The CEU News - July 2023

Events - Coming Soon!

Check the Holston online calendar for a full listing of future events.

The Non-Anxious Leader: Family Systems Basics

July 5 - August 1 Online 3.0 CEUs

Effective leadership depends on being able to separate your personal anxieties from the issues that affect your church or organization. Learn why understanding your own family of origin is the key to effective leadership, what you can do to grow in this capacity, and the most important characteristic of effective leaders.

Caring With Compassion: First Responders and Their Families

July 10 - August 26 Online 1.0 CEUs

First responders and their families need support and advocates in local communities, and this course is designed to guide clergy as they learn how to provide this encouragement.

From Your Heart to Theirs: Delivering an Effective Sermon

July 10-21 Online 0.1 CEUs

This course is for preachers who have completed the basic preaching course but want to increase their preparation for a variety of situations with a variety of sermon types. It will guide participants in developing a sermon in advance and give them an opportunity to practice it in a group, without the worry of trying it out in front of their congregation for the first time!

Aging and Ministry in the 21st Century

July 10-23 Online 1.0 CEUs

Older adults often play leading roles in our congregations. This course offers a rich learning experience that includes knowing more about the aging process and the developmental stages of midlife and older adulthood to help us best shape our ministry.

Let Them Come to Me: Children in Worship

July l0-29 Online 1.3 CEUs

This course will explore the place of children in congregational worship and offer practical suggestions for successfully including children in the worshiping community as well as teaching children about the elements of worship.

A Day w/the Bishop: Black Methodists Matter

July 15 Alcoa, TN 0.5 CEUs

Goals:

Worship and Spiritual Renewal

Community Building

Leadership Development

Advocacy and Social Justice

Building Bridges of Racial Reconciliation

Leaders: Bishop Debra Wallace-Padgett, Rev. Sharon Bowers, Rev. Dr. Candace Lewis, Rev. Brian Tillman, Rev. Annette Warren and others

7 Ways to Increase Engagement in Your Hybrid Worship

July 20 Online 0.2 CEUs

Join us Thursday, July 20 at 3:00 pm as Jason Moore, author of BOTH/AND and Telling the Old Story in a New Way, teaches us 7 concrete ways to increase engagement in hybrid worship. As engagement increases, so does relationships, and that is where we, as a church, can make a difference in people's lives.

Fractured Ground: A Book Study Exploring Mass Trauma

July 24 - August 4 Online 1.0 CEUs

What do you say to your church when violence, natural disaster, or disease raises questions about where God is to be found during tragedy?

Fractured Ground, a book study that explores communication following mass trauma, will be your guide whether you are speaking from the pulpit, to the press and public, or to I ndividuals facing these circumstances.

Helping Others Grow through Their Grieving

August 7 - September 9 Online 1.0 CEUs

Grief can be a lonely place, and those who care for persons who are grieving often find themselves at a loss. The 4-week course will share a book study based on Understanding Your Grief by Alan D. Wolfelt, PhD, an educator and grief counselor who has written 50 books on grieving. Learners will share their experiences of counseling the grieving as they study the insights and lived experience of Dr Wolfelt, through his book.

Practices to Grow the Mission of the Small Church

August 10 Online 0.1 CEUs

Small churches are not “downsized” versions of large churches. What works for the megachurch might not work for the smaller church. This session is focused on churches with 25, 50, or 100 in attendance. Blake Bradford and Kay Kotan, authors of Mission Possible, will be focused on your congregation and your mission.

Creative Worship Conference

August 18-19 Cokesbury UMC, Knoxville 1.0 CEUs

The 2023 Holston Creative Worship Conference is a Worship Together gathering of pastors, worship leaders, choir directors and folks who love designing worship. Spend the day with creative worship specialist, author, and worship coach Jason Moore in an event designed for churches of all sizes, budgets and means. The Creative Worship Conference is filled with ideas that any church can implement. Click on link above for full details, schedule, and registration link.

Looking Ahead….

• Leadership Institute 2023: Ignite!

September 28-29 ()43-Institute

September 27) Leawood, KS 1.0 CEUs

Leadership Institute at Resurrection in Leawood, KS is designed to equip, encourage, and inspire ministry leaders from across the country and around the globe. You’ll experience:

• A diverse community, ready to connect and learn

• Meaningful worship

• Four powerful keynote speakers: Adam Hamilton, Carey Nieuwhof, Jacqui Lewis, Olu Brown

• Practical featured sessions to choose from

• Time for reflection, networking, team building, and more

Bishop’s Trip to the Holy Land

February 21-30 Holy Land 3.0 CEUs

Join Bishop Debra Wallace-Padgett & the Holston Conference on a Holy Land Classic Journey, departing on February 20, 2024. You will see Caesarea by the Sea, Mount Carmel, Megiddo, Nazareth, Sea of Galilee, Tel Dan, Caesarea Philippi, Golan Heights, Bethsaida, Jordan River, Jericho, Qumran, Masada, Dead Sea, Bethlehem, Herodion, Jerusalem, and much more.

Read Bishop Debra Wallace-Padgett’s invitation.

Download full brochure here.

PeoplePortal User Instructions

(Includes directions for submitting CEU requests)

Event Evaluation Form

CLERGY NOTES:

We are now in the last year of the quadrennium. The total continuing education credit required for July 2020 through June 2024 for all clergy under appointment is 12 CEUs. Please check your online profile to make sure we have posted all submitted credit requests.

Also, please review your profile (especially those who have just moved to a new appointment) to make sure all your information is up to date, including mailing and physical addresses, office and cell phone numbers, and current preferred e-mail addresses. If changes need to be made, please contact your district office to insure that all databases have the correct information.

Book Review

Feed My Sheep: Preaching God’s Word

- by Emmanuel Cleaver III

Feed My Sheep: Preaching God’s Word is a much needed resource for today’s preachers. Author Emanuel Cleaver III writes that like much of life, preaching is a journey with never-ending ups and downs because the ultimate goal is perfection, consistently delivering sermons that touch the heart and mind

Preaching perfection is like a feast. As preachers, we may serve a good meal every Sunday, but if we are honest with ourselves, we don’t serve a feast every week.

In Feed My Sheep, preacher and author Emanuel Cleaver III writes: “If preaching is the primary means by which most people will be fed God’s Word, then it makes sense to spend a lot of time in the kitchen (study). Failure to do so leads too many preachers to serve microwave meals full of popular clichés, repetitive phrases, and lackluster exegetical work with no real depth.”

Feed My Sheep is a thoroughly biblical call to experience preaching as a holy task that God uses to transform lives to the likeness of Christ. Emanuel Cleaver III offers a fresh look at why preaching matters, then shows us how to make it spiritual and relevant to those who gather to seek a word from God. This book calls the best out of preachers of all experience levels, introducing new ideas and authors that will help renew your commitment to this important task.

- Bishop Tom Berlin Florida Conference of The United Methodist Church

Why Men Hate to Go to Church

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© David Murrow

Ever wondered why it’s so hard to get men involved at church? Why less than 40% of the adults in your worship services are male? Why more than a fifth of married women in your congregation sit alone every Sunday? Why the really committed ones have names like Sarah, Andrea, Victoria, and Lauren?

I studied this phenomenon for three years. What I learned drove me to write a book: Why Men Hate Going to Church. Be warned: What I found may shock you.

Most people assume that men are just less religious than women, but this is untrue. Other religions have little trouble attracting males. Jesus was a magnet to men. But today, few men are living for Christ, even as many are dying for Allah. Why do rival faiths inspire male allegiance, while ours breeds male indifference?

A business guru once said, “Your system is perfectly designed to give you the results you’re getting.” Christianity’s primary delivery system, the local church, is perfectly designed to reach women and older folks. That’s why our pews are filled with them. But this church system fails to stir men’s hearts, so men (especially masculine ones) stay away.

What do I mean? Most churches offer a safe, nurturing community, an oasis of stability and predictability. Studies show that women and seniors are the groups most likely to seek these things. Our comforting congregations provide women with what they long for, so naturally they show up in large numbers.

On the other hand, men and young adults are drawn to risk, challenge, and daring. While our official mission is one of adventure, the actual mission of most congregations is making people feel comfortable and safe – especially longtime members (Pastors, can I have an amen?) Church insiders routinely block anything challenging or innovative because it might make people feel uncomfortable or unsafe. This caution keeps the peace in the short term, but it drives men and young adults away over the long term.

Then there’s our reputation as a place for little old ladies of both sexes. Many guys feel church is a “women’s thing.” Most men are introduced to Christianity by women – nuns, nursery workers, Sunday school teachers, and mom. Boys meet a feminized Jesus – a tender, sweet man in a shining white dress. Most volunteer opportunities in church involve traditionally female roles: singing, sewing, cooking, caring for children, teaching, planning social gatherings, etc. There’s nothing for a guy to do – unless he has a passion for attending meetings or passing out bulletins.

Since guys are so useless in church, it begs the question: Do we even need them? Yes! A lack of male participation is one of the surest predictors of church decline. The denominations with the biggest gender gaps are also those that have been losing members and shut-

ting churches. On the other hand, churches with robust male participation are generally growing.

Bottom line: if you want a healthy church for the long term, attract men. This was Jesus’ strategy. It still works today. In my book, I offer more than 60 pages of proven principles for creating a man-friendly church. Here are seven of them:

Principle one: Cultivate a healthy masculine spirit in your church. A man must sense, from the moment he walks in, that church is not just for Grandma, it’s something for him. It can’t feel like a ladies’ club. The quilted banners, fresh flowers, and boxes of Kleenex in our sanctuaries make a statement. So do practices such as holding hands with your neighbor, “prayer and share” times, or highly emotional displays. Our goal is not to get men to cry; it’s to get them walking with God, however that may look.

Principle two: Make men feel needed and wanted. Encourage men to use their gifts, even if they don’t fit traditional models of Christian service. Encourage them to serve the poor by working on cars or fixing up houses. Let men plan adventures and do “guy things” together.

Principle three: Present Christ’s masculine side. Pastors often focus on Jesus’ tenderness and empathy. This is a good thing, but presenting soft Jesus week after week runs the risk of turning men off. What man wants to follow Mr. Rogers? Even more bewildering are today’s praise songs – many of which feature lovey-dovey lyrics set to a romantic tune. Guys may feel unnatural singing romantic words to another man. Men want a leader, not a love object.

Principle four: Avoid feminine terminology. Christian men use terms such as precious, share, and relationship words you’d never hear on the lips of a typical man. We talk a lot about the saved and the lost; men don’t want to be either. And here’s a term that puzzles a lot of guys: a personal relationship with Jesus. Christ’s bold, masculine command, “Follow Me!” is now, “Have a relationship with Me.” We’ve recast Jesus’ offer in feminine terms.

Principle five: Preach shorter sermons. I know pastors will hate this principle, but men say that “long, boring sermons” are the #1 reason they avoid church. Thanks to TV, today’s men have an attention span of six to eight minutes (the length between commercials). Why not use this to your advantage? Break your sermon into six- to eight-minute segments with a song, drama, video clip, or object lesson in between. Remember, Jesus’ most beloved lessons were his parables, none of which takes more than two minutes to teach. His parables survive today because men remembered them.

Principle six: Become students of men. Although most pastors are male, few truly understand men. Women keep the ministry machine going, so pastors focus on keeping females happy and volunteering. This must change. I challenge every pastor in America to study men. A good place to start: read John Eldredge’s bestseller, Wild at Heart.

Principle seven: Create a culture of person-to-person challenge. In many a church, the pastor challenges from the pulpit, but the people don’t challenge each other. Person-toperson discipleship, in small teams, is the only way to bring men to maturity in Christ. Where do you start? Choose a handful of men and personally disciple them, with the understanding that each man will recruit his own small group after one year. Continue to disciple these men

as they become disciplers of others. This is the model Jesus left us, and it is awakening men in churches across the nation.

Dream for a moment. Imagine your church filled with men who are coming alive in Christ. Men there not just to please their wives, fulfill religious tradition, or go on a power trip, but men laying their lives down for God. Imagine what your congregation could accomplish for the kingdom!

The church was like this once; it can be so again. If this article has stirred something in your heart, please join me in calling our churches back to men. For more information, visit my website, www.churchformen.com.

David Murrow is director of “Church for Men”, an organization dedicated to restoring a healthy, life-giving, masculine spirit in the local church. He lives in Anchorage, Alaska, with his wife and three children. The revised and updated version of his book, Why Men Hate Going to Church,, is available now.

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