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913-948-9701 or
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CENTRAL STATES SYNOD HOUSES OF STUDY

WORKSHOPS/CONFERENCES

Parish/Faith Community Nurse Basic
Preparation Course
August 9-13, 2010
Jefferson City, Missouri

What is a Parish/Faith Community Nurse?
Parish/Faith Community Nursing is a community-based ministry, uniquely joined with a faith community and its belief system to promote health and prevent disease by tending to the whole person through a holistic approach, which means meeting the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of the congregation and community's members. A registered nurse serves as the health educator. He or she works closely with a Health Ministry Task Force, the pastor and the church's governing body to tailor health related activities to the desires and unique characteristics of the congregation and community it serves.

Additional information can be found at the Missouri School of Religion Web site: www.missourischoolofreligion.org

Ministry in a Rural and Small Town Context
Course Description
This course will focus on effective ways of doing ministry in the small congregation, particularly in the rural context. The nature, unique dynamics and mission of the small/rural congregation will be explored in a seminar setting. Consideration will be giving to tools and strategies for assessing the vitality and viability of small congregations and to exploring appropriate leadership styles for small churches.

Instructor
Dr. Shannon Jung, is Professor of Town and Country Ministries, St. Paul School of Theology, Kansas City, MO. He received his PhD from Vanderbilt University, his STM from Yale University Divinity School and his BD from Union Theological Seminary, Virginia. He has written books on Rural Ministry including; Discovering Hope: Building Vitality in Rural Congregations, Rural Ministry: The Shape of the Renewal to Come, and Rural Congregational Studies: A Guide for Good Shepherds. He has also published several articles on the subject.

Times, Dates, Costs and Textbooks
Dates: August 19-21, 2010
Times: 9:00 a.m. Thursday to 5:00 p.m. Saturday
Location: Rickman Center, Jefferson City, MO
Cost: $390 (includes lodging and meals) $330 Commuter
Textbooks:

• Hollowing Out the Middle: The Rural Brain Drain and What it Means for America by Patrick J. Carr and Maria J. Kefalas
• Discovering Hope: Building Vitality in Rural Congregations, David Poling-Goldenne and Shannon Jung, Augsburg Fortress Press.

You can register online by visiting the Missouri School of Religion website.

Single Clergy Retreat
Grace Place Lutheran Retreats (affiliated social ministry organization ELCA) is searching for single Lutheran clergy and educators, never married or single by being widowed or divorced, to gather in retreat September 1-5, 2010, in a most beautiful, peaceful and health-filled setting in Snowmass, Colo., at the Retreat House of St. Benedict's Monastery.

This is a most unique opportunity for discernment, healthy learning and renewal of strength and vibrancy for ministry and personal life faced by God's Called as single in His service. Our desire is to keep healthy pastors and teachers healthy! The Rockies are magnificent in the early Fall. The leaders, John D. Eckrich, M.D. (LCMS) and Rev. Dr. Mel and Dr. Mary Jacob (ELCA) are busy preparing an awesome program. The cost is reasonable, $360 for the whole week, and access is easy by rail, air or auto.

For information and registration, go to www.graceplaceretreats.org or call Annette Woehlke at (314) 842-3077.

Opening Gates, Opening Hearts
Faithful Responses to Offender Reentry
Saturday, September 11
Christian Fellowship Church, 4600 Christian Fellowship Rd., Columbia, Misssouri

Breakout sessions include:

• Collaborating with the Missouri Reentry Process Community Teams
• What You Can Do as a Local Church
• Probation and Parole, What Do They Expect?
• Finding Funding
• Volunteers in Corrections
• Family Outreach

Additional information can be found at the Missouri School of Religion Web site: www.missourischoolofreligion.org

Seventh Annual
Churches Planting Churches
National Conference
Messiah Lutheran Church
905 NW 94th Street, Vancouver, WA 98665-6842

You are invited to the annual Churches Planting Churches National Conference. Hosted this year in Vancouver, WA—just across the Columbia River from Portland, OR and very near the end of the Oregon Trail.

The conference will provide unique opportunities to see, experience, and learn about the variety of ways God is growing the Church through congregations that are planting new congregations and worshiping communities. Download flyer/registration form: Churches Planting Churches.

Money Leadership: Your Life With Money
Online Course
Dates: Sept 27 - Nov 12, 2010
Price: $175

This interactive study was developed to help pastors and other congregational leaders increase their confidence in money leadership. The course is designed to encourage greater freedom to talk about the relationship between money and faith and to examine and, perhaps, change behaviors.

With this freedom and through the information and activities in this course, you will become more confident in your private and public behaviors related to faith and money issues. This course opens a door to faith and money issues.

This course is being offered through Select Learning. For more information visit:
www.selectlearning.org. To download a informational flyer, click here.

Faith and Wisdom
The Department for Ecumenical Affairs (ELCA), in cooperation with the Division for Ministry, eight partner denominations, and 200 regional organizations, now offers www.FaithandWisdom.org. Congregations can use this unique, non-commercial resource to find ecumenical - and other - events online. With over 15,000 events posted to date, thousands of people use this site each year. Check out the web site and watch for more about Faith and Wisdom in the near future.