Come enjoy being a learner rather than the leader in an advanced Bible study of texts from the Gospel according to John. We will use various approaches of interpretation to delve deeper while also benefiting from engaging in contemplative practices and exploring various ways liturgy interprets scripture.
This Bible study continues through four workshop blocks and is designed with seasoned and retired educators/pastors in mind. If you choose this workshop track, you will sign-up for workshop 101 (A block), 301 (C block), 401 (D block), and 501 (E block).

One of the most important ways to understand your congregation is by its size. More important than theology or denomination, understanding the implications of your size has a direct bearing on your programming, your decision making, and your ministry. This workshop offers those in leadership the opportunity of both a more effectife and a more efficient ministry.

Do you need a boost of hope in your ministry or personal life? Come be filled with hope as Middle East Christian Educators reflect on the challenges of their ministries. Come be reminded of the place where Christianity was birthed and first shared with others. Come hear about life in the midst of economic collapse, wars and conflicts, social disruption, political chaos, and natural disasters. Come especially to hear how Christians in the Middle East continue to witness to the hope they find in Jesus Christ. You’ll hear from Rev. Najla Kassab (Director of Christian Education for the National Evangelical Synod of Syria and Lebanon (NESSL) and the President of the World Communion of Reformed Churches WCRC); Rev. Dr. Rima Nasrallah van Saane (Assistant Professor of Practical Theology at the Near School of Theology (NEST) in Beirut, Lebanon); and Rev. Mathilde Michael Sabbagh (Pastor of the National Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Al-Hassakeh, Syria). These Educators have led, and continue to lead, their communities with spiritual strength and grace through very difficult times. Their ministries influence people around the world, as well as their home communities. Through scriptural reflection, table conversation, and video visits with these three amazing women, participants will hear about ministry in Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq and the hope that sustains our siblings in Christ in the region….hope that can also sustain you in your own ministry.

Looking for a guided time in the Spirituality Center? Join this year’s creator of the space for a conversation around how to set up and use spaces such as this.

Are you thirsty for innovative ways to enrich faith formation? Bring your thirst and explore easy ways to use digital media to enrich and enable storytelling. Digital storytelling combines the art of telling stories with a variety of multimedia. Using digital storytelling techniques allows students to tell stories in immersive ways with creative processes that stimulate imagination, allow for deep content processing and understanding, and serve as a form of communication that resonates with today’s learners. In this workshop, we will explore a variety of digital storytelling techniques that can be used with all ages of learners for faith formation in a variety of settings using basic apps and programs that are user-friendly. Particpants should bring an electronic device with them to the workshop (laptop, ipad, smartphone, etc.) to explore media options.

The central element of most churches’ lives and any gathering of Christians is our worship — praise and prayer, singing and celebrating, preaching and teaching. Unfortunately, it’s also the place where our habits and traditions can exclude people, especially people of diverse gender identities and sexual orientations. Additionally, people of color, people with disabilities, and those living at the intersections of those identities or experiences can experience disconnection and real pain in worship settings. Drawing on the workshop leaders’ experiences in both ministry and advocacy, this workshop will foster conversation about practical ways to make our worship more expansive and richer for all participants through language, music, and more.

Disparities in care at the end of life continue in the U.S. healthcare system, which historically has not served everyone fairly or equitably. Research demonstrates that these disparities in access to hospice, palliative care, and advance planning cause increased pain, suffering, and distress for people with serious advanced illnesses and their loved ones. Faith communities can be central advocates and resources for congregants encountering these disparities and inequalities. This workshop will review the current data showing disparities based on racial, ethnic, sexual orientation, and gender-identity demographic information and provide strategies for faith communities to provide a powerful witness in addressing these significant inequalities.
Offered in partnership with the Presbyterian Older Adult Ministries Network (POAMN).

Are your adult programs drying up? Are your existing classes failing to draw new members? Are your teachers coming from the same pool, year after year? Are your congregants thirsty for connection, but unable to find it through your existing offerings? In this interactive workshop, participants will use life cycle theory to identify the parched places, deep reservoirs, and springs of fresh water within their adult discipleship programs. We will then discuss strategies to nurture our groups through each season of life. Finally, we will address groups in crisis: when to walk away and when to dig a deeper well.

So much of the culture of playing games pits us against one another. What are those games where we can play together? Where players aren’t picked off one at a time watching others win their way to the top of the mountain? Are there games for those who aren’t as thrilled about running and jumping outside? Cliff is an avid gamer and an online nerd who enjoys fostering community and cooperation in gameplay over crushing one’s opponent. This workshop we will discuss the advent of co-operative gaming as a group building and nurturing activity. He will introduce a number of cooperative games for participants to consider for their group as well as for their own enjoyment. There will be a number of them set up for play as an interactive experience in the second half of the workshop. Board games, Card Games, Video Games, Role Playing Games, and even a StarShip Simulator will be on hand to be shown and experienced. Come find out why Monopoly really isn’t that great and about a whole new possibility of playing TOGETHER rather than against each other.

This workshop will present effective practices, approaches, and models of family and  intergenerational (all ages) faith formation that emerged from a 2023 national survey of Christian churches. This is a “how-to” workshop that provides practical guidance for creating, enhancing, and implementing family and intergenerational faith formation in your church.

Many of us are discovering the old Sunday School model no longer works for our families with children. They have an hour to attend worship, and they may struggle with having their kids in the sanctuary. Sacred Art Time offers an alternative to traditional Sunday School. It integrates children’s experiences in worship services with opportunities to use art to explore and deepen faith formation. We will share the ways that Sacred Art Time along with Time With Young Disciples can be used to form faith, build community, explore and offer our God-given gifts to the church–all during and within the worship service structure.

Putting rubber stamp to ink and paper began as a hobby, became a ministry, and morphed into a spiritual practice. I began making cards for folks as a hobby, an outlet for creativity and personal enjoyment. Then I began a card ministry, making and sending cards for shut-ins and birthdays. It became a spiritual practice when I found myself praying specifically for the person who would receive that card. Participants in this workshop will make two completed cards. We will consider the ministry to those who receive the cards and the spiritual practice of praying experienced by those making and sending cards.

Fee $12

When three long-time church educators agreed to work on the Holy Spirit section of Opening Doors to Discipleship, they had no idea the adventure the Spirit would take them on. From the waters of thirst to the fire of inspiration, we invite you to join us on that adventure by first exploring the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament. This exploration will then inform the Spirit’s work in the New Testament, the Church, and in our lives and education work today. Just be careful – you may become inspired, too!

Children are natural worshippers and enjoy engaging in spiritual practices alongside and with the support of the adults around them. Adults, as well, benefit from experiencing worship with children in the ways that Jesus recognized as he called the children to him. Intergenerational worship can be the water of life for everyone! But how can all ages mature in their faith together when each approaches worship from a different developmental stage? In this workshop, we will examine recent research on spiritual growth and its benefits from Dr. Lisa Miller, author of “The Spiritual Child.” Participants will learn how a culture of intergenerational, transformational worship and ministry can support the maturation of children and youth that will affect their journey into adolescence and adulthood in positive ways.

If you are ready to come play and laugh together and let your guard down and have some fun, come play with us. You will have fun and learn some tips and tricks for planning and leading in your context, as well as the theological framework for your planning and leading. Play and laughter open us up for the spirit to move. The spirit will be dancing with us in this class.

A story about Moses’ sister Miriam? A blue elephant’s transformation? A red coat or a red dress? What would a Vacation Bible School look like using Bible stories and children’s picture books? Flyaway Books embrace diversity, inclusivity, and compassion, exploring themes of social justice, emotions, character, and values. Focusing on Bible stories and faithful practices that arise from the themes of these children’s picture books we will present a framework for a VBS using common a VBS structure of stories, games, crafts, music, and snacks, as well as engage participants in the creative process to generate additional ideas.
Offered in partnership with the Presbyterian Publishing Corporation (PPC).

Sustaining ministries for a church in the throes of pastoral transition can be tricky, draining, and quite confusing. This workshop provides participants with a birds-eye view of the transitional process as it pertains to the Presbyterian Church (USA). Using real-life illustrations from congregations in transition, participants will learn the steps through which a church moves in conjunction with a presbytery, as well the steps through which pastors move as they are either departing or entering a congregation. With the understanding that long-term volunteers and support staff may be heavily relied upon by both transitional pastors and new pastors alike, this workshop is designed to offer such church leaders the space to ask questions, share from their experiences, and learn from experienced transitional pastors. This workshop hopes to acknowledge and empower the ministries of those on whom the congregation might lean the heaviest during transitional time, as well encourage and sustain their gifts and skills so that they as leaders (and the congregation as a whole) might thrive during the desert time of pastoral transition. This workshop also encourages clergy who might be considering a transition to participate and learn, as well. Time-allowing, this workshop will also introduce participants to the CLC system of the PC(USA) which is used for connecting churches who are searching to pastors who are seeking new calls.

The thought for this workshop is to explore ways two women have come to the well and have been sent away with assignments (Genesis 16:7 and John 4:7). The moments at the well have provided ways to quench thirst and to spread the good news of Jesus Christ in word, action, and deed. This workshop will call participants to explore their well moments with God and to uncover the potential assignment they may receive while at the well. The workshop will offer ways for personal spiritual growth and resources to use to equip congregants and clergy for personal spiritual growth.

How do we describe the “mission” of the church to our young people? When we go on the annual youth mission trip, what are we hoping to accomplish? Join Bill Buchanan, Executive Director of the non-profit ministry Youth Mission Co (YMCo), along with other YMCo staff, as we discuss together the role of mission immersion in Christian formation. This interactive workshop will include the history of Christian mission, the distinction between acts of charity and justice, and how we can help youth discern their calling to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God.