{"id":10037,"date":"2026-01-21T11:04:31","date_gmt":"2026-01-21T16:04:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nccumc.org\/laity\/?post_type=tribe_events&p=10037"},"modified":"2026-03-25T07:09:45","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T11:09:45","slug":"opening-oursleves-to-grace-basic-christian-practices","status":"publish","type":"tribe_events","link":"https:\/\/nccumc.org\/laity\/event\/opening-oursleves-to-grace-basic-christian-practices\/","title":{"rendered":"Opening Ourselves to Grace: Basic Christian Practices"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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The Capital district Lay Servant Ministries team presents Opening Ourselves to Grace with Billy Sander<\/a>…<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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\n\t\t\n\t\t\tApril 18\t\t<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t @ \t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t8:30 am\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t – \t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t5:00 pm\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\n\t\n\t\n
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Westwood UMC<\/a><\/h3>\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\n\n130 Short Street<\/span>\n\t\n\t\t
\n\t\tGoldsboro<\/span>,<\/span>\n\n\tNorth Carolina<\/abbr>\n\n\t27530<\/span>\n\n\n<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/address>\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t<\/div>\n\t\n\t<\/div>\n\n\n
\n\t\t\t $25 <\/span>\n\t\t\t\tincludes lunch<\/span>\n\t<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Course scholarships are available to those in need of financial assistance. Please contact your district director or lsm@nccumc.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About the Course:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This course, which includes short videos from the publisher, helps lay servant leaders embrace and communicate a Wesleyan understanding of basic Christian practices (works of piety and mercy) as means of grace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Download the Reading for Free!<\/strong>

The reading for this course, Opening Ourselves to Grace: The Means of Grace and Discipleship<\/a><\/em>, by Steven W. Manskar, is available as a free download. Participants are expected to complete the reading prior to class.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For questions about the course, please contact Capital district co-directors, Janet Groberski (jgroberski@nccumc.org<\/a>) or
James Bernstein (jbernstein@nccumc.org<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
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About the Facilitator:<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Billy Sander<\/strong> is a joyful and deeply devoted United Methodist pastor who believes that ministry is less about standing behind a pulpit and more about walking beside people\u2014sometimes with muddy boots, a microphone in hand, and a good story to tell.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n\n\n

We regret that we are unable to issue refunds or credits of registration fees.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Capital district is pleased to offer this course, which is open to all laity. This course, which includes short videos from the publisher, helps lay servant leaders embrace and communicate a Wesleyan understanding of basic Christian practices (works of piety and mercy) as means of grace.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":199,"featured_media":10038,"template":"","meta":{"_tec_requires_first_save":false,"_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"America\/New_York","_EventStartDate":"2026-04-18 08:30:00","_EventEndDate":"2026-04-18 17:00:00","_EventStartDateUTC":"2026-04-18 12:30:00","_EventEndDateUTC":"2026-04-18 21:00:00","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"25","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"$","_EventCurrencyCode":"USD","_EventCurrencyPosition":"prefix","_EventDateTimeSeparator":" @ ","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":" - ","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[7504],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_tribe_blocks_recurrence_rules":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_description":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_exclusions":"","_tribe_events_status":"","_tribe_events_status_reason":"","_tribe_events_is_hybrid":"","_tribe_events_is_virtual":"","_tribe_events_virtual_video_source":"","_tribe_events_virtual_embed_video":"","_tribe_events_virtual_linked_button_text":"","_tribe_events_virtual_linked_button":"","_tribe_events_virtual_show_embed_at":"","_tribe_events_virtual_show_embed_to":[],"_tribe_events_virtual_show_on_event":"","_tribe_events_virtual_show_on_views":"","_tribe_events_virtual_url":"","footnotes":""},"tags":[8,14,9],"tribe_events_cat":[186,194,179,193],"class_list":["post-10037","tribe_events","type-tribe_events","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-effective-leaders","tag-healthy-congregations","tag-lay-servant-ministries","tribe_events_cat-capital-district","tribe_events_cat-district-office","tribe_events_cat-in-person","tribe_events_cat-nc-conference-ministry","cat_capital-district","cat_district-office","cat_in-person","cat_nc-conference-ministry"],"yoast_head":"\nOpening Ourselves to Grace: Basic Christian Practices | Laity Ministries | North Carolina Conference of The United Methodist Church<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nccumc.org\/laity\/event\/opening-oursleves-to-grace-basic-christian-practices\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Opening Ourselves to Grace: Basic Christian Practices | Laity Ministries | North Carolina Conference of The United Methodist Church\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Capital district is pleased to offer this course, which is open to all laity. 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