Where is Pastor Vic????

The Congress on Evangelism is sponsored by the Council on Evangelism and the General Board of Discipleship with the support of The Foundation for Evangelism. The congress meets every January at different locations presenting motivational speakers and workshops based on evangelism. This year the Congress will meet in New Orleans, Louisiana. Primary Lodging will be provided by The Roosevelt Hotel. Please pry that God will use this time as a time of blessing and leaning. I will be posting updates on my Pastor Blog as I am able to this week. See you next Sunday!

Blessings,

Pastor Vic

Speakers

Bishop Minerva Carcaño

In 2004, Bishop Minerva Carcaño became the first Hispanic woman to be elected to the episcopacy of The United Methodist Church. Not forgetting her roots and early hopes, her ministry has always involved work with the poor, with farm workers, immigrants, and refugees, even as she encourages congregations to work ecumenically and to be active in community organizing.

Desert Southwest Conference website – desertsouthwestconference.org

Rudy Rasmus

Rudy Rasmus is pastor of St. John’s United Methodist Church in Houston, TX. In his 17 years at St. John’s the congregation has grown from 9 to over 9,000, one-third of which are or were formerly homeless. It is considered to be one fo the most culturally diverse congregations in the country and is the base for numerous ministries serving the poor and homeless.

Visit St. Johns Downtown website - www.stjohnsdowntown.org

Bishop Will Willimon

Bishop Will Willimon is the Episcopal leader for the North Alabama Conference. Prior to his appointment, he was the Dean of the Chapel and Professor of Christian Ministry at Duke Divinity School. He is an editor for the Wesley Study Bible and author of 60 books.

Visit North Alabama Conference website – www.northalabamaumc.org Visit Bishop Willimon’s Blog – willimon.blogspot.com

William P. Young

William “Paul” Young is the author of the book The Shack. Born in Alberta, Canada to missionary parents, he holds an undergraduate degree in Religion from Warner Pacific College in Portland, Oregon.

Young had written primarily as a way to create unique gifts for friends, until his wife repeatedly urged him to write something for their 6 children in order to put down in one place his perspectives on God and on the inner healing Young had experienced as an adult. The resulting manuscript (which later became The Shack), was intended only for his 6 kids and for a handful of close friends. Young initially printed just fifteen copies of his book. Two of his close friend encouraged him to have it published and assisted with some editing and rewriting in order to prepare the manuscript for publication. Rejected by 26 publishers, Young and his friends published the book under the name of their newly created publishing company, Windblown Media in 2007. The company spent only $300 in advertising; word-of-mouth referrals eventually drove the book to number one on the New York Times trade paperback fiction best-seller list in June 2008. The Shack was the top-selling fiction and audio book of 2008 in America through November 30.

Visit The Shack website – theshackbook.com

Visit William Young’s Website – www.windrumors.com

Jim Walker

Jim Walker is co-pastor of Hot Metal Bridge in Pittsburg, PA, a faith community that reaches young people through drama and alternative worship forms as well as traditional practices. Jim is a Full Ordained Elder in the United Methodist Church.

Visit Hot Metal Bridge website – www.hotmetalbridge.com

Kenda Creasy Dean

Kenda Creasy Dean is an ordained elder in the Baltimore-Washington Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church, and Associate Professor of Youth, Church and Culture at Princeton Theological Seminary, where she works closely with the Institute for Youth Ministry. Her most recent books include Oblivious: What the Faith of American Teenagers Is Telling the American Church (Oxford, forthcoming) and Generation OMG: A Youth Ministry Handbook, ed. (Abingdon, forthcoming). s.

Bishop William Hutchinson

Bishop William Hutchinson is the Episcopal leader for the Louisiana Conference and was the acting bishop following Hurricane Katrina’s destruction on New Orleans. Hutchinson led the effort of rebuilding the city following the aftermath of the destructive storm.

Visit the Louisiana Conference website – www.la-umc.org

Jonathan Dow – Worship

Jonathan serves as the Executive Director of Aldersgate Renewal Ministries in Goodlettsville, Tennessee. He is a worship leader and teaches and preaches on Biblical worship at retreats and conferences. He comes with a passion to see people deepen their intimacy with God through worship.

Workshops ( I'm Taking)

Workshop 1 Wednesday, January 06, 2010 - 1:00 PM - 2:15 PM (Eastern Time)

Selection: 4 Welcome ... Beyond Walls - Kwasi Kena..

Workshop 2 Wednesday, January 06, 2010 - 2:45 PM - 4:00 PM (Eastern Time)

Selection: 2 Building Bridges to the Kingdom of God - Jim Walker

Workshop 3 Thursday, January 07, 2010 - 1:00 PM - 2:15 PM (Eastern Time)

Selection: 3 Evangelism as Initial Spiritual Direction - Tom Albin

Workshop 4 Thursday, January 07, 2010 - 2:45 PM - 4:00 PM (Eastern Time)

Selection: 9 Small Groups for Small Churches - Joe Peabody Jr.

Each morning and evening is filled with times of worship, study and fellowship. for those in attendance.