Pre-Conference Seminar Opportunities
TWO-DAY PRE-CONFERENCE SEMINAR
Wednesday, August 13, 5:30 p.m. through Thursday, August 14, 4:30 p.m.
Cost: $75, includes Wednesday dinner and Thursday lunch
A. Enemy or Opportunity? Iran and the Body of Christ
Iran grabs headlines on a daily basis, and yet, rarely do we hear about the Iranian Church. At this extended pre-conference event (jointly sponsored by The Outreach Foundation and the Peachtree and Oglethorpe Presbyterian Churches of Atlanta), we will have the unique opportunity to hear from Iranian Church leaders about the opportunities as well as the challenges for the spread of the Gospel in one of the most complex and misunderstood countries in the world. As we share fellowship and prayer together, we will learn what the Spirit is doing in the modern lands of ancient Persia, while “discovering” the Iranian Church (both here and there) in the riches of its ministry and the possibilities for partnership. Most importantly, we will discern ways in which we can support and love the Church in Iran as we express the Unity of the Body of Christ, despite the geo-political divide.
Led by:
Dr. Sasan Tavassoli, Pastor in the Iranian Presbyterian Church and Missionary to Iranians through The Outreach Foundation. Dr. Sasan Tavassoli is a former Shi’ite Muslim from Iran. In 1985, Sasan came to faith in Christ as the result of the ministry of a group of American missionaries while he was living in Portugal. Sasan is ordained in the Presbyterian Church of Iran and has been involved in ministry within the Iranian community in Diaspora for the past two decades. He has recently joined The Outreach Foundation as their missionary to the Persian-speaking world. Dr. Tavassoli graduated from Reformed Theological Seminary, Columbia Theological Seminary and recently earned his PhD in Islamic Studies from the University of Birmingham (UK). Sasan and his wife, Kenna, have two children. They now reside in Atlanta, GA.
COACHING OPPORTUNITY
Thursday, August 14, 8:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m., lunch included
$1200/10 people
B. Missional Coaching with Alan Hirsch
Join plenary speaker and missional forerunner Alan Hirsch for a time of coaching with you, your staff and your leadership. Bring ten people to experience a time of being challenged regarding the missional movement in your ministry and then have 45 minutes with Alan for just you and your team to talk about your specific context and challenges. This opportunity is LIMITED to four groups. You MUST contact the Conference Director, Rachel Quan to make reservations for this session (NO online sign up). Please contact her at Rachel(at)RachelQuan.com.
Schedule is as follows: | |
8:30 – 9:30 a.m. | Large group coaching time with Alan |
9:30 – 10:15 a.m. | 1st group coaching, other groups observe and listen |
10:15 – 11:30 a.m. | 2nd group coaching, other groups observe and listen |
11:30 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. | 3rd group coaching, other groups observe and listen |
12:15 – 1:15 p.m. | Lunch with table discussions |
1:15 – 2 p.m. | 4th group coaching, other groups observe and listen |
2 – 2:30 p.m. | Wrap up with large group discussion |
PRE-CONFERENCE SEMINARS
Thursday, August 14
8:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m., lunch included
$40/per person
These pre-conference seminars will be held at both the Long Beach Convention Center and the Hyatt Long Beach Hotel. You will be notified this summer regarding the room number and other logistics for your seminar.
C. Urban Ministry Exposure Field Trip with Bel Air Presbyterian Church
Hands on missional ministry
Take a field trip with the Bel Air Presbyterian Church ministry staff and experience a day of “hands on missional.” Bel Air’s ministry to the children on the streets of L.A. is making a difference in their community on a daily basis. This is a great opportunity to see urban ministry in action, and to take back some ideas and new approaches to your own city for reaching out to those in your backyard. Pick up will take place at the Hyatt Long Beach hotel, where you will travel via bus and have the opportunity to share in ministry alongside the Bel Air Presbyterian staff and leadership.
Join us for a tour of Los Angeles and meet the people that are the hands and feet of Jesus in our city and great partners in ministry. Bel Air Presbyterian’s Pastor of Outreach, Enock Assis and Senior Pastor, Mark Brewer, will be your tour guides. You’ll hear about the unique issues that this urban setting poses, and take away some ways you can go back to your urban setting and begin to form partnerships that will change your community.
Our mini-tour will include:
• A profile of Los Angeles and suggestions for helping you create a profile of your own city
• A visit to the San Fernando Valley and Cloud & Fire Ministries – a partner organization that helps at-risk youth in the community and is working with the local government on creative strategies for reaching young people
• A visit to Hope Gardens, an affiliate of the well-known Union Rescue Mission in Los Angeles, where homeless families are helped and ministered to
• An overview of how a church can partner with community ministries and organizations and get a congregation involved in being the “sent ones” of Jesus Christ
• Lunch and dialogue at Bel Air Presbyterian about what this church has learned as they have ministered in a unique urban setting, and encouragement for reaching those in your own community and city!
D. Refreshing Your Soul: A Spiritual Retreat
Slowing down is not something we know how to do, and an aspect of the Christian life that we often completely ignore. We encourage you to bring yourself, your staff and any of your leadership to refresh your soul. This pre-conference seminar is a time of spiritual direction, reflection and prayer — an opportunity to take a breath, refocus and be ministered to. As the people of God in the Western world, we are good at being hurried and harried and we often operate out of this in ministry. Take the time to change as you head into the Inside-Out Conference by slowing down and hearing God.
Facilitated by:
Margaret Campbell is the chair of the board of Renovare and a leader in the area of teaching the spiritual disciplines. Donna Kallmeyer serves as a spiritual director and alongside the Caring Ministries at Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church, Houston. Anne Grizzle is an author, speaker, psychotherapist and spiritual director who leads retreats and conferences.
E. Re-discipling the Church for a Missional Generation
Beyond the Buzzword and into the Heart
(Formerly “Changing the Mind of the Church: Beyond the Buzzword and to the Heart)
“Missional” can be the latest buzz word or it can be the watchword that moves us into a new era where we stretch for more and more of Christ and give ourselves more fully to Christ. We can buy into an array of “missional” programs or we can do the deeper work of self examination and grapple with the challenge of re-discipling for a wholesale conversion of our worldview and lifestyle.
The Presbyterian Church has a stellar mission heritage, yet a huge leap is needed to move from the current evangelical focus of getting God into our lives to the Biblical focus of laying our lives (and favorite church programs) down in order to step into the life of God. The Lord is moving the world rapidly toward the completion of his kingdom plan. He is throwing the doors open for us to join him but we need to revolutionize what we teach and how we teach it in order to be the people God calls us to be. We’ll look at scripture, contemporary missiology, and trends in discipleship to identify the task before us. You will walk away with new ideas and tools to help you meet the challenge.
Presented by:
Judy Theriault is an educator, author and veteran mission mobilizer. She has served as Associate Director of the Presbyterian Center for Mission Studies at the U.S. Center for World Mission, board member of Presbyterians For Renewal, chair of the Network of Presbyterian Women in Leadership, and Director of Children’s Ministries at Solana Beach Presbyterian Church near San Diego. She is currently working with mission leaders across the country to produce online opportunities for missional education. Judy is married to Tom Theriault, Pastor of Outreach at SBPC. They have three children and two grandsons.
F. Leading Missional Change: A New Paradigm of Change for a New Century
The church finds itself today situated in a time of great cultural transition. This seminar engages congregational leaders in a new paradigm for leading positive change and creating adaptive congregational cultures that are both theologically rooted and culturally responsive. This pre-conference seminar, led by the Network of Presbyterian Women in Leadership, gives attendees the opportunity to work through understanding the process of change and how it applies to their church context.
Presented by:
Dr. Meri MacLeod, Western Theological Seminary, Holland, Michigan, has served as a pastor in three congregations, led university ministries, pioneered collaborative partnerships between congregations and para-church organizations, and consulted in leadership development. She has lead innovative change for many years and teaches in the area of change, congregations and leadership, with a special interest in women as leaders. For the last six years she has innovated the next generation in distance learning for seminaries. Currently, she is Director of Distance Learning, and Associate Professor of Educational Leadership, teaching in the area of congregational change and postmodern culture at Western Theological Seminary in Holland, Michigan.
