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Conference offers IM training
By Emily K. Reece
United Methodist Communications
An Igniting Ministry training session coordinated by the Baltimore-Washington Conference will help churches learn about marketing themselves and honing their welcoming skills.
The March 6 training session, the first of eight to be offered by the denominations media campaign in 2004, will allow participants to choose among three tracks using Igniting Ministry resources and ideas. The event also will be the first large-scale event of its type to take place in the new conference center in Columbia.
These training options will help more of our churches connect with Igniting Ministry, and equip a greater number of local congregations to effectively share messages of hope, comfort and inspiration in their communities, said the Rev. Larry Hollon, top executive of United Methodist Communications, which coordinates the campaign.
According to John Coleman, co-director of the conference Office of Communications, Many of our churches benefited from the last regional training held here nearly two years ago and from the ongoing Igniting Ministry advertising and resources offered by UMCom. This training will help congregations that have not had that experience and many others that are eager to move to the next step in becoming more inviting and welcoming in their lifestyles. We look forward to exploring and being challenged by the new ideas and resources available to help us share our faith, our ministries and ourselves more openly with our neighbors.
The three tracks are progressive. Starting Out includes an overview of the basics of welcoming, inviting and discipling. It also introduces the campaigns planning kit, a collection of resources intended to gbwc_superusere a congregation in setting up a local campaign.
Moving On offers existing Igniting Ministry teams and leaders new ideas, plans and training options, and introduces a small-group video study series, Beyond 30 Seconds: Developing a Welcoming Congregation.
Living Up is aimed at helping churches interested in reshaping their community identity to find ways, individually and corporately, to live up to the open hearts, open minds, open doors promise expressed in the commercials.
Were eager to learn what has worked and not worked for churches that experienced the first regional trainings here in 2001 and 2002, Coleman said. We can never stop learning and helping each other to become more inviting and welcoming in our outreach and discipling activities. My hope is that this training will prompt more local church, cluster and district training events in the future so that we can all become more effective in this ministry.
Igniting Ministry is designed to support and encourage local churches to become active partners in reaching out to unchurched people and creating renewed enthusiasm among members.
Local churches are encouraged to send a minimum of three members of their teaching membership team, including the pastor, to the daylong regional training event. Registration fee, due by Feb. 20, is $40 for each participating congregation. Attendance will be limited to about 150 participants and may include teams from neighboring conferences.
For registration and more information on the training events visit the www.ignitingministry.org or call the Igniting Ministry offices, toll free, at (877) 281-6535.
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