Events

Is Your Church Accessible?

Events Published on
August 9, 2023

The Center for Leadership Excellence invites you to join us for the second webinar in our four-part series on Disability Ministries.

Is your church building accessible? What about your ministry programs? Join us and learn about a tool created by and for United Methodists to help us ensure our churches are places of welcome and inclusion for people with disabilities.

Accessibility Audits and Becoming a Place that Welcomes All
Presented by the Center for Leadership Excellence
with Lynn Swedberg
Tuesday, August 15, 12pm-1pm

Learn More and Register

About the Webinar:

Does your congregation and church building offer intentional hospitality to people with disabilities? An accessibility audit is a tool to measure not just physical accessibility but also attitudes and accommodations for sensory and communication needs. The audit process helps you set goals for continued progress in making your ministries fully inclusive so that everyone’s gifts and graces are utilized in the service of God. This webinar will give you tools and tips to complete the scorable Annual Accessibility Audit for UM churches and determine if you qualify for a badge to affirm and communicate the work you have done.

About Lynn Swedberg:

white woman with shoulder length hair, wearing glasses

Deaconess Lynn Swedberg has been part of the Disability Ministries Committee of the UMC since 2003 and serves as disability consultant and newsletter editor. Her passion is improving accessibility to ensure that people with disabilities are fully and safely included in faith communities and ministries. Identifying as a disability ally, she wrote the “Understanding Ableism” article and Toolkit with input from voices of DMC members with disabilities. She wrote a chapter addressing disability ministry needs for the new Upper Room Safer Sanctuaries book and the Leader’s Guide for the Mission u study on The Church and People with Disabilities. She and the Rev. Debbie Hills co-developed the Annual Accessibility Audit for UM Churches and the related badge program. She is certified in Ministry with People with Disabilities and recently received her Graduate Certificate in Accessibility Studies. Lynn uses her occupational therapy background in teaching accessibility and disability awareness at Central Washington University. She makes her home in Spokane, Washington.

Learn More and Register

My Body is Not a Prayer Request

Events Published on
July 26, 2023

The Center for Leadership Excellence invites you to join us for the first webinar in our four-part series on Disability Ministries.

Join us and hear from Amy Kenny, author of My Body Is Not a Prayer Request, about disability theology and how scripture reminds us that all bodies are made in the image of God.

Disability Theology
Presented by the Center for Leadership Excellence
with Amy Kenny
Tuesday, August 1, 12pm-1pm

Learn More and Register

About the Webinar:

Disabled people are 26% of the population, and yet, so frequently dismissed or ignored in church communities. In this session, Dr. Amy Kenny will outline the value and importance of disability theology, and invite church leaders to learn from the embodied wisdom of disabled people by practicing disability theology.

About Amy Kenny:

a white woman with blonde hair wearing a purple blouse and sitting in her mobility scooter in front of a wall with blue geometric shapes.

Dr. Amy Kenny is a disabled scholar whose writing has been featured in Teen Vogue, Sojourners, Shondaland, Reader’s Digest, Huff Post, and in her award-winning book, My Body Is Not a Prayer Request. She is currently launching the Disability Cultural Initiative at Georgetown University, which seeks to celebrate the diverse disability community and cultivate a culture of access across campus.

Stranger to Neighbor (Limited Spaces Available)

Events Published on
July 24, 2023

The most effective outreach ministries are grounded in relationship. But how do we engage in outreach in our communities if we don’t know our neighbors?

The Center for Leadership Excellence presents a Day of Learning (plus three follow up Zoom conversations) with Daynette Snead Perez. Join us and learn practical steps for reaching beyond your comfort zone to form genuine relationships with people in your community.

Stranger to Neighbor
Presented by the Center for Leadership Excellence
with Race Equity & Justice Ministries
and Daynette Snead Perez

Tuesday, September 19, 2023, 9:30am – 3pm ET
NC Conference Building (Garner, NC)
$40 (includes lunch, a book, and 3 follow-up Zoom sessions)

Note: Capacity for this event is limited to 30 participants. As such, we ask that churches/groups send no more than 3 people. A small group who attends the Day of Learning together could then bring back their learning and use activities from the book to share in their congregation.

About this Day of Learning:

The Stranger to Neighbor Day of Learning offers church leaders new ways to foster awareness, knowledge, and skills for diverse and inclusive ministry outreach and growth.

During this full-day intensive, participants journey for ten badges and arrive at their final destination as more fully formed and inclusive disciples in life and ministry. This gospel-centered workshop is based on Dr. Daynette’s book, CHURCH: What To Do When Everyone Is Like You, a best-selling new release for Christian church growth.

All registrants will receive a copy of this book in the mail to review in advance of our time together. In addition, after the initial Stranger to Neighbor Ministry™ Event, participants are encouraged to participate in three Group Coaching Sessions via Zoom 30 / 60 / 90 days after the sessions. The specific dates will be determined by the end of the event.

Take Aways:

To equip participants on how to grow new intercultural relationships and social networks.
Reveal strengths, challenges, and opportunities between churches and their communities.
Breakthrough new outreach ideas and the differences between culture and community.
Communicate gospel-centered solutions to discuss and implement intercultural church growth.
Identify and break through human roadblocks through five types of discipleship.
Understand ten strategies to grow a Stranger to Neighbor Ministry ™ in life and ministry.

About Daynette Snead Perez:

Dr. Daynette Snead Perez is an ordained minister and a successful model entrepreneur. While building a six-figure business, she served as the missionary pastor for a refugee congregation in North Carolina and founded DIASPRA, an intercultural-focused ministry dedicated to equip churches for growth by building new relationships in their own communities. Her personal mission is leading churches across cultural boundaries of race, gender, generation, and social class.

Using her authentic experiences of encountering people from all walks of life, she guides church leadership and congregations to move from mission to ministry and from strangers to neighbors. With her program Stranger to Neighbor Ministry, she ushers the local church out of congregational sameness and into welcoming intercultural relationships for growth and outstanding discipleship outreach.

Dr. Snead Perez serves as the Domestic Disaster Response Manager for the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and holds graduate degrees from Regent University (MDiv) and Gardner-Webb University (DMin). She lives in Charlotte, North Carolina, with her husband.

Changing The Conversation About Immigration – Sept. 30th

Events Published on
June 30, 2023

Saturday, September 30th beginning at 9:00 am, Morehead United Methodist Church (3214 Horse Pen Creek Road Greensboro, NC 27410) will host a conversation sponsored by Neighborhood Seminary and Hope for Humanity focusing on issues of justice, equity, and inclusion.

The registration fee is $25 to attend and does include lunch.
You can chose a free virtual option as well.
Registration closes September 20th at 5:00 pm.

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Disability Ministries Webinar Series

Events Published on
June 30, 2023

The Center for Leadership Excellence invites you to join us for our Disability Ministries webinar series…

Why does disability theology matter? How can we make our churches more accessible to all people? What are our blind spots? And what can we do to become a church that welcomes all people and engages all people in ministry?

Join us for one, two, or all four webinars this August to learn more about disability ministries and what your church can do to become more welcoming and inclusive for all.

Disability Theology with Amy Kenny, August 1, 12pm-1pm

Amy Kenny, author of My Body is Not a Prayer Request, invites church leaders to learn from the embodied wisdom of disabled people by practicing disability theology. Learn More and Register

Accessibility Audits and Becoming a Church that Welcomes All with Lynn Swedberg, August 15, 12pm-1pm

An accessibility audit is a tool to measure not just physical accessibility but also attitudes and accommodations for sensory and communication needs. This webinar will give you tools and tips to complete the scorable Annual Accessibility Audit for UM churches. Learn More and Register

Ableism in the Church with Melinda Baber, August 22, 12pm-1pm

It is not possible to be a congregation that welcomes all and a congregation that perpetuates ableism at the same time. But how do we dismantle ableism in our congregations if we do not know what it is or how to recognize it? Learn More and Register.

Behavior 101: Understanding Human Behavior in Faith Settings with Joy Van Staalduinen, August 29, 12pm-1pm

All behavior is communication. In this behavior 101 training you will learn how people use behavior to communicate their wants and needs. You will also be introduced to behavioral analysis and learn strategies to prevent harmful behaviors from happening. Jesus used many of these strategies in his ministry and soon you can too! Learn More and Register

November Pilgrimage to the Border

Events Published on
June 28, 2023

Hope for Humanity (H4H) is offering an experiential learning pilgrimage that explores the causes and difficulties of migration as well as the impact of the U.S. immigration policies. This pilgrimage will bring to the forefront the voices of migrants and people who are committed to social change through hands on experiences.

H4H is partnering with ABARA in El Paso, TX.

ABARA Borderland Connections is linked with nearly 20 migrant shelters on both sides of the border. They partner with local leaders to facilitate connections through hospitality, advocacy, and friendship. Team Abara is resourcing shelter leaders, welcoming new arrivals, and assisting migrant entrepreneurs. We join in solidarity with families who are fleeing rivers of violence, despair, and natural disasters in search of refuge, safety, and community.

Our pilgrimage is scheduled for November 7th – 11th of this year.
Cost options:

$600 per person includes dormitory style accommodations, lunch, dinner, programming, and local transportation. Transportation to and from El Paso is at the expense of each participant.

$550 per person includes lunch, dinner, programming, and local transportation. Hotel and transportation to and from El Paso is at the expense of each participant.

A non-refundable deposit of $100 is required upon registration. You are asked to reach out to h4h@springforest.org to make your deposit by check, ask questions, or inquire about a scholarship. (Please put Nov. 2023 Border Pilgrimage in the subject line. )

Complete Pre-Registration

This QR Code will also take you to this information and a place to complete your pre-registration.

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