Raritan Valley District

Annual Day of Learning

For Laity and Clergy

Saturday, April 17,
2010

8:30 AM to 2:00 PM

Bridgewater United Methodist Church

651 Country Club Road

Bridgewater, New Jersey 08807

SCHEDULE FOR THE DAY

8:30 – 9:00 AM                       Registration/Coffee (Superintendency Committee)

9:00 – 9:15 AM                       Worship (Led by Bill Noll)

9:15 – 9:30 AM                       Presentation by District
Church Union

(Jim Silkensen)

9:30 – 10:15 AM                     Plenary (Bob Scott)

10:15 – 11:45 AM                            Workshop I

11:45 AM  – 12:30 PM           LUNCH

*Cost covered
by district  .

12:30 – 2:00 PM                     Workshop II

WORKSHOPS

You may register for one morning workshop and one
afternoon workshop.

Morning Workshops

10:15 AM to 11:45 AM

·
Find
Your “Path”

·
Rethink
Church/Igniting Ministry

·
Roadmap
to Renewal

·
How
To Deal With Difficult People

·
Clergy
Taxes: Filling-out Compensation Forms, W-2s, etc.

·
A
Church Living the Social Principles

·
Why
Should I Give My Money To You?

Afternoon Workshops

12:30 PM to 2:00 PM

·
A
Church Living The Social Principles

·
Why
Should I Give My Money To You?

·
Find
Your “Path”

·
Web
Ministry 101

·
Natural Church Development

·
Staff-Parish
Relations Committee

·
Church
Tax Issues: Property Taxes and UBIT

Workshop Leaders and Descriptions

Morning (M), Afternoon (A)

1.      (M)  Find
Your “Path”: Youth only! Led by Judy Goldstein – a licensed Path Facilitator.

What if each and every person knew their mission—and could
honestly say that their gifts and purpose were right on track to where God was
calling them to be? This workshop will be a chance for you to have a better
understanding of your “path” in life according to the daily
decisions that you make at school, home, and in the church. This exciting
workshop helps you define your mission and create a brief, powerful, and
focused statement of purpose which can be used to initiate, evaluate, and
refine all of life’s activities. You will also be taught how to create a
mission and purpose statement for your youth group to try and figure out those
tough questions: What is my highest life purpose·? What are my  gifts? Why am I here?  What am I called to accomplish?

2.     (M) Rethink Church/Igniting Ministry : Led by Jack Shaw

The promise of “Open hearts. Open minds. Open doors.” from the people of The United
Methodist Church
is being adopted and lived out in our almost 36,000 congregations in the United States.
It was created by Igniting Ministry at United Methodist Communications as part
of the denomination’s first media campaign. Based on the teachings of
John Wesley and following Schnase’s practice of Radical Hospitality,
Igniting Ministry is a multi-faceted welcoming training that will focus on
welcoming.

3.     (M)  Road
Map To Renewal : Led by Doug Ruffle

Many churches wonder if they are on the right road. Many churches sense
that they need a new roadmap to lead them to a more God-directed,
Spirit-infused place, where ministry and mission are healthy and alive. Roadmap to Renewal, a workshop based on the book written by
Doug Ruffle, Conference Coordinator for Congregational Development, offers a
process to help local churches journey toward a new sense of mission and
ministry in the always challenging terrain of being the church in the 21st
Century. The book invites United Methodists and their congregations to follow
biblical examples of taking a trip to discover and rediscover the
church’s mission to do God’s work in the world. Roadmap to
Renewal is a guide for understanding
mission in ways that grow and strengthen local churches. It is designed
especially for small-group use within congregations.

4.     (M) How To Deal With Difficult People – NEW! : Led by Varlyna Wright

Learn how to have the right approach and spirit for dealing with the
difficult people or person in your life.

5.     (M) Clergy Taxes: Filling-out Compensation Forms, W-2s, etc. – Led
by John Cardillo

This course is intended for local church treasurers and finance chairs,
as well as clergy.

6.     (M and A) A Church Living The Social Principles : Led by Cynthia Kent

The United Methodist Church has six Social Principles: (1) The Natural
World, (2) The Nurturing Community, (3) The Social Community, (4) The Economic
Community, (5) The Political Community, and (6) The World Community. Learn the
Social Principles and how to apply them in your ministry. Learn what it is and
how to be a Public Theology Advocate (PTA). Representatives of the Conference
Board of Church and Society will collaborate on this workshop.

7.     (M and A) Why Should I Give My Money To You? : Led by Rich Hendrickson

According to J. Cliff Christopher, in his book, Not Your
Parent’s Offering Plate, the top three reasons people give
are:  (1) belief in the mission, (2) belief in the leadership,
and (3) belief in the organization’s fiscal responsibility.
Christopher goes on to say, “Instead of just cutting our budget, could we
review how well we tell our donors about how well we do our job of changing
lives?  Could we review how well we utilize our pastor and staff when it
comes to relating to our donors?  Could we look to see if we are sending
signals that we are fiscally sound or fiscally unsound?”  This
workshop will focus on how we can create an atmosphere where belief in the
mission, belief in the leadership, and belief in fiscal responsibility can be
nurtured and grow.

8.      (A) Find Your “Path” : Youth workers
only! Led by Judy
Goldstein – a licensed Path Facilitator.

What if each and every person knew their mission—and could
honestly say that their gifts and purpose were in harmony and alignment with
the mission of their lives? This workshop is designed to not only to give you a
clear sense of direction in a world where you are daily forced to make
decisions that will take you either further from or closer to your life goals
but also help the youth in your churches and communities do the same.  You
will also be taught how to create a youth mission and purpose statement for
your youth group answering those powerful questions: What’s life’s
mission? Why am I here? What is my highest life purpose

and is it costing me to not know my
mission? What are my gifts and what am I called to accomplish?

10. (A) Web Ministry 101 :
Led by Jack Shaw

Based on the online program developed by UmCom, this workshop introduces
the basic steps you can take to get your local church on the Internet and
establish a dynamic Web ministry. This workshop is designed for churches that
are just getting started in web ministry or looking to get started. It provides
both theoretical planning and practical steps to create a church’s web
presence.

11. (A) Natural Church Development : Led by Doug Ruffle

A healthy church leads to a growing church. This workshop will give an
overview of the “Natural
Church Development”
process for identifying areas in which the church should focus to bring greater
health and vitality. Learn about the Eight Quality Characteristics of church
health and how to get your church started using Natural Church
Development principles.

12. (A) Staff-Parish Relations Committee : Led by Varlyna Wright

Come
learn the basic responsibilities and duties of this committee!

13. (A) Church
Tax Issues: Property Taxes and UBIT : Led by John Cardillo

This
workshop is intended for any church receiving income not directly related to
its ministry. This includes money from rents (including parsonages), schools,
parking lot usage, cell phone towers, building use agreements, thrift stores,
etc. The IRS, as well as state and local governments, is cracking down hard on
churches and you must be doing things properly to avoid large tax
penalties for your church.

Plenary

”Poverty”

IT’S
A PARTY!

…A Beach Party – that is! Let’s get
ready for Summer with a day of fun-filled beach
activities. We will play games, make crafts, and experience Bible stories as we
learn the 5 Beach Attitudes: Be Obedient, Be Kind, Be Forgiving, Be Bold, and
Believe. Activities will be age-appropriate for children Preschool age to Third
Grade.

The Beach Party will begin after opening worship
and will end after the last workshop.

Parents are encouraged to pick-up their kids for
lunch and bring them back for the second half of the Beach Party. Fun guaranteed!

Led by Jessica Stenstrom