LEADING CONGREGATIONS THROUGH CHANGING TIMES
Dr. Kirk Hadaway and The Rev. Charles Fulton 
The culture challenges many of the assumptions of institutional Christianity.  Congregations are discovering that familiar models are not producing the desired results.  This session provides an overview of the changing context in which we live, worship and form congregations, and the characteristics of growing congregations.

THEORY OF CONGREGATIONAL LIFE CYCLE
The Rev. Charles Fulton
Everything has a life cycle, including congregations.  This session looks at how congregations develop and regenerate, or decline.  

Appropriate leadership varies for each stage in a congregation’s life cycle.  You will learn how to interpret data to determine the life cycle stage of a congregation and ministries of the congregation.  This will then inform your decisions regarding programming and resource allocation, and outcome expectations.

CONGREGATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
The Rev. Charles Fulton
Congregational  behaviors and programming vary by size.  This session will teach the basic theories of congregational development and address how transitions are made to a new size and the tension involved in that change.

HOSPITALITY RECEPTION & DINNER

TUESDAY, MAY 20

USING THE MEDIA FOR THE MISSION OF REACHING PEOPLE
The Rev. Dr. George Martin
The purpose of this seminar is to inspire and demonstrate the tremendous possibilities that every church has for inviting more people into the community of faith through affordable and creative media.  Based on practical advertising principles and the Biblical foundations for evangelism, the session will focus on direct marketing, the power of door to door ministry and the importance of articulating your church’s clear mission and direction.

WELCOMING GUESTS & INCORPORATING MEMBERS
The Rev. Jeunée Cunningham
This session will enable a congregation to recognize key elements in effective welcoming and incorporating, and will stimulate new ideas for designing and implementing a local welcoming and incorporating process.

GROWING GOD’S KINGDOM THROUGH THE SMALL-MEMBERSHIP CHURCH
The Rev. Suzanne Watson (for congregations of  70 or fewer average Sunday attendance)
In this interactive session participants will explore ways to strengthen their congregation in each of the key areas linked with congregational growth as identified in the Why Smaller (ASA 70 or Less) Episcopal Churches are Growing findings.  Relevant resources for the smaller congregations will be discussed and made available in each of the key areas with the goal of providing practical, ready-to-implement ideas.
The five key areas identified are:
•        Location and demographic makeup of the congregation;
•        The congregation’s identity;
•        The congregation’s worship;
•        The congregation’s activities;
•        The congregation’s leadership.

Participants should come prepared with a copy of their congregation’s mission statement, budget, and notes from one vestry meeting. A copy of the congregation’s PERCEPT report and Average Sunday Attendance chart should also be downloaded (available at http://www.episcopalchurch.org/growth_60791_ENG_HTM.htm  for no fee.)

WEDNESDAY, MAY 21

FROM THE AREOPAGUS TO AEROSPACE 
The Rev. Dr. Eric Elnes  
Use Paul's wisdom to discover Christ alive and well in modern culture.  This session provides examples of ways to experience worship using technology, the arts, and other multi-sensory elements from today’s culture.

EUCHARIST

Afternoon Free. 

THURSDAY, MAY 22

A DIFFERENT BEAT: UNDERSTANDING GENERATIONAL DIVERSITY
The Rev. Dr. Tex Sample
Dr. Sample will share his research on the oral, literate, and electronic cultures and offer ways to pitch tent in the language of each.  He will demonstrate the power of the immersion experience and provide examples of the visual and musical experiences that support transformational and prophetic worship.

AUTHORITY AND CONFLICT 
The Rev. Charles Fulton  
The church frequently tolerates ineffective or destructive behavior at great cost.  This session will address the areas which are most likely to produce conflict, a process for making community decisions designed to maximize support with minimum conflict, and skill building for handling conflict and serious challenges to the authority of the leader and the community.

FRIDAY, MAY 23

BUILDINGS AS TOOLS OF EVANGELISM
The Rev. Charles Fulton  
Slide show demonstrating the principles of site development, liturgical space that supports worship, the benefits of flexible space, results of renovation, and how our buildings look to the visitor and stranger.

TAKING IT HOME & EVALUATION
The Rev. Jeunée Cunningham
An exercise to assimilate and organize the week’s learnings in order to bring them home for action.

12:00 p.m. ADJOURNMENT