Renewal Assembly II: Focusing on God's Blessings, Saturday, June 11
April 15, 2011
“The best part of the day was that we got together to share our ideas,” commented a participant at the February 19 Renewal Assembly. “Not only must we learn to listen to God but we must listen to each other. Hopefully, there will be more opportunities to have events such as this one.”
The Congregational Renewal Committee heard comments and requests such as this following the February 19 Assembly and has scheduled the next event for the Eve of Pentecost, Saturday, June 11, 9:00 AM to 1:30 PM, at eight new sites across the diocese. The day’s organizing theme will be: Focusing on God’s Blessings.
Building on the many positive comments and suggestions about the video, the small group discussion, and the time for prayer, the basic framework for the assembly will remain the same. The committee also heard the request that there be more lay leadership in the video and in the program.
In Focusing on God’s Blessings, the day will introduce the process of “asset mapping,” which is a recommended resource in the document From Risks to Opportunities (R2O). R2O suggests that “[w] hen the starting point is the recognition of the abundance of God’s gifts and talents, the discussion the congregation can ‘find an exciting, new and positive energy to break out of the negative cycles of need, dependency, and the inaction in congregations sometimes experience.’ ” (See Luther K. Snow, The Power of Asset Mapping: How Your Congregation Can Act on its Gifts, Alban Institute: 2004, pg. xiii.)
The eight sites will be: Church of the Redeemer, Sayre; St. Paul’s, Montrose; Good Shepherd, Scranton; St. Stephen’s Pro-Cathedral, Wilkes-Barre; St. Peter’s, Hazelton; St. Mary’s, Reading; St. Stephen’s, Whitehall; and, St. George’s, Hellertown. The host sites were chosen for easy travel, parking, and adequate accommodations. A luncheon will be provided with a “free will” offering to offset local expenses.
Registration is open on www.diobeth.org. The registration is found by clicking on the “Register for Diocesan event” on the right column of the homepage. Registration closes on June 1. All registrants will be assigned to the most appropriate host site.
Download the entire flyer in .pdf form here: Download PR II Trifold