2023 Conference Workshops
A number of training workshops will be offered Wednesday morning, May 31 from 10 a.m. to noon. Several of these learning opportunities feature books published by BWC clergy this year. Register for the workshop when you register for the Annual Conference session.
Cultivating Generosity through Community Connections
With Frank Robert and the MidAtlantic United Methodist Foundation
This workshop will highlight the practical and inspiring work of the pastors who recently completed the Advance Financial Academy and developed discipleship-based partnerships with their communities.
Robert, a member of St. Paul’s UMC in Sykesville, is Associate Director of the MidAtlantic Foundation.
Daring Adventures: Helping Gender-Diverse Kids and Their Families Thrive
With Rev. Rachel A. Cornwell
Parents should not have to choose between their children and their faith. This workshop uses a spiritual lens to explore how accepting children of all gender identities is at the heart of all faith communities and provides insights on how to learn, grow and create safe spaces where transgender and gender-fluid kids and their families will be surrounded with the love and support they need and deserve.
Cornwell, pastor of Dumbarton UMC in Georgetown, is the author of Daring Adventures: Helping Gender-Diverse Kids and Their Families Thrive. She is the mother of three children, the youngest of whom came out as transgender when he was in the first grade.
An Introduction to Creating A Legacy-Giving Program
With Rev. Marlon Tilghman
Explore this unique, five-step process to inspire and equip pastors and laity to be community-building leaders through economics. Step one will inspire participants to understand that faith is a crucial step in building a legacy for their congregations. Steps two and three will give historical and theological data for why and how legacy giving is essential for the vitality and longevity of any faith organization. The fourth and fifth steps will dismantle the myths that prevent people from being legacy-giving leaders while building an economic base for their church and themselves.
Tilghman, pastor of Ames UMC in Bel Air, is the author of Reimagining Discipleship | Leaving A Legacy. He believes that economics and love are keys to our liberation and pursuit of the Beloved Community.
Sustaining While Disrupting: The Challenge of Congregational Innovation
With Rev. Doug Powe
This timely workshop will offer strategic insights to clergy and other church leaders who feel pressed to preserve cherished traditions even as they direct people to discern the new thing God is doing.
Powe, the director of the Lewis Center for Church Leadership, holds the James C. Logan Chair in Evangelism at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C. He is the co-author, with the Rev. Lovett Weems, of Sustaining While Disrupting: The Challenge of Congregational Innovation, and the author of several other books.
Hope For The City: Transformational Leadership Development for Urban Ministries
With Rev. C. Anthony Hunt
Providing practical skills and theological wisdom to create transformational leaders who can work in today’s urban settings is the focus of this workshop, which will focus on creating vital and life-transforming ministries in the city.
Anthony Hunt, senior pastor at Epworth Chapel UMC in Baltimore, has a passion for teaching and is the author of 10 books, including Hope For The City: Transformational Leadership Development for Urban Ministries.
Volunteers in Mission Team Leader Refresher Course
With Thea Becton and Ray Yarnall
United Methodist Volunteers in Mission is a grassroots movement within The United Methodist Church designed to provide an official channel for volunteer service, and an opportunity to express “Christian Love in Action.” This workshop, for those who have previously attended a UMVIM Team Leader Training, will provide a brief review of the full Team Leader training, updates on resources, insurance, and other team requirements. The session will also include a discussion about the Baltimore-Washington Conference process for teams, pre- and post-travel.
Thea Becton is the BWC’s staff resource person for Wellness and Missions. Ray Yarnall is the Northeastern Jurisdiction UMVIM Coordinator.
The Church at the Intersection
With leaders from the General Commission on Religion and Race
The work of the Church often finds us mired in the whirlwind of meeting needs and encountering issues of injustice, all while ministering to the whole person. And yet, ministry calls us to truly see people in all the ways God has made them – race and ethnicity, gender, culture, social location, and ability. Dr. Kimberle Crenshaw coined the term intersectionality in 1989 to name the reality that people cannot separate their intersecting identities from their lived experiences – especially historically marginalized people who encounter discrimination and bias daily. Engage in self-reflection and learn together what intersectionality is and how it applies to your life and ministry.