August 21, 9 AM – 4 PM
Encourage, Equip, Inspire!
Workshops Descriptions
Evangelism & Outreach
Strengths Approach To Community: Transformation of People & Places
Presenting by Jodi Koeman
In this workshop, attendees will learn what a strengths based approach is, ways to move from needs to strengths and gifts and practice mapping individual, church and community gifts. They will leave with an action item for their church’s work with the community.
Mapping:
Individual Gifts
Church Gifts
Community Gifts
How To Engage In Spiritual Conversations
Presenting by Diane Averill, Small Group Representative Global Coffee Break/Local Mission Leader, Bar Harbor, ME & Sam Huizenga
Do you desire to explain the Gospel to family, neighbors, and friends? Do you hesitate because you don’t know what to say? This workshop will help you learn to connect with neighbors, how to listen well, and have a meaningful spiritual conversation that just may lead a person to faith in Christ.
Forming A Missional Heart in Children and Young People
Presenting by Lesli Van Milligan
How do we invite our younger brothers and sisters into God’s mission of the Church? Service, Justice and Missional Engagement are the result of learning about God’s heart for the world through practice and participation and starts from an early age. This workshop will give resources and ideas for an intergenerational approach to encouraging missional hearts and is for both ministry leaders as well as parents and grandparents.
CHILDREN & YOUTH MINISTRIES
DWELL Leader Training
Presenting by Jill Benson: Dwell Curriculum Coordinator for Faith Formation Ministries, Pittsburgh, PA
Whether you’ve been leading DWELL sessions for years, or only just starting to engage with these materials, this workshop will provide tips and insights to help you plan and prepare to explore God’s Big Story with your group. We’ll start by exploring a DWELL session, talking through the function and importance of each element and will then explore steps you can go through to prepare to lead a session.
Growing Young: Six Essential Strategies to Help Young People Discover and Love Your Church
Presented by Travis Deur, Pastor of Faith Formation/Youth Ministries Champion, Maple Grove, MN
The Fuller Youth Institute’s 2016 book Growing Young profiles innovative churches that are engaging 15- to 29-year-olds and as a result are growing—spiritually, emotionally, missionally, and numerically—in a way that breathes life into the whole church. This workshop introduces six strategies to help your church begin “growing young.”
Supporting Parents in Nurturing the Faith of Their Children
Presented by Bob & Laura Keeley
Robert Keeley is Professor of Education at Calvin University and Visiting Professor of Discipleship and Faith Formation at Calvin Theological Seminary. Laura Keeley is a Regional Catalyzer for Faith Formation Ministries of the Christian Reformed Church in North America and Director of Children’s Ministries at 14th Street Christian Reformed Church in Holland, MI.
Studies show that parents are the most influential persons in the faith formation of children. Using the framework of four “Building Blocks of Faith,” Laura and Bob encourage parents to help their children to find their place in God’s family, know God’s story, live in hope, and discover their calling.
WORSHIP
Best Practices For Worship Planning
Presented by Katie Roelofs
A discussion on best practices for the planning and implementation of worship components for your unique context.
Best Practices For Using Technology in Worship
Presented by Katie Roelofs
A discussion on the theology and practical reasoning behind the use of technology in worship that it enhances the worship experience for all generations.
Engaging Children In The Worshipping Community
Presented by Mimi Larson, Children’s Ministry Catalyzer for Faith Formation Ministries, Wheaton IL
Have you ever asked yourself what to do with children in worship? Did you know that moving children out of corporate worship into an age-appropriate experience isn’t the only way to answer this question? This workshop will explore what it means to engage children, as active participants, in the intergenerational worshipping community. Participants will look at ways children learn and practical pathways to engage children in the various components of worship that will move children from passive observers to full participants within the worshipping community.
LEADERSHIP
Stuck! When Leadership Stalls…
Presented by Lesli van Milligen, Regional Catalyzer, for Faith Formation Ministries, Georgetown, Ontario, Canada
Whether due to the tyranny of the urgent or the fear of making the wrong or unpopular decision or a sense of not knowing where to go next, leaders can often feel stuck. In this workshop we will explore resources and strategies for moving from managing ministry to living into visionary, life giving mission that will bless ministry leaders, the congregation and the communities where they are called to serve.
Elder & Deacon Roles
Presented by Chris Schoon, Director, Faith Formation Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI & Jodi Koeman
Deacons: Harbingers (Messengers) of God’s Kingdom
Participants will discuss the Deacons as kingdom restorers and messengers as it relates to their church and community, focusing on a strengths-based, sharing life together model.
Elders: Description Coming Soon
Building Faith & Community in Your Congregation
Presented by Bob & Laura Keeley
Faith formation has a unique expression in every individual and every congregational community. In other words, one size does not fit all when it comes to ministries and programs. In this workshop, participants will look at current ministries and programs in light of four spiritual needs that every age requires for faith to form. Through this lens, congregations are better able to consider what’s working and what’s not working, and build a community that encourages faith formation for all ages.
Ephesians 4: 8-13
Therefore it says, “When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.”
(In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth? He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.) And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,