COR Leadership Institute Begins Tomorrow

I am taking a break from packing the warmest clothes I can find in order to write down my thoughts about the Leadership Institute I will be attending with the other pastors from my chuch beginning today in Leawood Kansas.

The Institute is being held at the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection pastored by Adam Hamilton. This year, along with Adam, Mike Slaughter from Ginghmasburg UMC in Ohio will also be speaking at the main sessions.

I attended the Institute in 2006 with staff from Saint Paul's UMC in Tallahassee and really enjoyed it. I am looking forward to this year's even more.

My hopes are that we will return with some practical ideas for taking SUMC to the next level. We are seeing some amazing things happening in our church right now, but we can't relax and get comofrtable; we must begin strategizing about where to go from here.

I have a great deal of respect for Adam and for Mike and am looking forward to hearing what they have to say to us this year. The UMC has fallen on hard times as of late, and I feel that one of the major emphases is going to be on recruiting and training younger leaders. I think this is vitally important to the future of our denomination and anticipate hearing what they have to say on this topic. I am also looking forward to gaining some worship planning tips and checking out their young adult ministry as well as their new church start: Resurrection Downtown.

I am also really looking forward to the cooler air. It's been really hot here in Florida, and some nice Autumn weather will be a nice change of pace.

I'll try to blog frequently throughout the Conferrence, and share my thoughts on what I am learning.