Deep & Wide:Making Missional Disciples

The Fellowship Community National Gathering February 21-23, 2017

Lakeland, FL

Deep & Wide: Making Missional Disciples February 21-23, 2017

2017 NATIONAL GATHERING

First Presbyterian Church, Lakeland, Florida

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2017 2:00-4:00pm Registration and Exhibits Registration is located in the Welcome Center. The Exhibit Hall is located in the main hallway.

2017 National Gathering Kick-Off in Loudon Hall 4:00-4:30pm Gathering Music, Welcome, and Introductions 4:30-5:30pm Plenary I: Why Missional Discipleship? - Alex Absalom 5:30-5:40pm Stretch Break 5:40-6:30pm Bible Study led by the Reverend Dr. Mark Roberts 6:30-7:30pm Dinner

After Dinner, Join Us in the Sanctuary for… 7:45-9:00pm Opening Worship with the Reverend Dr. M. Craig Barnes preaching 9:00pm Hospitality Suite is open.

The Hospitality Suite is co-hosted with the Presbyterian Foundation. It is located at the Hampton Inn & Suites, Lakeland, South-Polk Parkway, 3630 Lakeside Village Blvd. All are welcome.

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2017 7:00-8:00am Fuller Theological Seminary Breakfast, Rooms B & C

Bible Study, Morning Worship, and Plenary Session in Loudon Hall 8:00-8:15am Welcome and Opening Prayer by Rev. Dr. Mark Brewer, Outgoing President of TFC Board 8:15-9:00am Bible Study led by Mark Roberts 9:00-10:00am Morning Worship with Dr. Alice Ridgill preaching 10:00-10:20am Break 10:20-10:25am Overview of the Day 10:25-11:10am Plenary II: Discipling Toward Missional Transformation – Alex Absalom 11:10-11:45am Panel: Making the Shift to a Missional Discipleship Culture

• Rev. Dr. Mike McClenahan, Senior Pastor & Head of Staff, Solana Beach Presbyterian Church, Solana Beach, CA

• Rev. Dr. John Fullerton, Lead Pastor, and the Rev. Joy Laughridge, Pastor for Outreach and Ministry, St. Andrews Presbyterian Church, Dunedin, FL

11:45am-1:00pm Lunch in Loudon Hall. The Exhibit Hall will also be open. The following seminaries will have special gatherings for alumni and prospective students: • Pittsburgh Theological Seminary with World Mission Initiative Director Hunter Farrell, Room C • Princeton Theological Seminary, Room B • Union Presbyterian Seminary, designated tables in Loudon Hall

Deep & Wide: Making Missional Disciples February 21-23, 2017

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2017 (continued)

Afternoon Plenary Session and Panel in Loudon Hall 1:00-1:05pm Announcements – Rev. Dan Baumgartner, Pastor, FPC Hollywood, CA, & TFC Board Member 1:05-1:45pm Plenary III: Practices to Move from Attractional to Missional Discipleship: The Five Contexts of

Discipleship – Alex Absalom 1:45-2:00pm Break 2:00-2:15pm Introduction and Interview with the Rev. Dr. Carlos Emilio Ham, President, Matanzas Evangelical

Theological Seminary, Cuba, with Marilyn Borst, Associate Director for Partnership Development, The Outreach Foundation, and TFC Board Member

2:15-3:15pm Panel: Making Missional Disciples Through Racial Justice & the Gospel • Mr. Maurice Lattimore, Deacon, North Avenue Presbyterian Church, Atlanta, GA • Rev. Dr. Mike McClanahan, Senior Pastor, Solana Beach Presbyterian Church, Solana Beach, CA • Rev. Brian K. McCollum, Director of Alumni Relations, Princeton Theological Seminary • Dr. Alice Ridgill, Pastor, New Faith Presbyterian Church, Greenwood, SC • Rev. John Schmidt, Senior Pastor, Central Presbyterian Church, Baltimore, MD • Panel Moderator: Rev. Dan Baumgartner

3:15-3:30pm Break

Workshops (See workshop handout for descriptions and locations.) 3:30-4:30pm Workshop Session A 4:30-4:45pm Break 4:45-5:45pm Workshop Session B 5:45-6:00pm Break

Return to Loudon Hall for… 6:00-6:30pm The State of The Fellowship Community led by TFC Board 6:30-7:30pm Dinner 7:30-8:30pm Evening Worship with the Reverend Dr. Carlos Emilio Ham preaching 8:30pm Hospitality Suite is open. See description and location on Tuesday’s schedule.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2017

Loudon Hall 8:00-8:15am Welcome and Opening Prayer by Rev. Dr. Jerry Andrews, Incoming President of TFC Board 8:15-9:00am Bible Study led by Mark Roberts 9:00-9:45am Plenary IV: Learning from Missional Experiments/Missional Communities – Alex Absalom 9:45-10:30am Final Q & A and Discussion 10:30-11:00am Break

Sanctuary 11:00am-12:00pm Closing Worship and Celebration of the Lord’s Table with the Reverend Zac McGowen preaching 12:00pm Thank you and safe travels as you are sent out to be Jesus’ missional disciples in your

communities, congregations, and beyond!

Deep & Wide: Making Missional Disciples February 21-23, 2017

MEET OUR 2017 NATIONAL GATHERING SPEAKERS AND PREACHERS!

MAIN SPEAKER Alex Absalom is a coach, speaker, and writer on the practicalities of transitioning churches into disciple-making cultures - especially through combining missional living with being naturally supernatural. He is part of the leadership team at Grace Church, Long Beach CA, and leads Dandelion [dandelionresourcing.com], an organization that equips disciple-making leaders through coaching, consulting and written resources. Over the past decade he has overseen the planting of 120+ mid-sized missional communities, has worked directly with dozens of churches and networks, and has published several books, including Discipleship that Fits (Zondervan, 2016). Alex has been married to Hannah since

1994, and they have three naughty but charming teenage sons, and one bouncy chocolate Labrador. He is a passionate fan of Liverpool Football Club and is a connoisseur of both fine tea and good scotch!

BIBLE STUDY LEADER The Rev. Dr. Mark D. Roberts is a pastor, author, leader, speaker, blogger, and consultant for Christian organizations. He is currently the Executive Director of the Max De Pree Center for Leadership at Fuller Seminary. In this role, he writes the digital daily devotional, Life for Leaders. Previously, he was Executive Director of Digital Media for the H. E. Butt Family Foundation, a multifaceted ministry in the Hill Country of Texas. Previously, he was the Senior Pastor of Irvine Presbyterian Church in Southern California. Mark studied at Harvard University, where he received a Ph.D. in New Testament and Christian Origins. He has written several books, including Can We Trust the Gospels? (Crossway, 2007).

His commentary on Ephesians will be published by Zondervan in November 2016. He blogs at www.patheos.com/blogs/markdroberts.

PREACHERS The Reverend Dr. M. Craig Barnes was raised on Long Island, New York. After graduating from The King’s College and Princeton Theological Seminary, he received a Ph.D. in the History of Christianity from The University of Chicago. He has served as a pastor to three congregations including The National Presbyterian Church in Washington D.C. In the fall of 2002, he became the Meneilly Professor of Pastoral Ministry at Pittsburgh Seminary while also serving as the senior pastor of Shadyside Presbyterian Church. In 2012 he was elected president of Princeton Theological Seminary. He has eight published books including Searching for Home, The Pastor as Minor Poet, and Body and Soul. He also serves as

an Editor at Large and frequent contributor to The Christian Century. He is married to Dawne Hess Barnes who is an interior decorator. They have three delightful children and two hairy dogs.

A native of Manning, SC, Dr. Alice Ridgill attended Presbyterian College where she earned the Bachelor of Arts degree in Fine Arts with a music concentration. After graduating, she enrolled in Erskine Theological Seminary where she earned both the Master of Divinity and Doctor of Ministry degrees. Dr. Ridgill furthered her education by earning the Certificate in Executive Leadership from McCormick Theological Seminary, Chicago, Illinois. Prior to founding New Faith Presbyterian Church, Greenwood, SC, in 2010, Dr. Ridgill served as Pastor of the former Washington Street Presbyterian Church, Abbeville, SC, as Adjunct Professor of Pastoral Care at Erskine Theological Seminary, as Campus

Pastor of Thornwell Home for Children, Clinton, South Carolina, and as a Chaplain (candidate) in the United States Air Force Reserves. Dr. Ridgill preached before the 222nd General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in June 2016 and at the Presbyterian Youth Triennium in July 2016.

In June 2015, The Rev. Dr Carlos Emilio Ham assumed the presidency of the Matanzas Evangelical Theological Seminary in Cuba. Ham, a pastor of the Presbyterian-Reformed Church in Cuba, served the World Council of Churches in Geneva as a program executive from 2001 to 2013 in the areas of mission and evangelism, as well as diakonia and regional relations for Latin America and the Caribbean. A graduate of the Matanzas Seminary, Carlos holds a Doctor of Ministry degree from Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary and a Ph.D. from the Free University of Amsterdam. The Seminario Evangélico de Teología (SET) was established in Matanzas as an ecumenical pastoral training center. The

Methodist, Presbyterian and Episcopal churches founded the Evangelical Seminary in 1946. It currently serves over 500 students on the island through its residential, extension and distance learning programs.

The Rev. Zachary McGowen is the Associate Pastor of Evangelism and Congregational Development at the First Presbyterian Church, Lakeland, FL and a new board member for The Fellowship Community. He has been preaching and teaching God’s Word for more than 20 years and loves inspiring congregations to reach their neighborhoods for Jesus Christ and utilizing technology to communicate the gospel message. He has served the Lord in the PC(USA) since 2001, beginning with the First Presbyterian Church, Haines City, FL, before taking his current call in Lakeland in 2013. He holds an M.Div. from Reformed Theological Seminary and is working on his Doctorate of Ministry at Fuller Theological

Seminary. Zac is married to his beautiful wife, Julie and together they have two wonderful children, Caleb (6) and Hannah (3). Follow him on Twitter @zacharymcgowen, Instagram @zmcgowen, Facebook.com/zacharymcgowen or via his blog at zactalks.org.

Deep & Wide: Making Missional Disciples February 21-23, 2017

2017 NATIONAL GATHERING WORKSHOP OPPORTUNITIES

WORKSHOP SESSION A, 3:30-4:30PM Disciple-Making through Missional Communities – Alex Absalom CHAPEL Whether missional communities are new to you, or something that you already have up and running, come learn from Alex Absalom, who has overseen the planting of over 125 mid-sized missional communities in three very different churches across the U.S. in the past 9 years. Alex has coached hundreds of church leaders in the practicalities of how to use mission-focused groups of 20-50 to grow your disciple-making culture. This session has VERY practical content, with lots of inspiring stories! Led by Gathering Speaker Alex Absalom

For Leaders of Smaller-Membership Congregations: Missional Identity – Lisa Culpepper, Herb Codington ROOM D This two-part workshop series is specifically designed to nurture leaders of smaller-membership congregations. The first hour will examine the church from different perspectives to better appreciate our call to be the missional church. We will also look at doable missional initiatives for smaller congregations. Lisa Culpepper and Herb Codington are both pastors of smaller membership congregations with a combined experience of 30 years of participating in missional clusters. Lisa serves as pastor of St. Paul’s Presbyterian Church in Hemingway, SC, facilitates a missional cluster of five congregations in New Harmony Presbytery, and has been involved in short-term cross-cultural mission for 25 years. Herb pastors three smaller congregations in Laurens County, SC, serves with a small mission agency with work in Haiti and the Dominican Republic, and has led the Laurens Missional Cluster of 16 congregations for 25 years.

The Poor You Will Always Have with You – Maurice Lattimore, Matt Seadore ROOM B In this workshop, you will hear how North Avenue Presbyterian Church, a church in urban Atlanta, is leaning into the missiological challenge to develop a faith community with the marginalized at the center of church life. This has led to rethinking the “how” and “why” of ministry programs, benevolence structures, and leadership paradigms. Maurice Lattimore, a Deacon at North Avenue (and one of our Racial Justice and the Gospel panelists), grew up in the projects of Atlanta, and after years of substance abuse and crime, he accepted Christ in a prison cell in 2004. He was experiencing homelessness when he first came to North Avenue, and with God’s transformative grace, is actively involved with several organizations in Atlanta. Matt Seadore serves as Director of Missions and Outreach at North Avenue Presbyterian Church, and has a Master’s degree in Global Leadership from Fuller Theological Seminary. Matt also serves as a lead trainer for The Chalmers Center.

Elders as Shepherds of People: How to Partner with the Elder Leadership Institute (ELI) and Transform Your Session – Eric Laverentz ROOM C Do you dread Session meetings? As a church leader, are you feeling burned out? The Elder Leadership Institute (ELI) works to help elders embrace their biblical and historical role as shepherds of people. Learn what Shepherd Elders look like, some practical tips for helping elders become servant leaders, and how ELI will partner with you to effect this transformation in your Session. Eric Laverentz is the coordinator of the Elder Leadership Institute and Lead Pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Edmond, Oklahoma. His Doctorate of Ministry studied the historical and biblical role of elders, and he is the author of two books.

Deep & Wide: Making Missional Disciples February 21-23, 2017

WORKSHOP SESSION A, 3:30-4:30PM (continued) Going and Coming: Short Term Mission Trips Seen from Both Sides – Marilyn Borst, Carlos Emilio Ham CHOIR ROOM Despite the “controversy” around cost and effectiveness that often surrounds the topic of “short term mission,” the Global Church still welcomes our presence! And as we move out of the comfort zone of our familiar pew, we encounter God at work in new ways as we, by necessity, must relinquish control and yield ourselves to all that he will do to us and through us and for us as we cross borders. This workshop will highlight WHY mission trips still matter, especially when they seek to build long term, reciprocal partnerships. We will focus on the best ways to prepare teams, as well as launch them towards “next steps” upon their return. Marilyn Borst is an Associate Director of The Outreach Foundation and a veteran of over 90 such partnership journeys. Carlos Emilio Ham, President of the Evangelical Seminary in Matanzas, Cuba, has received many short-term teams.

Big Church? Small Church? Developing a Plan that Can Really Work! – Marty Guise ROOM 112 All too often, church leaders and members alike can see the needs that exist in the church and in the community. And yet, the ability to take God’s plan and move it forward through the ministries of the church falls far short of what we dream it can be. During this interactive workshop, attendees will work through the steps to design a plan using their own input. They will learn how they can take this model, make it their own, and implement it to see significant spiritual growth and outreach! Marty Guise is the Executive Director of Lay Renewal Ministries (LRM), a national church health and consulting organization focusing on leadership, renewal and Christian growth resources. Since joining the ministry in 1996, Marty has authored Seeing from the Summit, Giving Life to Vision, several devotional books for LRM events, and contributed to numerous books, magazines, and newspapers.

Back to the Future: Perspectives on Partnering with Millennial Leaders – Terry McGonigal YOUTH HALL The mission of the Office of Church Engagement (OCE) at Whitworth University is “Equipping disciples and engaging culture with the good news of Jesus.” Three recent graduates of the University have led us on a journey of networking, cultural exegesis, and vision casting. Through their leadership, the OCE has expanded and deepened our work in supporting churches in navigating the complex cultural changes required for successful multigenerational ministry. We will discuss the guiding questions directing our work in Church Engagement through the perspectives of millennials seeking to communicate the gospel clearly, passionately, and faithfully. Terry McGonigal serves as the Director of Church Engagement at Whitworth University in Spokane, WA. Previously serving as Dean of Spiritual Life and Campus Pastor for 20 years, Terry also teaches biblical studies and has travelled extensively with students and faculty in Latin America, Japan, Africa, and Europe.

WORKSHOP SESSION B, 4:45-5:45PM Disciple-Making through Missional Communities – Alex Absalom CHAPEL See the description under Workshop Session A listing.

For Leaders of Smaller-Membership Congregations: Forming Missional Clusters – Lisa Culpepper, Herb Codington ROOM D During the second hour of this workshop, we will reflect on the advantages of smaller churches collaborating in mission, and we will suggest some steps in forming missional clusters. Examples of smaller churches doing mission together will also be provided. See the description of part one of this series under Workshop Session A listing for more information.

The Poor You Will Always Have with You – Maurice Lattimore, Matt Seadore ROOM B See the description under Workshop Session A listing.

Deep & Wide: Making Missional Disciples February 21-23, 2017

WORKSHOP SESSION B, 4:45-5:45PM (continued) The (Six) Purpose Driven Church – Joe Small ROOM E The “Great Ends of the Church” is not a typical mission statement. Instead of setting out an idealized description of who we are, it challenges us by telling us who we are to be. This workshop will introduce the Fellowship’s Great Ends of the Church video, together with other congregational resources. Joseph Small served as Director of the Office of Theology and Worship from 1988-2011. In retirement, he is church relations consultant at the Presbyterian Foundation.

The Good News/Bad News about Christian-Muslim Relations: What in the World is God Doing? Begin with the End in Mind. – Cody Watson CHOIR ROOM We get the bad press, but underneath it all God is doing a new thing. More Muslims have come to Christ in the 20 years than all of previous history. This workshop will share the stories. It will give resources for engagement. It will share hope and vision. What will be your legacy? After seminary Cody taught English in South Korea for 3 years, then pastored 2 small churches in SC before serving at the US Center for World Mission. There he married, and he and wife served for 3 years in Bangladesh. For the last 22 years, he has been on staff with Frontier Fellowship.

TFC’s Theology Project: Reformation 500 – Jerry Andrews, Richard Burnett, Bryan Burton ROOM 112 As we prepare to celebrate the 500-year anniversary of the Reformation, what precisely are we celebrating? An event whose effects are vital to the well-being of the Church, more so now than ever? Less so from here on out? Too soon to tell? Too late to ask? What work of the Reformation remains? Think with others on these questions. We will also share an update on TFC’s Theology Project. Dr. Jerry Andrews is Pastor of First Presbyterian Church, San Diego, CA, Dr. Richard Burnett is Executive Director and Editor of Theology Matters, and Dr. Bryan Burton is Pastor of North Lakeland Presbyterian Church, Lakeland, FL. The three serve together on The Fellowship Community’s Theology Task Force that Jerry chairs.

Church Planting & New Worshipping Communities: What’s Working in San Diego and San Fernando Presbyteries – Mike McClenahan, Jim Milley ROOM C After decades of failed attempts to start new churches and revitalize existing churches, The Presbytery of San Diego and San Fernando have created new strategies for planting churches, starting new worshipping communities and training leaders for ministering outside of church culture. This is their focus for the next 10 years and living results have already emerged. Mike and Jim will share highlights of the journey and encouragement for presbyteries, congregations, and local leaders to take new steps toward becoming vital agents of God’s mission in the world. Mike McClenahan has served Solana Beach Presbyterian Church as senior pastor since 2003 and recently served as Moderator and Chair of the Executive Committee of the San Diego Presbytery. Mike’s passion is for the church to be place of authentic transformation that makes a tangible difference in the world. Jim Milley loves helping leaders live out their call to make new disciples, start new ministries, and foster new Christ-following communities, all outside of existing church culture. Drawing from his over 20 years of experience as a PCUSA missionary in Ethiopia, a GA staff member, and an Associate Pastor at La Cañada Presbyterian Church, Jim has helped the Presbytery of San Fernando start new congregations, foster new worshipping communities, and equip members to live their lives like missionaries in their own neighborhoods and networks.

Deep & Wide: Making Missional Disciples February 21-23, 2017

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