| Conference to co-host national church growth event By John Colemanumconnection staff The Baltimore-Washington and Virginia conferences together will host about 600 United Methodists from around the nation in Washington, D.C., August 7-12, for the annual School of Congregational Development. The event is co-sponsored by the general boards of Discipleship and Global Ministries. Bishops, district superintendents and conference leaders, as well as pastors and laity, are expected to attend the gathering at the Renaissance Hotel for plenary presentations, workshops and worship services focused on making disciples of Jesus Christ and developing growing congregations. Practitioners and experts in church growth and renewal will lead learning tracks targeted to leaders in particular roles, church settings and circumstances. Participants will explore ministry strategies and models in diverse contexts, including urban and rural are as; African-American, Hispanic, Korean and multiethnic/multicultural communities; large, medium-size and small-membership churches; new church starts; and declining congregations seeking revitalization. Scheduled preachers and pre senters include Bishop Felton Edwin May and Bishop Joseph Pennel of the Virginia Conference; Board of Global Ministries General Secretary, the Rev. R. Randy Day; and the Rev. Adam Hamilton, popular author and senior pastor of the fast-growing United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kan. This school will be especially helpful for churches that want to grow and reach new mission fields by starting new faith communities, new worship services or new ministries to revitalize their congregations, said the Rev. Edwin C. DeLong, Baltimore-Washington Conference director of church development. On Sunday, August 10, attendees will visit 14 culturally, economically and geographically diverse teaching churches, 10 in the Baltimore-Washington Conference and four in Northern Virginia. After worship, they will spend the afternoon learning about the challenges and opportunities facing these congregations and methods used to generate successful ministries and church growth. The event registration fee is $400, which includes some meals but not hotel costs. For more information, contact Deborah Carvin at the General Board of Discipleship in Nashville at (877) 899-2780 (toll-free) or
. For an online brochure and registration, visit www.umcncd.org . | 
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