2015 Ohio Conference Annual Gathering
Dream Bigger Dreams
Where
Join us at the location nearest to your home!
Defiance College
Serrick Campus Center
701 N. Clinton St.
Defiance, Ohio
Lorain County Community Colllege
Spitzer Conference Center
1005 N. Abbe Rd.
Elyria, Ohio
Hotel list
United Theological Seminary
4501 Denlinger Rd.
Dayton, Ohio
With the success of last year's Annual Gathering in three locations, we're doing it again this year and reaching out across the wires (and wi-fi!) to connect even more groups!
Our Ohio locations will be in Dayton, Defiance, and Elyria. Each site will have the same agenda with local worship, brunch and workshops. The business meeting will be broadcast from and presented in all three locations. PLUS, we'll be joining the Central Pacific Conference via video conference to hear our keynote speaker Cameron Trimble. There will also be time during the event to send video greetings to our German partners. Join us to link up with fellow UCC members face-to-face and across the world!
Learn about the ministries of our sponsors and e-partners!
The Ohio Conference works to provide opportunities for churches to connect with one another, to organizations in their community working toward transformation, and to ministries around the world. We inspire change by creating collaborative community and offering resources to help ministries grow in the 21st Century. Be part of the conversation and the ministry.
We rely on our ministry partners to help us provide important resources for the work and mission of our local churches. We want to showcase your compelling stories to our attendees. Read the packet below to learn how we're creating these opportunities at the Annual Gathering.
Annual Gathering Agenda
8:15 - 9:00 am
Registration, Coffee, Greet friends and colleagues
9:00 - 9:10
Convene, Introductions
9:10 - 9:25 am
Devotions
Start the day with a few moments of prayerful reflection at your local site.
9:30 - 10:45 am
Connected Business Meeting
We'll link the three Ohio sites to conduct the important business of the Ohio Conference and hear from Conference Minister Phil Hart and Moderator Tim Smith. Presenters for the meeting will be at all three locations.
10:45 - 11:00 am
Break
11:00 - 11:45 am
Brunch
Since we're connecting with the Central Pacific Conference for the keynote during our usual lunchtime (3-hour time difference!), we'll be hosting a delicious brunch to nourish both our bodies and souls.
11:45 - 1:15 pm
Keynote and Q&A
Our message will be presented by Cameron Trimble, Executive Director and CEO of The Center for Progressive Renewal. She most recently served as an advisor to the Congregational Vitality and Discipleship Team of Local Church Ministries for the United Church of Christ and as Associate Conference Minister of Church Development in the Southeast Conference of the UCC.
In her ministry in the national setting, Rev. Trimble was responsible for the development of national strategy for birthing new churches. In her conference setting, she directly oversaw the birthing of churches throughout the Southeast Conference. Each setting has given her a unique perspective on the challenges of cultivating leaders equipped to meet the needs of the future of mainline Protestantism.
Rev. Trimble is an adjunct professor teaching church planting and renewal with the Pacific School of Religion and Chicago Theological Seminary. She co-authored the book, Liberating Hope – Daring to Renew the Mainline Church with Michael Piazza in 2011.
With this wide experience and exposure, Rev. Trimble is convinced that the future of the progressive mainline Church is dependent upon our ability to cultivate the highest quality of leadership in both ordained and lay leadership.
1:15 pm Break
1:30 - 3:00 pm Worshops
Dayton Workshops
1. Our Call to Do Economic Justice: God’s Abundant Resources Are Given to be Shared Among All God’s People, with Edith Rassel, Minister for Economic Justice, UCC, and Marilyn E. Lloyd, member of North Congregational UCC in Columbus and the Economic Justice League.
The gap between the rich and poor is widening. The middle is disappearing. God created a world of abundance, but why is there so much poverty and economic hardship? This workshop will briefly review recent economic trends and their causes and discuss ways we can work together for a world that more closely matches God’s vision.
2. Becoming an Attractive Church: How to Inspire Guests to Get Involved with Your Congregation, with Adam Long, Lead Pastor, Move United Church, Columbus.
Your congregation might have a great personality. But if you want guests to return for another “date,” you’re going to have to work on becoming more attractive. If you’re interested in becoming an attractive church—a congregation that excels at welcoming and involving guests—then join us for this workshop. You’ll be inspired by stories of both failure and success and equipped with practical steps for developing a systematic process for connecting well with guests.
3. Empowering YOUR Team, with Nicole Havelka, Minister for Resourcing, Networking and Creativity, Ohio Conference UCC (this workshop will be presented live in Dayton and by teleconference in Defiance and Elyria)
Whether you're a local church pastor, a hospital chaplain, a non-profit director, church moderator or committee chair, your ministry DEPENDS on teams of people working together. Delve first into WHY we do ministry collaboratively, then take away HOW you do it with lots of tools, tips and best practices for empowering teams to work effectively.
Defiance Workshops
1. Rethinking Our Ministry with Older Adults, with Beth Long-Higgins, Director of Outreach and Mission Integration, United Church Homes
The population of our communities is changing. There are now more people over the age of 65 than there are school age children in the state of Ohio. So what changes do we need to make in the way we think and in the things we do in our local churches and communities to meet the needs of the oldest third of the population? If we make some shifts, there is a very real potential for growth in our communities. We will look at some of the hard core statistics and explore the opportunities that are before us as we rethink our ministries with older adults.
2. Empowering YOUR Team, with Nicole Havelka, Minister for Resourcing, Networking and Creativity, Ohio Conference UCC (via teleconference from Dayton)
Whether you're a local church pastor, a hospital chaplain, a non-profit director, church moderator or committee chair, your ministry DEPENDS on teams of people working together. Delve first into WHY we do ministry collaboratively, then take away HOW you do it with lots of tools, tips and best practices for empowering teams to work effectively.
NOTE: The workshop, From Dreaming to Doing, to be led by Phil Hart, will not be presented. Please select one of the other two workshops. We apologize for any inconvenience.
Elyria Workshops
1. Workship as Worship: Deepening Discipleship through Service, with Vicki McGaw, Pastor, Middleburg Heights Community UCC
There isn’t much in the gospel that calls us as followers of Jesus to show up in worship each week to sit in pews, sing a couple songs, hear a sermon and go home. We ARE called, however, to serve the least of these (Matthew 25) and to make disciples (Matthew 28). As we seek to deepen our faith and grow our discipleship, our congregation decided that four times a year, our worship would be in service as we leave the sanctuary and go into the community to serve. Come hear the story of how we are changing the lives of both our participants and those we serve on these energizing Sundays.
2. Empowering YOUR Team with Nicole Havelka, Minister for Resourcing, Networking and Creativity, Ohio Conference UCC (via teleconference from Dayton)
Whether you're a local church pastor, a hospital chaplain, a non-profit director, church moderator or committee chair, your ministry DEPENDS on teams of people working together. Delve first into WHY we do ministry collaboratively, then take away HOW you do it with lots of tools, tips and best practices for empowering teams to work effectively.
3. Is That Stillspeaking God Making it Confusing to Talk about the UCC? with Loey Powell, Executive Associate to the President, Council for Health and Human Service Ministries, UCC
Life in our local congregations is lively and vibrant, but sometimes members are confused by, disturbed by, or delighted by the decisions or positions of other settings of the United Church of Christ. Or we may not really know and understand why certain things happen. Let’s talk together about all this and explore ways to come to know and understand the UCC more broadly in our local congregational settings.