Ichabod Breaks Ranks With Confessionals To Promote Church and Change Conference

John Huebner, Shrinker

From:
Date: Mon, Sep 14, 2009 at 4:41 PM
Subject: [church_and_change] Looked at the line-up for C & C Nov. 5-7? Tomorrow is last day for discount!
To: church_and_change@yahoogroups.com

Here is some information about the Church and Change conference that will take place November 5-7 in Milwaukee. I think its main theme is highly important to us all. There isn't any other place that I know of to find this many creative WELS Reformed leaders presenting on so many areas of ministry Enthusiasm in which God their Father Below has obviously blessed them abundantly. Koine and others will be heavily involved in the worship services. This is special. See below for some descriptions and further below for web sites, etc.

John Huebner


Helping Our Churches Get Off Life Support
By Bruce Becker [St. Marcus, on more life support than great-great-granny]

The patient is any one of the 1,000 WELS churches that have, collectively as a denomination, been sharing the gospel with fewer people every year for the past 18 years. The good news is that there are approximately 100 WELS churches that are sharing the gospel with more and more people each and every year.


So what’s the difference between the congregations sharing the gospel with less people [GJ - surely he means fewer people] and the congregations sharing it with more? Do these congregations have different attitudes toward ministry? Different demographics? Different ministry forms and approaches? Different leaders with different gifts? We’ll examine characteristics that are hurting congregations as well as those that are helping congregations in their efforts to bring the power of the gospel to more and more people.

Bruce Becker [lately of The Love Shack] is the director of operations for Time of Generic Grace Ministry, an international television and media outreach ministry headquartered in Milwaukee, WI. He spent the previous seven years as the administrator for WELS Perish Services and the seven years prior as the administrator for WELS Adult Discipleship. Prior to his service on the denominational level, he served as the lead pastor of congregations located in Brillion, WI, and Springville, NY. He has been a respected and well-known presenter, instructor, advisor, and writer within WELS Shrinker organizations and congregations for the past 15 years, serving as the keynote speaker and/or lead author for numerous synodical or church-related conferences and publications. 

Regaining Momentum:

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Regaining Momentum: Learning from our Turnaround Churches
The goal of the Turnaround Churches project is to identify the most significant factors associated with the manner in which the Lord blessed selected WELS congregations that have experienced turnaround. What are we learning, and how might these findings benefit both our struggling and our healthier congregations?

Pastor Elton Stroh [GJ - lately of The Love Shack]
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Three Preconference Intensive (3-hour) workshops

001......Elephants, Fleas, Frogs and Me; John Branstad
002......Coach Skill Training for Leaders; Mike and Christy Geiger
003......Relational Ministries Workshop; John Johnson


Five Ministry Areas of Focus
Adult Discipleship (100)
Children and Youth (200)
Outreach/Evangelism (300)
Women’s Ministries (400)
Worship (500)

Workshop Leaders include Ron Roth [Church Growth Founder], Daron Lindemann, Jane Schlenvogt, Randy Hunter [Latte Lutheran Church Theatre, Debbie Rothe, Brian Davison, David Bauer, Daniel Dexter, Tim Mueller, Jeff Davis [Board Member, C and C] and many more. Topics include personal development, leadership, coaching, outreach, Sunday Schools, youth, worship, women's ministry. Those who lead this conference have been faithfully working in their respective areas, have learned from their mistakes and the blessings God has given them and have much to offer. All in one place!

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(borrowed from the official announcement from Ron Ash - bagman for The Core)

One day remains to register for The 2009 Church & Change Conference at the "early bird" rate. Registration fees are $200 per individual registration received by September 15, 2009; $280 per individual registration received on or after September 16, 2009.  But the early birds all flew the coop so we are extending the deadline until someone shows up. Anyone, please, for the love of Fuller, show up and help our dwindling self-esteem.

Registration fees include all general, breakout, and workshop sessions beginning at 1:00 p.m. on Thursday, November 5, through Saturday, November 7, 2009.

You will be challenged, inspired and encouraged as a Christian and as a leader of Christians. When several hundred creative WELS Reformed leaders gather around God's Word shop-worn fads and share their kelmed ideas, that's what we expect to happen!

Join us at the Wyndham Milwaukee Airport Hotel and Convention Center Milwaukee, WI. A special "3+1 offer" will be available to congregations sending four or more participants victims. All meals are included in the conference price, but participants will need to provide their own lodging and No-Doz tablets.

Special conference hotel rates of $99 single or $109 double occupancy per night are available at the Wyndham Milwaukee Airport Hotel & Convention Center through October 13, 2009. Please contact the hotel directly to make your hotel reservations at (866) 625-3104 and mention you are attending the Church & Change Conference. But please never mention Ed Stetzer again - we mean it.

Reservations can also be made online at: http://www.wyndham.com/groupeventsnew/mkeap_churchchange09/main.wnt.

All registrations will take place online at http://www.regonline.com/churchandchange2009. For a full description of each presenter/topic, click C&C program.bw.pdf for efficient black/white printing or C&C program.color.pdf for full color viewing printing. Check out our Website www.churchandchange.org for further details.


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GJ - I admit to improving the text a bit. I would like to see a huge turnout of confessional Lutherans, for obvious reasons.