"Care for the Orphan: Faith-based Responses to Vulnerable Children"
Kay Warren
In 2002, Warren became, as she says, "seriously disturbed" by the suffering of the millions infected with or affected by HIV/AIDS. Recognized globally as "a voice for suffering individuals," now Kay is challenging the worldwide church to take on not just AIDS, but the global giants of spiritual darkness, lack of servant leaders, poverty, disease and ignorance through the P.E.A.C.E. Plan. She and husband, Rick, began Saddleback Church in 1980 in their condo living room. Now the second largest church in America, Saddleback hosts an annual Global Summit on AIDS and Church, an initiative Kay launched in 2005. A well-known speaker and author, Kay's latest book is Dangerous Surrender, an invitation to live a life fully surrendered to God. www.kaywarren.com
Lynne Hybels
A Hope and a Future: Poverty, Disease and the Local Church
Lynne Hybels will share her personal journey of engagement with Global Poverty and AIDS, and will describe the personal and community transformation she has seen as local churches from the North and South join in partnership across oceans, cultures, and languages to holistically address poverty and injustice.
Lynne grew up in southwestern Michigan and, after graduating from college, moved to the Chicago area. In 1975, alongside her husband, Bill Hybels, started Willow Creek Community Church in a rented movie theatre in suburban Chicago. For years she has been involved with Willow Creek's ministry partnerships in under-resourced communities in Latin America and Africa. She is the author of Nice Girls Don't Change the World and most recently collaborated with Bill and the Willow Creek Association to develop Hope and Action, a DVD and participants' guide that helps churches and small groups begin to address the AIDS pandemic. She is currently the Advocate for Global Engagement for Willow Creek. www.lynnehybels.com
Eric Swanson and Rick Rusaw
The Externally Focused Church
Eric Swanson works with Leadership Network as Leadership Community Director for Externally Focused Churches working with dozens of externally focused churches around the U.S. Eric served with Campus Crusade for Christ for twenty-five years before joining the staff of Leadership Network. He has a passion for engaging churches worldwide in the needs and dreams of their communities toward the end of spiritual and societal transformation. He and Rick Rusaw are authors of The Externally Focused Church and Living a Life on Loan. www.ericjswanson.com
Rick has served as Senior Minister at LifeBridge Christian Church since 1991. During his leadership, LifeBridge has grow from 700 to 3,300 in attendance each weekend, developed a multi-site ministry and engaged over 1,000 people in community service by partnering with public schools, non-profits, city, county and state agencies. Rick strongly desires for the church to be relevant to culture while maintaining high integrity of the Gospel message.
Michael Stroope
World Christianity: The Next Big Idea
Christianity is no longer chiefly a Western phenomenon, tied to the cultural identities of America and Europe; rather it has truly become a worldwide movement. The result is more than a numerical adjustment in where the majority of Christians are located but a shift in identity and allegiance. In what ways should the North American Church view this new reality and how might it find common cause?.
Michael Stroope is associate professor of Christian missions and the M.C. Shook Chair of Missions at George W. Truett Theological Seminary. He has several years of experience as a field missionary and administrator with the International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention.
Rick McKinley
Breaking into the Kingdom
This message will tell the story of Imago Dei focusing on key principles that we applied from understanding a theology of the Kingdom.
Rick McKinley is the founding pastor of Imago Dei Community in Portland, OR, a missional community loving and blessing the city. Rick is the co-creator of the Advent Conspiracy, which is an initiative designed to help solve the water crisis by calling Christians back to the real meaning of Christmas. He is also co-creator of Love Portland, a growing city-wide initiative designed to engage the church in strategic relationships with their community by serving neglected areas and people in the city. He is the author of Jesus in the Margins and This Beautiful Mess: Practicing the Presence of the Kingdom of God. www.rickmckinley.net
Also Featuring:
Sara Alexander
Helping the Poor Cope with Climate Change
In many cases, chronic, climate-related threats to livelihoods are a greater concern to poor communities than "one-off" disasters. Research indicates that local cooperation is as important in protecting communities if not more so than material aids. A critical ingredient for reducing vulnerability related to climate change is increased resource access and empowerment of marginal groups. Based on research and application in Belize, Mexico and Honduras, this session will explore means by which churches can act as facilitators to address the complexities around this issue.
Sara Alexander is chair of the Anthropology, Forensic Science and Archaeology Department and director of the African Studies Program at Baylor University. As a development anthroplogist, she has worked with CARE, World Vision, and Catholic Relief Services in their work addressing food and livelihood security issues as well as natural resource management. Her current work focuses on measuring resilience of vulnerable households to climate-related shocks in the MesoAmerican Barrier Reef region.
Walter L. Bradley
From Coconuts to Cash: Global Economic Development
One way to alleviate poverty in underdeveloped parts of the world is to identify abundant, renewable resources that may be processed into value-added products. Coconuts are an abundant, renewable resource in many parts of the world. With the use of technology that is appropriate for in-country, village scale production, villagers can extract the full economic value of their product.
Walter L. Bradley is Distinguished Professor of Engineering at Baylor University. He is currently focusing his work with economic development in Ghana, Mexico, and the Philippines.
Glen Brechner
The Church has left the Building: Mobilizing Small Groups for Community Impact
This workshop will focus on how to organizationally architect a church to move people to a deeper level of involvement in their community, where they are changed and lives around them are transformed.
Glen is Pastor of Leadership at Chase Oaks Church. During his 10 years on staff he has been a part of "Replanting" Chase Oaks into an external focus church, with a major emphasis of mobilizing small groups. Glen and his wonderful wife Julie have three children and love to travel, eat, and coach. Glen is a graduate of Purdue University and Dallas Seminary.
Diana Garland
Actively Faithful Youth and Family Ministry
Researchers have documented that engagement in community service, especially alongside adults, is the most potent ingredient in resilient and deepening faith for youths, especially service that takes place alongside adults. This workshop will explore what the research says that can inform how we lead the youth and family ministry of our congregations.
Diana Garland is dean of the Baylor School of Social Work and has pioneered research in the integration of faith and service in congregations and in religiously affiliated organizations. Her book, Family Ministry: A Comprehensive Guide(InterVarsity Press, 2000), received the Book of the Year 2000 award from the Academy of Parish Clergy. She also authored Sacred Stories of Ordinary Families: Living the Faith Everyday (Jossey-Bass) in 2003. Her latest book, co-authored with husband David E. Garland, associate dean of Baylor's George W. Truett Theological Seminary, is titled Flawed Families of the Bible: How God's grace works through imperfect relationships (Brazos Press, 2007).
Michael S. Kelly and Julia M. Pryce
Effective Youth Mentoring in the New Millennium: Best Practices for Schools, Churches, and Communities
This fast-paced and interactive presentation will share the latest evidence on effective youth mentoring programs in schools, community centers, and churches. Participants will learn about the key ingredients of effective mentoring programs, as well as the indicators of programs that are not working (and may even be harmful to youth in the long term). Particular attention will be given to GirlPower!, an evidence-based intervention currently being implemented by the presenters on Chicago's south side.
Michael S. Kelly Ph.D. LCSW is an Assistant Professor at the Loyola School of Social Work, Coordinator of Research and Outreach, Loyola Family and Schools Partnership Program. He is the author of two books for Oxford University Press, The Domains and Demands of School Social Work Practice: A Guide to Working Effectively with Students, Families, and Schools and Solution-Focused Brief Therapy in Schools: A 360-Degree View of Research and Practice (with Johnny Kim and Cynthia Franklin), and the lead author of the upcoming School Social Work: An Evidence-Informed Framework for Practice in 2009 as part of Oxford's Evidence-based Practices Series.
Julia M. Pryce, Ph.D., LCSW, Assistant Professor, Loyola University School of Social Work, Loyola University Chicago. Dr. Pryce's initial school-based mentoring project, entitled "Up Close and Personal: A View of School-Based Mentoring Relationships", was awarded the International Mentoring Association Dissertation Award in 2006.
Beth Kilpatrick
Confidentiality in the Congregation: Not Just a Pastor's Concern'
The barometer of how a congregation values members of the church and the community is the care the congregation takes with individual stories. This workshop will discuss the Biblical principles undergirding congregational confidentiality and cover the practical details of implementing a policy of confidentiality congregation wide. Confidentiality boosts the ability of congregations to develop community by helping members feel that their stories are safe..
Beth Kilpatrick is a former missionary in inner-city Los Angeles and is currently an MDiv/MSW dual-degree student at Baylor University. She has served as a congregational social work intern during the past year, where she developed a program for promoting confidentiality in the congregation. She is interning in spring 2009 at Waco Community Development Corp.
Kim Kotrla
Human Trafficking: Practical Responses of the Church
Today's slavery trade is known as human trafficking, often the deepest and dirtiest secret in one's community. Learn the basics about human trafficking and the connections and distinctions between this issue and both prostitution and pornography. You'll also get practical ideas for increasing awareness about human trafficking in your church and community and strategies for assisting in anti-trafficking efforts.
Kim Kotrla, Ph.D., LCSW, is an assistant professor in the School of Social Work at Baylor University. She is the founder of the Waco area human trafficking coalition and organized the first workshop for community professionals in Central Texas on this issue.
Mack McCarter
Community Renewal
Mack McCarter is founder and coordinator of Community Renewal International, which works to restore the foundation of a safe and caring community by rebuilding the system of caring relationships. It's a large task and, indeed, no one individual or organization can tackle it alone. But by working together and living with a dedicated purpose to stop the disintegration of our cities, we can grow a new model of community.
Mack McCarter organized CRI in 1994 after serving 18 years as a pastor in Texas. He has won many state awards in Louisiana for his innovative solutions to addressing social problems.
Rick McKinley
Paradigm Shifts for the Missional Church
This workshop will focus on four key paradigm shifts the church must make in order to effectively engage the community around them; from how-to to want-to, from coming to going, from protection to proclamation, and from relevance to influence.
Dennis Myers
Ready and Willing: Engaging the Older Volunteer
Learn how to capture and sustain the power of older volunteers to love the people in your community. Find out about the many ways that older persons in churches can reach out to the vulnerable and marginalized. Discover what encourages their will to serve and also why they can be reluctant to serve. Learn how you can engage and nurture their involvement and how their service can deepen their faith.
Dennis Myers, PhD, MSSW, is associate dean for graduate studies at Baylor School of Social Work. He has 27 years of experience teaching, serving and writing for older persons in community and congregations.
Alan Nelson
From Me to We: The End of the Pastor-Centered Church
A challenge to pastors who feel the need for something radically different, Alan's "Me to We" approach is based on his belief that the single biggest barrier to churches reaching their potential is the pastor-centric model of ministry. Alan will explore how we can empower the people already in the church to discover and experience their God-given purpose in life, so that God uses them to transform others, and mature as faithful followers themselves.
Alan Nelson is the Editor-At-Large of Rev! Magazine, plus a 20-year veteran pastor, church planter, trainer, and leadership development expert. He has a doctorate (EdD) in leadership and is the author of thirteen books and over 200 articles. Alan is the founder of the first global leadership training program for future leaders called KidLead. He has been married for 27 years to Nancy, has three sons, and lives near Monterey, CA. Nancy is the Pastor of Women at First Presbyterian Church in Salinas, CA. www.alanenelson.com
Rick Rusaw
Working with High-Capacity Volunteers
If Ephesians 2:8-9 is true for people so is 2:10. How can we help people discover the good things God has prepared in advance for them to do. How can we help the 5-talent crowd – high capacity leaders leverage their experiences, abilities and resources for kingdom things. God has a part of his story he wants them to write, how can we help them write it?
Amy Sherman
Taking Your Outreach Ministry to the Next Level
This workshop offers guidance and models for helping churches move toward a more holistic, relational approach to community ministry that engages larger numbers of parishioners in meaningful service.
Amy Sherman is a Senior Fellow at the Sagamore Institute for Policy Research, where she directs the Center on Faith in Communities. She likes to describe the work of the Center as that of being "a minister to ministries." She also serves as the editorial director for FASTEN, a capacity building project for faith-based organizations that offers a robust Web site of practical resources for ministry practitioners.
Michael Stroope
'Rethinking Missions': Changing Concepts of Missions and the Church's Engagement of the World
Ideas shape actions. Changing concepts of missions among the rising generation of church leaders will shape the manner and means by which the church intersects with the world. This workshop will explore the shift in the church's understanding of missions and suggest avenues for its engagement with the world.
Eric Swanson
To Transform a City: The Whole Gospel to the Whole City
In May 2007 the world changed forever. There are now more people living in cities than in rural areas...and this will never be reversed. This seminar will define practical ways to think about the whole church taking the whole gospel to the whole city.
Heidi Unruh
Putting Feet to Faith: Action-Learning Process of Ministry Development
Few community ministry teams have a clear vision initially of what they want to do, much less a detailed road map for getting there. An "Action-Learning" approach to ministry development offers an incremental process for putting feet to a ministry vision while supporting the development of the planning team as a missional community. Learn the four cycles of this approach: prepare, act, learn, and grow. Guided by the theological principles and core values of transformational ministry, a team can plan for cycles of immediate activity designed for long-term impact on the church as well as the community.
Heidi Unruh, director of the Congregations, Community Outreach and Leadership Development Project, is co-author of two books on church-based social ministry and co-editor of Hope for Children in Poverty: Profiles and Possibilities (Judson, 2007).
Gaynor Yancey
The Open Table: From Homelessness to Wholeness
The Open Table has been chosen by Phoenix, AR, as a best practice in helping people move from homelessness to wholeness. Its goal is to provide congregationally based communities of support and motivation to individuals/families on their journey to self sufficiency. It is through the entire congregation's support that a person or family becomes transformed into wholeness. Come and find out how your congregation can be involved in moving individuals and families out of poverty maintenance programs.
Gaynor Yancey is Professor of Church and Community and Associate Dean for Baccalaureate Studies at Baylor School of Social Work. For 30 years, she served congregations through church and community ministries in the greater Philadelphia area. She is a co-author of several books, including The Newer Deal: Social Work and Relationship in Partnership.
