Workshops

Ministers Week Workshops
Tuesday, February 7
3:00 – 4:30 pm


The Ecology of Call
Janice Riggle Huie 
Resident Bishop, United Methodist Church 
Houston Area 

B. T. Williamson 
Assistant to the Bishop, United Methodist Church 
Houston Area

This workshop will be an exploration of the systematic developments in the Texas Annual Conference which have guided clergy recruitment, development, and assessment.

What Kind of Place is This? Culture, Place, and Ministry
Thomas Edward Frank
University Professor
Wake Forest University

What difference does it make where your congregation is? What difference should the "local culture" of your congregation and your community make in your ministry? What can congregations learn from new movements toward the local in agriculture, business, and the creative economy? These are some of the questions that will be explored as we continue to think about what a "vital congregation" in a particular place can be.

Volunteers in Mission or Vacationers Impersonating Missionaries: Can the Short-term Mission Movement be Rescued? 
Jeremy Basset 
Director of Oklahoma Volunteers In Mission
Oklahoma United Methodist Ministry Center

The short-term mission movement has both its fervent supporters and equally fervent opponents. This workshop will examine the mindsets that can ruin the mission experience and will explore ways to make short-term mission a valuable part of a local church's outreach ministry.

Is There a Prophet Among You? 
William Bobby McClain 
Mary Elizabeth Joyce Professor of Preaching and Worship
Wesley Theological Seminary

This workshop will explore the history of prophetic preaching, its nature and purpose, and its relationship to the Gospel of Jesus Christ for the church and the world.

SPECIAL MINISTERS WEEK OFFERING FROM BRIDWELL LIBRARY:
Pastoral Papers and Church Records
Timothy Binkley
Bridwell Library Archivist
SMU Perkins School of Theology

Good recordkeeping can enhance work performance, accountability, and job satisfaction. In this workshop Bridwell Library Archivist Timothy Binkley will discuss the importance of ministerial and church records, which documents to preserve, and how this can be done.

Topics and schedule subject to change.