Training
Last week a team of 7 from our church attended the Leadership Institute at the The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Kansas City. Church of the Resurrection is the largest United Methodist church in the denomination with around 20,000 members. This past Easter they just started worshipping in their new sanctuary. Just walking in and seeing the world’s largest stained glass window is impressive to say the least. I joked with Charles saying it felt like we made the journey to the United Methodist mecca!
But the impressive sanctuary is not the real reason we made the journey to Kansas City. Being together as a team and learning what other churches are doing to reach new people was the reason for the trip. We all took classes on different subjects like, communications, youth ministry, small groups, finances, church structure, worship, and discipleship. We also heard from many church leaders on things that worked well for them and the things that didn’t work so well. Almost every speaker and every class was focused on reaching new people. Constantly reminding us to always think of the visitor and those outside of our church. Encouraging us to create an inviting culture in our churches. Our team met this week to discuss things we learned and Charles challenged us to think of one or two things each that we could start doing at Wright’s Chapel. Some are minor things that you may not notice and hopefully some will be noticed right away.
I always enjoy getting away and learning new things. It was great this year to have a team of people go with us and share ideas with each other. I believe our church is stronger when we share leadership. This particular conference is always uplifting to me. Not just because we get to see a really cool church (I’m kind of a church nerd in that way because I really like to check out other church buildings) but because we take some time to think bigger and to focus on our mission of Making disciples that transform the world. Getting away for a week helps me to be encouraged and inspired. Thank you to all of you are apart of Wright’s Chapel for allowing us to travel to this training event. Now I hope we can do something with all that we have learned!
