The CEU News Continuing Education Update November 2019 A Publication of the Wesley Leadership Institute Holston Conference of the United Methodist Church
Featured Events Preaching & Teaching the Christmas Story November 7 Online 0.1 CEUs It’s fall and Advent is just around the corner. Wil Cantrell, co-author of From Heaven to Earth: Christmas for New Believers, Old Believers and Nonbelievers, joins Glenna Manning, author of From Heaven to Earth: Study Guide for Leaders to lead this one-hour session meant to provide ideas and tips to make your Advent/Christmas sermons more relevant.
Clergy Benefits Academy November 11 - 13 Hilton Myrtle Beach Resort 1.5 CEUs The Clergy Benefits Academy is for all ages and stages of ministry—new ordinands, early-career clergy, mid-career clergy, ready-to-retire clergy, district superintendents, clergy in extension ministries—and spouses. There is something for everyone! Plan now to attend! This event is a unique opportunity to learn about the many benefit issues that affect your life and ministry.
Interfaith Peace Conference November 21 - 24 Lake Junaluska, NC
1.3 CEUs Theme - The Arts of Peace: Imagining the Way The 2019 Conference will celebrate and reflect upon the role that various arts play in reconciliation and peace-building. We will highlight the way our Abrahamic traditions have written, embellished and illuminated their Scriptures to draw readers and worshippers into their deeper and more expansive meanings. Music, drama, sculpture, textile art, dance and other art forms will lead us into new ways of imagining the peace promised within our deepest religious visions. Most of us are not skilled artists, but we all can be enriched by reflecting on the arts as a vital partner in the search for peace.
Events - Coming Soon! Check the Holston online calendar for a full listing of future events. November 2019: Women’s Conference: Getting Closer to God November 1 - 2 Camp Dickenson 0.7 CEUs Preaching & Teaching the Christmas Story November 7 Online Course 0.1 CEUs Clergy Benefits Academy November 11-13 Myrtle Beach, NC
CEUs
Experiencing the World of the Bible/Fleming: Elusive Archaeology of Exodus November 11 - 13 Lake Junaluska 1.0 CEUs Experiencing the World of the Bible/Fleming: Understanding the Roots of Interfaith Conflict November 13 - 15 Lake Junaluska 1.0 CEUs In Living Culture November 15-16 Trophy Club, TX 1.0 CEUs SEJ Clergywomen’s Conference November 18-21 Jacksonville, FL 1.5 CEUs Interfaith Peace Conference November 21-24 Lake Junaluska, NC 1.3 CEUs December 2019: Holy Spirit Seminar December 6 Dayton, OH 0.5 CEUs Looking Ahead… Convocation 2020
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The Convocation Design Team is busy working on plans for our next Ministers’ Convocation on February 17-19, 2020. You Apply for CEU Credit should have received a “save the date” email in October, introducing our plenary speakers. Event Evaluation Form This year we would like to feature brief videos (maybe five minutes long) before each plenary session, describing unique ministries or programs in your local church or district that have proven successful and that might serve as a template for other congregations to try in their church as well. Contact us by email, describe your program, and we can put you in touch with Tim Jones to help you create your video.
Apply Now for the 2020 Contemplative Renewal Cohort Are you looking for ways to be renewed in your pastoral work and sense of call? As you encounter the demands of ministry in a changing and challenging time, would you benefit from time away to deepen your spirit? The Ecumenical Center for Clergy Spiritual Renewal (ECCSR) hosts a two-year "Contemplative Renewal" for early and mid-career clergy. The cohort of 19 men and women will discover renewal through the rhythms of prayer, Benedictine spirituality and community at Holy Wisdom Monastery, an ecumenical monastery outside of Madison, WI. Early and mid-career ordained pastors, currently serving half-time or more in a congregational setting, are invited to apply starting October 1, 2019 for the next cohort, to begin in July of 2020. Funded by a Thriving in Ministry Grant from the Lilly Endowment, this unique experience is available at no cost. For more information: Co-Director Rev. Jerry Buss (608) 836-1631 ext. 163 or Co-Director Rev. Nancy Enderle (608) 836-1631 ext. 114 or visit: www.holywisdommonastery.org/eccsr.
Book Review Almost Christmas: A Wesleyan Advent Experience by Magrey R. Devega, Ingrid McIntyre, April Casperson, & Matt Rawle In 1741, John Wesley preached his famous sermon titled “The Almost Christian” in which he encouraged people to follow Christ wholeheartedly. We should not be satisfied with being almost Christian but rather strive towards being altogether a Christian. In Almost Christmas: A Wesleyan Advent Experience, author and pastor Magrey deVega leads a group of authors to explore how we can make the same commitment to Christ during Advent, connecting our Wesleyan heritage with the traditional Advent themes of Love, Hope, Joy, and Peace. In this book, perfect for Advent, deVega and the other authors break down the barriers that prevent us from experiencing an “altogether” love, hope, joy, and peace in Christ in our lives and in the world around us. They demonstrate the promises God offers to us that makes those longings a reality, inviting us to claim those promises for ourselves this Advent and celebrate an altogether Christmas.
A Message from Our Director... Busy Times Sometimes, life just seems to get hectic. That is what my life is like right now. Between October 17 and November 18, I am scheduled to be on the road for 18 nights. I will be in Dallas, Orlando, Washington, D.C. and each of the districts. For some of those times I go seeking information and for the rest I go imparting information. To be honest, I do not like to travel—especially by plane! Sometimes, though, we all do those things we really do not like. I will let you imagine what those things are that are in your life.
I am a student of Michael Hyatt’s time management system. I am not an A+ student, but I would give myself at least a C+ or B-. One of the new concepts I am trying to integrate into my life is what he refers to as the Freedom Compass. It is his take on a quadrant system to help divide things into four categories. In his schema, we are most productive when we work in our Desire Zone. In this zone are the things that we really love to do. Things are measured in terms of those things at which we are proficient and those things for which we are passionate. If an item meets both of these criterions, then it falls within our Desire Zone. The opposite of that is our Drudgery Zone. These are the tasks for which we are not proficient nor are we passionate, yet we still have to get them done. For many people, answering emails would probably be a good example of such a task. Another area represents those things at which we are proficient, but for which we are not passionate. He calls this the Disinterest Zone. These are tasks that we are really good at doing, but which do not light a fire in our souls. Finally, there are those things for which we are passionate, but we are not proficient. This is called the Distraction Zone. These are the things that pull us away from what we should be doing, because we feel so good about doing them. The goal for this system is to work out of the Desire Zone most of the time only occasionally entering into the Distraction or Disinterest Zone and even less frequently into the Drudgery Zone. I lift all this up to challenge you to examine your life. You do not have to use Michael Hyatt’s schema, but you do need to find some sort of system that helps you to sort out work and family. You need some way to accomplish the drudgery elements of ministry and seek those desirous elements that light your passion and proficiency. The market is flooded with programs designed to straighten out your life and organize your ministry. As a part of a lifelong learning process, I challenge you to examine your current situation and then seek to find some training/guidance to help bring some order to the chaos that serving in the ministry often causes. If you cannot find anything, get in touch with me and I might be able to point you toward some resources. - Terry Goodman
CONTACT INFO: Director: The Rev. Terry Goodman terrygoodman@holston.org
Phone: 865-293-4147
Admin. Asst. & Editor: Sue Weber sueweber@holston.org
Phone: (865) 293-4135 Website: Wesley Leadership Institute