Congregational Life Centre
Our mission is to help leaders acquire
the skills and attitudes they need to lead
New for your congregation!
Exploring Possibilities
A Saturday Workshop and Sunday Worship Experience
What we know is that congregations that are concerned only about their current membership are the ones that are shrinking. Congregations that are outward looking and determined to minister to the people in their community are the ones that are growing.
Two things make this workshop and the Sunday worship experience special. They ask people to share their dream for the community which the congregation serves. Then they challenge church members to be part of a leadership team that makes that dream come true.
Saturday:
Dreaming Mission, Mapping Action
The Saturday workshop provides an opportunity to develop a picture of what your vibrant attractive congregation will look like in the future. Then comes exploring the steps that will take the congregation toward that specific future to which they see God calling them.
The mood is one of celebration, recalling what is happening now that contributes to that mission and naming new approaches that can make the congregation's ministry in the community even more meaningful.
The specific pieces that make it so effective are:
Sharing Stories of what keeps people connected to the congregation.
Exploring a Mission Statement that echoes what is personally important for participants.
Understanding the Community served by the congregation.
Changes in society make it important to realize the ministry that churches are being called by God to offer today may not be the same as it was in the past.
Reviewing the Mission in the light of all this.
Dreaming the church you see in your future.
Mapping what you are currently doing and could be doing in the community that reflects the mission to which God is calling you.
Sunday Worship: Making Dreams Come True
This
worship experience uses the internationally acclaimed book Dream: A Tale
of Wonder, Wisdom & Wishes to provide a focus for exploring ways
in which the congregation, through its members, can minister to the community.
The prayer is that people will leave this worship inspired to dream a dream
for their community, one that builds on Jesus' picture of God's New Community,
and then see themselves having a role in making that dream come true.
Leadership for both the workshop and the worship is provided by the staff
team from the Congregational Life Centre, Clair Woodbury & Joyce Madsen.
This is a one-two combination developed over the fall of 2010 that has been
extremely effective everywhere it has been used.
This event holds real promise for clergy and lay leadership who want their congregation to have a ministry that reaches into the community. It can provide a focus that releases energy for meaningful ministry. It can be instrumental in identifying potential leaders for that ministry. It celebrates what the congregation has been in the past, and lifts up a vibrant dynamic image of what it can be in the future.
For more information or to reserve your weekend of celebration and renewal
phone Joyce Madsen at 780-428-6016 or Clair Woodbury at 780-619-0386. The
cost is $750 plus travel. For small congregations or those at a distance
from Edmonton, a fund is available to help cover part of the cost.
"Leadership Ventures" Congregational Life Newsletter. January 2011. Volume 17 No. 3.