Diocesan Spring Learning Event 2016 

REGISTRATION IS NOW CLOSED, BUT WALK-INS ARE WELCOME ON SATURDAY MORNING. 

Please bring a check for $20

Get a group together from your parish and join us on Saturday, March 5th at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul in Boston for the Diocesan Spring Learning Event!

This year we are looking at the practices and traits of churches engaged in mission and ministry.

Our keynoter for the day is Molly Phinney Baskette, author of Real Good Church: How our church came back from the dead, and yours can, too.  She will share with us the nuts and bolts of renewing and refreshing the church, and connecting the church to the community. She is funny, down to earth, and can speak to renewal in both large and small, urban and suburban churches.

From the book:

"We averaged 35 people in worship and had about $200,000 in the bank. . . (Today,) our giving has more than quintupled, and we went from six children in Sunday School to close to 100."

And written about the book:

"What makes Real Good Church unique in the field of church growth books? It's practical. It actually tells churches what they can do. . .and how to do it. It offers beginning and intermediary steps for growth and renewal."

We will also be watching the movie, When God Left the Building, which explores the state of the church in America today. This film presents some statistics and realities of the church in our society and can be rather sobering at times - yet there is hope in models of churches engaging with folks in their communities in fresh new ways. Above all else, this movie will let us delve into discussion on new approaches to sharing the Gospel. For a short preview of the movie click here.  For a longer movie preview, click here.

Our day also includes lots of time to share with other churches around the diocese. Compare notes, share dreams and projects, and hear the stories of colleagues who have seen growth and renewal.

Click here for a printable poster of the event.

Registration closes on March 3, 2016

Rev. Molly Phinney Baskette is, in no particular order, a mother, spouse, recovering workaholic, cancer survivor, adventurous home cook. She’s also just finished as the lead pastor of the quirky, loveable, burgeoning community of First Church Somerville UCC in Somerville, MA, recently dubbed the hippest city in America. She is the author of Real Good Church  and Standing Naked Before God: The Art of Public Confession.

She grew up in Boston, MA, and attended Dartmouth College and Yale Divinity School before moving to Colima, Mexico to teach Bible and literacy to Mexican orphans. As an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ, she has served urban and suburban churches, tiny churches and teeming churches. These days, Molly lives and plays in Arlington, MA with her husband Peter, her daughter Carmen, and her son Rafael.

You can read more of Molly’s writing on her sometime blogs, Holy Spirit Portality, a blog about cancer, ministry, parenting and faith; or What is God For, about the funny God questions kids ask. Molly is also the author of two practical grief books for children, Remembering My Grandparent and Remembering My Pet.