching plus intensive work with a student ministry team in Illinois, the Lake County native had a pretty good idea of what iConnect might look and feel like. In other words, not your parents’ church.

Anchored in performing arts and technology, iConnect launched in February 2009 — building a service around the gospel and fortifying it with “contemporary music, liturgical dance, dramatic elements and multimedia as a means for connecting to parishioners,” Harris said.

Harris conducts these services, which run at Mentor UMC on Sundays at 11 a.m. with the help of a lead team, pastoral staff and visitation and teaching pastor Bev Wrobel.

To hear Harris tell it, anyone can put together a multimedia production in the 21st Century.

“The secret to iConnect’s success all comes down to the people,” he said, adding that understanding modern needs and implementing them using creativity and technology are a means to meet and reach them. “Hospitality, first impressions and how to connect with the TV generation are important today — not to mention identifying

and understanding what challenges these young people face.”

And Mentor UMC’s offering is connecting.

Each Sunday service averages more than 200 attendees, with many of the regulars having never attended a church on a regular basis before.

“I think iConnect touched a nerve in the community by presenting the gospel and meeting the worship needs that styles elsewhere have not,” Harris said.

The strategy for Harris and the staff at Mentor was a simple one: “Our tagline for iConnect is Relevant. Relational. Real. And most everything we do meets those concepts without neutering the gospel —presenting God’s word in a way that is practical for people to apply to their everyday lives.”

The iConnect services offer a journey for parishioners, following a strand or series of messages “instead of the stand-alone ideas found in more conventional services,” he said.

Harris begins iConnect each week “with a secular song formatted around the big idea or dominant thought of the sermon—something people might hear on the radio and connect with,” he says.

As to the video and multimedia, Harris and his team utilize a fair mix of purchased and created elements and finds both really help to drive the sermon points home.

“I do the majority of the preaching and teaching, which is story-driven, and we use visuals and messages to connect the dots for people … to take people from what they know to what they don’t,” he said.

“Multimedia really captures the attention of this generation. It’s really such a huge part of our culture today that you just can’t ignore it.

We’re not exactly reinventing the wheel; we

are using foundational ways to connect with people and structuring a service to meet a need. That is touching a nerve for a lot of folks in our community.”

iConnect also offers a social media element to keep parishioners bonded between services. The stand-alone web site www.iConnect2.com details the style of the service, future sermons and conversation topics — offering visitors the option of sending an e-mail invitation to friends, relatives and family members regarding future services.

Harris’ advice for other local churches planning new worship services? “Know your audience, the culture you are in and people you are trying to reach,” he offers, matter-offactly. “Spend time with these young people and identify what their obstacles to following Jesus are. We can’t structure any ministry until we know what people are facing and struggling with — and those challenges are unique to every community.”

Learn more about the Mentor United Methodist Church at www.mentorumc.org and their iConnect service at www.iconnect2.com.

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Local sermons gain international appeal with the click of a mouse

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The stretch of Chesterville-Shelby Road that connects Steam Corners and Johnsville Grace United Methodist churches, Mid Ohio District, is bordered by expanses of fields, trees and rolling hills southwest of Mansfield.

Yet from those two rural churches, Rev. John Partridge’s sermons have reached around the globe.

“I really do see it as having three congregations, and one of them is an electronic congregation,” he said.

Through e-mailed copies of his weekly sermons plus copies posted online and others recorded in podcast form, the same words Partridge speaks at Steam Corners and Johnsville Grace are read and heard by people in Africa, China, New Mexico, Pakistan and West Virginia. And those are just the ones he knows about: It’s the Internet, after all – and even Antarctica has Facebook access.

Partridge didn’t set out to cross borders electronically. In fact, the former engineer says things got started with nothing more than a few extra paper copies of his sermons.

“I was an electrical engineer for 13 years,” he said. “When I arrived here, it was more than a little daunting to get up in front of everybody. I tend to write out what I’m going to say and preach from a manuscript.”

When a few members requested copies of those manuscripts, the churches made them available for the taking. And when others sought copies for shut-ins, a mailing list was established. Naturally, e-mail versions followed, reaching college students and far-off friends and people doing mission work and others overseas.

When a Facebook discussion forum was started for people to send questions or to discuss the message, Partridge looked for a place to archive his sermons online for quick referral and landed on Scribd.com. “Scribd has its own reader/writer community, and so as I began to post documents there,” he said. “Other writers began to subscribe to my account.”

In January, he began recording his manuscripts as audio files and sharing them through Sermoncloud.com. So where 35 to 40 people attend each church every Sunday, and another 20 receive printed sermons by mail, three dozen others are on the e-mail list, and another 29 subscribe via Scribd.

As it turns out, Partridge is in transition – he has moved to become the pastor of Barnesville First United Methodist Church. And while it means change for the congregations in the three brick-andmortar churches, Partridge notes that to his online congregation, he’ll remain the same few clicks and keystrokes away.

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Brecksville UMC, North Coast District has developed a summer outdoor worship service. The program was launched in summer 2008 and held every other week. The idea was to have an informal, family service outside on the front lawn early in the morning — 8:30 a.m.

The service outside was not “worship light,” but an outdoor service including music, prayer, a message and communion.

A pet blessing was offered on one of the Sundays.

Summer worship attendance increased because it gave folks the opportunity to have church and a day of rest and play. People were encouraged to bring their own lawn chairs or blankets. It was a shorter service, between 30 and 45 minutes. An acoustic guitar was used to accompany music.

We served communion every week, rather than once a month.

It was fun to have everything from babies in strollers to dogs to stuffed animals joining for worship. Attendance averaged around 50. The final service of the summer was held at a nearby park.

An extra highlight was that because the church is located on the square in Brecksville, the service was visible to everyone going by on Routes 21 and 82. The challenges included traffic noises, bright sun in the eyes, and the occasional rain showers. But there is a feeling of rejoicing on a beautiful summer morning that cannot be compared to worship at other seasons and places.

The Massillon First UMC, Tuscarawas District, youth group started a ministry called “Heaven’s Kitchen” beginning in February 2010. A soup kitchen is not a new idea but the fact that it is organized and run by a youth group is. The feeding ministry is offered on the third Saturday of each month. Nineteen people were served in February with 43 in attendance in April. An average of 10 youth is involved with the ministry on Saturdays. When the youth are serving in the kitchen they see the immediate impact of their work and are empowered by their service. All the participants at the soup kitchen are filled with a sense of making a difference. It is blessed ministry for the adults as well as the youth who are involved.

more ... It worked for us ...

Shelby First UMC, Mid-Ohio District started a free meal program, served every Thursday, in the Fellowship Hall. What is different and exciting is that it is done by a coalition of (currently) 10 churches, including Shelby Trinity UMC. Each church takes a Thursday in rotation to prepare and serve the meal. There is a team of men who wash the dishes, but the preparation and serving of the meal are done by area churches. The coalition is connected to the Cleveland Food Bank, so the cost to individual churches ranges from free, to just soliciting desserts from members. The program is under the direction of Carol Willey.

Pleasant Grove UMC, Southern Hills District, expanded its Sunday morning drama skits into a full dinner theatre presentation. The event was open to the church and community and the 110 seats sold out quickly. The youth of the church served the dinner. The event proved so successful they plan to hold it annually.

Woodsfield UMC, Southern Hills District, has been designating the third Sunday of each month as Jean Sunday. The congregation is encouraged to attend worship wearing jeans and to bring a guest with them. The service has a more relaxed feel and the church experienced an increase of just more than 10% average weekly attendance.

Clarington UMC, Southern Hills District, realized the need for a ministry for area children. A local business owner of a banquet hall, Grace Kurtzman offered the hall for the church to use.

Every Friday from 5-7 p.m., children ages 3-15 gather for Bible study, music, games and snacks. All supplies are donated for the program. “By reaching out to the children of our community in a neutral setting, we are able to connect with and nurture without the apprehension that comes in a church building,” Kurtzman said.

Orchard Path UMC, North Coast District is “inviting ordinary people to follow Jesus together” in the south suburbs of Cleveland. They have been meeting weekly for worship in the gymnasium at the Broadview Heights Recreation Center for the past seven months.

Currently, Orchard Path averages about 50 people in attendance (about 35 adults and 15 children/youth). Some of the kids and youth attend one of two children’s classes, while others choose to sit in the relaxed environment of the 10:30 a.m. worship service with their families.

Over half the regular attendees have chosen to get involved by participating in a small group called “Growing Deep” and/ or serving in a ministry called “Branching Out.” The most important news is that five people have professed (or reaffirmed) their faith in the Risen Savior, Jesus Christ.

The regular attendees of Orchard Path Church are embarking on a mission to develop God’s heart for people living and working in their communities. They have formed teams to: (1) pray that God would help them see the needs of people and to (2) ask community leaders about how the new church can help meet those needs.

These teams will gather information and hand it off to the strategy team, which will plan community events designed to connect with people in unique, invitational ways. This process is an important step forward as this group of regular attendees takes ownership of the project. They plan to continue weekly worship and are making improvements to ministries already in place. Their goal is to double the number of people who are actively involved with the church within the next year. It is important that “personal invitation” remains at the heart of all that happens. For more information about the church, visit www.OrchardPathChurch.org.

Kristy McConn, a member of Hannibal UMC, Southern Hills District, saw a need and filled it. The mother of three was speaking with a friend who is a foster parent. McConn learned that many times children are removed from their homes with no notice at all with just the clothes on their back. Foster parents cannot stock clothes of every size so McConn began what is now known as the Foster Closet Ministry. Supplies include clothing, shoes, toothbrushes, car seats and more. The items are provided to foster parents at no charge.

Cuyahoga Falls First UMC, Canal District, spent the Saturday before Easter washing car windows at two of the busiest local grocery store’s parking lots. Cards were left on those windows with details about upcoming services at the church. Free car washes were offered. People offered donations but the crews refused simply wishing everyone a happy Easter and inviting them to attend the church.

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Homegrown ministry makes

By John Booth

What’s The William and Hank Show?

Well, let’s see: There are these Biblestudying, wise-cracking, dry-humored mice, an obsessive janitor, and a hyper-chattering librarian, and these kooky ushers, for starters. Oh, and fake commercials. And a pseudo-metal music video interlude.

And they’re all completely produced here in Northeast Ohio by the staff, congregation and friends of Boardman United Methodist Church, Mahoning Valley District. A half-hour DVD including the pilot and outtakes was released following a mid-March screening at the church complete with a red carpet and tuxedo-clad filmmakers.

Amid a typical late-winter snowstorm, co-creator Rus Welch recalled, “We still had a turnout of about 150 people, got a standing ovation, and everybody laughed in all the right places.”

It was appreciation a year in the making.

In 2009, Boardman UMC pastor Peg Welch, mother of Rus and puppeteer Jay Welch, was having a chat with the church librarian about incorporating videos into the Bible study curriculum.

“We had a great deal of difficulty getting films that were the right length and appropriate,” Peg Welch said. “That night I went to see Jay’s puppet show at (Youngstown State) University, and it seemed to me that we ought to be able to do something with puppets and children and the Bible.”

Rus Welch, a photographer and videographer, contacted composer Todd Maki about music and sound for the film, and the William and Hank think tank was born.

“We were all pretty excited at first,” Maki recalled. “But I think we kind of took the direction that if we were going to do this as a Bible study, we’d need to study the Bible. We were all in a hurry to get going … but we just thought, ‘Let’s study and pray and let’s do this the right way.’”

So began a few months of weekly meetings and study in which ideas were sparked and noted by the dozen even while the Bible story remained the focus and foundation.

“The commercial, the conflict between the janitor and the mice (these well-dressed

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movie magiC !

puppet rodents are the title characters), the music – all those elements were there in that first session, and yet we backed away so that we were following God’s lead,” Peg Welch said. “This group of 20- to 30-yearolds viewed the Bible study in totally new ways when they were looking at it in terms of this project. Rus looked at the staging. …

Todd looked at the music of the story, the spirit of it. Jay brought character analysis because he’s an actor.”

Once they had the outline of a story and script – though Rus Welch and Todd Maki

freely admit they’re not writers and most of the scenes involved ad-libbing – the process of casting and filming began in fall 2009.

An anonymous gift from a church member funded the purchase of camera and sound equipment and covered other costs of production, and the entire cast and crew was staffed through volunteer efforts. Actors for the lead roles were chosen through a professionalstyle reading and audition process. Most had some community theatre experience, and church members served as extras in crowd scenes.

“We shot the principal dialogue first,” Rus Welch

said. “And as the thing started to snowball, we got more and more people interested.

By the time we were shooting the B-roll (footage) and that music video, we had a full crew of folks.”

The pilot episode, “Joseph,” parallels the Bible story of the alienated brother with the arrival of a new girl in a Sunday school class who’s unfairly picked on by her peers.

Her first day includes introductions to some snicker-inducing characters, and all the while, the church janitor pursues William and Hank, who also deliver the Bible lesson on forgiveness.

There’s unexpected humor to be found in moments like an organist falling asleep during a sermon and the mice describing the ushers as “crazy,” and the creators say those moments are important.

“We take God’s word seriously,” Peg Welch said. “But God’s people are pretty funny, so they’re fair game. Some of those ushers are real ushers in our church, and the choir members are real choir members.”

The filmmakers have set up Humstrung Productions as a nonprofit organization to keep true to their goals as a ministry.

Inspired by the response to The William and Hank Show pilot and interest in the DVD, they’re also hoping to expand their vision.

“We’re seeking distribution and a potential series,” Rus Welch said. “We want to get this thing out there … and eventually see it grow.”

Still, Maki stressed, “We want it to be truly born out of ministry.”

Church By Size

church

Small group settings hit the trail toward team-led ministry at Rockport UMC

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Are you effective in your mission of ‘Making and maturing disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world?’

Rockport UMC, North Coast District, is undergoing a transformation! Most transformations begin with us so God has been busy asking us, “Are you effective in your mission of ‘Making and maturing disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world?’”

While worship consistently challenges the church with this mission statement, the admonition to “Rethink Church” has challenged us to ask our leadership (paid and unpaid staff) if we are merely busy or are we effective?

Both the Rev. Dan Bryant (former pastor) and Rev. Dr. Gordon Myers have invited leadership to be involved in the “Church by Size” seminar offered by the East Ohio Annual Conference. Together they have encouraged engagement with the “Rethink Church” discussion, which requires constant communication and common vision.

To model this common vision the pastoral leadership team communicates Rockport’s common focus – to facilitate and to provide opportunities for those attending Rockport to experience God and to “Make and mature disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world!”

The transformation is continuing with the introductions of the principles found in the book “Simple Church” written by Thom S. Rainer and Eric Geiger. New staff hires and elected lay leadership now embrace the “Simple Church” concept and work as a team to focus on ways to provide ministry opportunities for laity and to experience the transformational grace of Jesus Christ.

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Rockport currently is led by a pastoral team consisting of Rev. Dr. Gordon Myers, elder; Rev. Barb Davis, retired deacon and board-certified chaplain; Dean Foster, local pastor; and Diana Shook, lay visitation minister. This diverse pastoral leadership skill set has resulted in the laity becoming more confident in leading ministries because they have a team to provide safety from failure. The pastoral leadership team also does much of the behind the scenes work so laity can engage in ministry without needing to know how to set up and implement a ministry program.

The latest ministry to model Simple Church is the formation of “Trail Groups,” which have the express mission of reaching the un-churched and under-churched in safe, small group settings focused around interest. Rockport currently has five interest Trail Groups: health and wellness, in-depth New Testament studies, reading and discussing “The Shack,” feeding the hungry, and several golf Trail Groups.

Future Trail Groups – gourmet cooking, attending theater productions, bicycling and scrap booking – are in the process of being formed. Each of these will provide new places for new people to connect to God and the Church.

Rockport has one mission and one vision: “TO MAKE AND MATURE DISCIPLES OF JESUS CHRIST FOR THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE WORLD!!!”

size

Unchristian: What A New Generation Really Thinks Groundbreaking research reveals a disturbing fact---16- to 29-year-old non-believers view the church as judgmental, hypocritical, too political, and sheltered. How can we reverse this trend? Based on the best-selling book, this four-session curriculum offers eyeopening insights from Shane Claiborne, Gabe Lyons, David Kinnaman, and others to show how becoming more like Jesus can reverse popular misperceptions.

They Like Jesus But Not The Church: Insights From Emerging Generations Ask today’s generation what they think of Jesus and chances are you’ll get a glowing response. Ask their opinion of organized religion and the reply will probably be less favorable. Dan Kimball delineates six common objections people have to the church and offers a wake-up call of critical insights for both faith leaders and non-Christians in a sixsession curriculum.

Aqua Church Challenge: Leadership Video Training Kit These twelve 45- to 60-minute interactive sessions will help you explore the leadership arts that are essential in navigating today’s culture. Discover ways to transform your church into a relevant ministry force and learn to think and act creatively. Based on Leonard Sweet’s book, this curriculum will successfully launch your church’s leadership into the uncharted waters of the 21st Century. Rather than being provided with maps that will soon be outdated, your staff and leaders will learn to think and act creatively using “leadership arts.”

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