2013 LEADERS IN MINISTRY CONFERENCE PLENARY AND WORKSHOP DESCRIPTIONS PLENARY PRESENTERS MONDAY: SENSE A CALL

The Listening Heart Dr. Luther Smith Professor of Church and Community, Candler School of Theology, Atlanta, GA Coming to a sense of vocation involves many diverse life experiences. Experiences of nurture and abuse, community and alienation, assurance and uncertainty, joy and grief form and transform us. Discerning meaning in these experiences is challenging . . . and necessary. The call to vocation is also the call to discernment. Time and time again, this is our challenge. Some of the questions most immediate to the challenge of discernment are: Who do I want to become? On whom do I rely to help me in becoming? How do spiritual practices empower my discernment? What fears intimidate me? How do I choose one path among many promising paths? These are questions that "the listening heart" hears, and these are questions that the listening heart answers.

TUESDAY: EXPLORE A CALL

Work on Purpose: Why Secular Institutions are Talking About Calling Linda Kay Klein Director, Work on Purpose Program Echoing Green, New York, NY As the walls of the church have become increasingly porous, purpose has entered the air, and its sticking to everything from academia to entrepreneurship. Linda Kay Klein will explore the correlation between the decline in American organized religion and the rise in secular institutions interest in and organization around purpose and calling. She will provide an inside look at the purpose work of Echoing Greenthe twenty five year old social entrepreneurship nonprofit behind Teach for America, City Year, and Genocide Intervention Networkand will challenge tomorrows religious leaders to redefine their role for a world in which the church really is everywhere.

WEDNESDAY: ENACT A CALL

Should Christians Act Like Crips: Redeeming and Restoring our Youth Reverend Romal Tune Author and Founder of Faith for Change, Los Angeles, CA Churches and CBOs must compete in the market place of our communities on a daily bases in order to save lives and help young people. Gangs, drug dealers, hustlers and the like, compete seven days a week for the lives of our children. Innovative approaches to reach young people are a must. 1

TUESDAY: EXPLORATION WORKSHOPS AND DESCRIPTIONS

Soil and Sacrament: Bringing Ministry Down to Earth" Dr. Fred Bahnson, Author and Director of Food, Faith, and Religious Leadership Initiative, Wake Forest University School of Divinity, Winston-Salem, NC Eating is the central metaphor of the Christian faith, yet the way we grow and share food is wrecking havocon our bodies, on our communities, on Creation itself. But it need not be so. One of the most exciting edges of ministry is happening where churches are creating redemptive local food ministries. In this session hear stories from a growing food & faith movement thats redefining abundance in the Kingdom of God. Public Ministry through Organizing Sung Yeon Choi-Morrow, Director of Organizing, Interfaith Worker Justice, Chicago, IL God calls us to live out our faith in ways that is personal but public. Public faith is a crucial part of our walk as Christians. At Interfaith Worker Justice, our work towards economic justice is a place where people of faith can engage in public ways to live out our faith. We walk alongside low-wage workers, to amplify the voices of workers and speak truth to power. Join this workshop for a rich discussion on how our faith can be lived out publicly through engaging in organizing and addressing systemic injustices. Love Crosses Borders: Radical Hospitality and Immigrants Anton Flores-Maisonet, Co-founder, Alterna, a Christian missional community located in LaGrange, GA. In 2006, Anton Flores-Maisonet left academia to pursue a life of Christian solidarity with "undocumentable" immigrants. Today, as a co-founder of Alterna, a Christian missional community, Flores-Maisonet shares of his journey alongside some of the most rejected, yet resilient, brothers and sisters in Georgia who originate from faraway lands. Anton's presentation promises to be a filled with theological reflection, policy analysis, and compelling stories from his communitys life of radical hospitality. Why Secular Institutions are Talking About Calling Linda Kay Klein, Director, Work on Purpose Program Echoing Green, New York, NY Learn more about Echoing Green's Work on Purpose program and how you can be trained to help the young people you work with identify their purpose and put it into action by creating a career with impact. Echoing Green is a twenty five year old social entrepreneurship nonprofit behind Teach for America, City Year, and Genocide Intervention Networkand will challenge tomorrows religious leaders to redefine their role for a world in which the church really is everywhere 2

The Role of the Pastor in Faith and Politics Rev. Romal Tune, Author and Founder of Faith for Change, Los Angeles, CA This workshop will discuss the role of faith in politics, and the role of the pastor as a moral voice for fairness, justice and equality. Participants will also address if the church should be an issue advocacy institution on policy issues and why members should be concerned with policy and politics.

No Church in the Wild?: Rap's Sacred Utterances and the Future of the Church Rev. Dr. Michael Waters, Founder and Senior Pastor, Joy Tabernacle AME Church, Dallas, TX Conceptions of the Divine have long been part of rap music's ever-expanding canon. For almost two generations, rap music's sacred utterances have been as formational as Scripture. This workshop entails an exploration of rap's music most seminal offerings that reveals much about religious experience today and the future of the church. Redefining Prison Ministry from the Inside Out Janet Wolf, Director, Haley Farm and Nonviolent Organizing, Children's Defense Fund, Clinton, TN Less than 20% of those who are incarcerated receive visits from people on the outside. Prison ministry that does exist is often limited to a worship service or bible study, with a focus on how the "good" people from the outside might minister to, evangelize, and "save" the "lost" people behind prison bars. How might prison ministry change if we shift from ministry to and for those who are incarcerated to ministry and partnership WITH those who are incarcerated? This workshop will explore practical theology and concrete possibilities for congregational prison ministry work. This is an interactive participatory workshop open to all. Fear Not: Infusing Courage to Connect Beyond the Four Walls Pastor Muche Ukegbu, Family Pastor, Blueprint Church, Atlanta, GA The nature of the city is dynamic and the definition of urban is changing. Urban is no longer defined by ethnicity rather, by density and diversity. God wants to engage the beauty and complexity of city redeeming people and culture for His glory. The task can be daunting and fear is a typical response evidenced by either distancing ourselves from the city or conforming so that we don't have to deal with the tension. During the course of the workshop we'll unpack gospel centered philosophies and practices for engaging the urban context and overcoming fear rooted in the reality that courage follows and is anchored in the presence of God. God has promised to be with His people.

THURSDAY: CLOSING WORSHIP GUEST PREACHER

Bishop Yvette Flunder Senior Pastor, City of Refuge United Church of Christ and Presiding Bishop, The Fellowship of Affirming Churches.