CEU News - October 2020

The CEU News Continuing Education Update October 2020 A Publication of the Wesley Leadership Institute Holston Conference of the United Methodist Church

Events - Coming Soon!

Check the Holston online calendar for a full listing of future events. October 2020: Wrestling with the Old Testament

October 4 Online 0.15 CEUs Drawing on biblical scholarship and pastoral insights, this course offers strategies for reading and responding to the Old Testament in ways that are both faithful and constructive.

Emphasis will be placed on how this sacred text, despite its oddities, can inform Christian faith and practice today.

Planning for Advent & Christmas During COVID-19 October 6 Online 0.1 CEUs During this session Anne Bosarge, author of Get Out of That Box and 50 Big Ideas for Church Leaders, will offer advice and ideas about plans your congregation can begin making to make Advent and Christmas more meaningful. Anne will discuss lots of ideas for Bible studies, “car activities,” adult & children’s activities, and more.

Emory Election Analysis October 9 Online 0.1 CEUs Dr. Carol Anderson, Charles Howard Candler Professor and chair of African American Studies, a nationally recognized historian, educator and author, will share her research on voting rights and voting suppression during this historic year that commemorates the 100th anniversary of the 19th amendment and the 150th anniversary of the 15th amendment.

More than a Sermon – Tips to Becoming More Effective as a Pastor October 13 Online 0.1 CEUs In this one-hour session Quincy Brown – district superintendent in the North Georgia Conference and author of multiple books including The Q.U.E.S.T. for Vocation: A Personal Journey to Discern a Life’s Calling and Discipleship Path – will discuss the many hats worn by a pastor and how we can wear them more effectively.

The Political Imagination of Jesus October 14 Online 0.2 CEUs Join Candler School of Theology in welcoming Dr. M. Shawn Copeland as this year's Alonzo L. McDonald Family Chair on the Life and Teachings of Jesus and Their Impact on Culture. Copeland will give this semester's online McDonald Lecture, "The Political Imagination of Jesus."

Galatians: It Is All About Grace October 18-30 Online 1.0 CEUs In this class you will read the five chapters of Galatians, learn about the context, determine Paul’s point in writing the letter, and analyze the meaning of the letter for the Galatians. You will learn the overall meaning of the letter and how to apply it in our churches, personal lives, and society.

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CEU QUICKLINKS:

CLERGY NOTES:

Check & Print CEU Report Event Evaluation Form

Since some of you still are having difficulty accessing your online profile for reporting CEU qualifying attendance at events and printing your CEU report for charge conference, here is the link again to this information located on the Holston website. There is also a brief explanatory video on that page. Please read carefully or watch the brief video; then go to Holston.org/peopleportal to create your profile login, view your continuing ed record, and print your CEU report. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us. And remember your user ID for your profile access is your email address that Holston has on file for you.

The first time you login, click on sign in help. You will need to choose a new password.

Book Review The Grasshopper Myth: Big Churches, Small Churches and the Small Thinking that Divides Us - by Karl Vaters 90% of the churches in the world have less than 200 people. What if that's not a bad thing? What if smallness is an advantage God wants us to use, not a problem to fix? In The Grasshopper Myth, Karl Vaters takes on some of the unbiblical beliefs we've held about church growth, church size and God's will for the last several decades. Then he offers a game plan for a New Small Church. The grasshopper myth is the false impression that our Small Church ministry is less than what God says it is because we compare ourselves with others. The solution is for Small Churches to see themselves the way God sees them.

A church of innovation, not stagnation. A church that leads instead of following. A church that thinks small, but never engages in small thinking.

If you read this book, you'll find your presuppositions challenged, your heart encouraged and your life and ministry transformed. Let's rediscover a New Small Church.

Karl Vaters is the teaching pastor of Cornerstone Christian Fellowship, a healthy small church in Orange County, California, where he has ministered for more than 27 years with his wife Shelley. Vaters’s heart is helping small churches thrive through

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A Message from Our Director...

I was watching a Netflix show with my wife the other night: Anne with an E. It was a modern-day retelling of Anne of Green Gables stories. In this episode, the lead character, Anne, was having a moment of uncertainty trying to decide if a young man loved her or not. She had a daisy and was picking the petals off: He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not. Perhaps you can remember doing a similar thing growing up. I must admit that I can remember doing that at one point, hoping that in the end, she would love me. I was thinking that such random elements of luck just sort of seem to pervade my life right now. Take my son that is in college. One day the school is fine. The next day it is on lockdown for COVID. The same in his life. He is on the school soccer team. Some players get quarantined and others do not. Eventually, the coach gets quarantined. There is so much uncertainty in his life. When we talk with him, we never know what he is going to tell us next. The best news he has given us is that my son, who is off to college to learn to be a physical therapist, my son with an academic and soccer scholarship…(Yes I may be bragging a little), my son tells me he has another scholarship. Hallelujah!! He is now a part of the school E-sports team. It means he now gets paid to play video games competitively. HUH!! I never saw that one coming.

I dare say, most of us do not see what is coming lately until it hits us and bowls us over. We do not know what to expect, and the ability to plan with any level of certainty has all but vanished. Not being in the local parish anymore, I can only imagine the roller coaster ride that you must face on a day by day - moment by moment basis. Rest assured that you are in my thoughts and prayers.

The Good News I share is that during all this uncertainty, there is one non changing variable. Jesus Christ is the same. Yesterday - today - and forever. The love of Christ for you and the members of your church and community is unchanging and bottomless. He will not forsake you. He will stand by your side during whatever may be coming your way. You can count on that.

Keep up the great ministry you are doing. Keep sharing God’s love that comes through Jesus Christ. Rest on him and let the power of the Holy Spirit lift you up and strengthen you when you are weak.

- Terry Goodman

Be sure to read the October issue of The Clergy Connection. It is filled with opportunities for growth and “new ways to do things we have always done.”

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Events Cont’d….

Re-Membering the Past for the Future October 21 Online 0.1 CEUs Join a special conversation with two scholar-teachers from Oxford College of Emory University as they explore the importance of U.S. colleges' and universities' ongoing work to acknowledge, document, and make visible their histories. They will address how they envision Emory becoming a leader within national conversations regarding memorialization processes and will discuss how oral history collection, expanding archival collections, creating and revisiting already existing physical memorials and sites of memory, and involving undergraduate and graduate students in research related to these topics can help the Emory community recover, revisit, and re-member the past to better our institution for the future.

Preaching for Advent & Christmas – Stories of Light October 22 Online 0.1 CEUs You will be informed and entertained as Charles Maynard uses his skills as both a pastor and a professional storyteller to share his thoughts on preaching during Advent and Christmas.

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 4