Workshop #1, 12:00 p.m. & 2:00 p.m.
Embracing God’s Mission: Learning Together for Ministry
Gilberto Flores, Director of Missional Church Advancement, Mennonite Church USA Walter Sawatzky, Associate Conference Minister, Franconia Conference
How can we together work at this? Learning communities are a good environment for an informal-formal communication. Informal relationships tend to have higher emotional content, generate trust and have more potential to change behavior than formal relationships. This approach can be described as relational, collaborative, and incarnational—an atmosphere for imagination and transformation.
Workshop #2, 12:00 p.m. & 2:00 p.m.
Equpping Congregations to Empower Youth to Embrace God’s Mission
Jessica Walter, Associate for Communication and Leadership Cultivation, Franconia Conference Bobby Wibowo, Philadelphia Praise Center
Bob Helverson, Jr., Associate Pastor, Salem Mennonite Church
What do youth need to discover and embrace God’s mission? How can the church family support and equip their youth? This seminar will feature several leaders and youth discussing the equipping needs of the youth in our congregations.
Workshop #3, 1:00 p.m. & 2:00 p.m.
Embracing God’s Mission: Exploring Generational Shifts and a Missional Future
James Nofziger, Director of Market Research, Mennonite Mutual Aid
Gay Brunt Miller, Director of Collaborative Ministries, Franconia Conference
Bob Dylan is well known for his song, “The times, they are a changing.” What changes might congregations encounter as demographics and leadership shift from generation to generation? Workshop participants will receive data from recent studies done in society and within Mennonite Church USA and imagine together a variety of outcomes for our congregations based on recent trends and uncertainties.
Workshop #4, 1:00 p.m. & 2:00 p.m.
Embracing God’s Mission: Lessons from the Book of Acts
Linford Stutzman, Associate Professor-Culture and Mission, Eastern Mennonite University
What changed when the early church “got its feet wet” in the Mediterranean Sea? The church and the world. This workshop will combine a visual tour through the Roman Empire of the first century with a focus on the risk, innovation, and success of Antioch’s version of the gospel. Is it time to “go to sea” again with the gospel? The parallels, risks, and opportunities for the twenty-first century Mennonite Church in our global empire will be examined and discussed.