The Center for Progressive Renewal in Southern California & Nevada
December 10th, 2009
Gary Roberts
The action of the Board of Directors for Local Church Ministries in October that created the Center for Progressive Renewal (see related story) marks a significant change in the way in which Southern California Nevada Conference will partner with the national setting of the UCC for church development in the future.
Most of the staff at the Center for Progressive Renewal have already had important roles in this Conference’s very active church-development efforts. Rev. Cameron Trimble has been a consultant in the implementation of the Conference’s church-development strategy. Rev. Michael Piazza has offered one workshop about renewal for progressive churches, and has plans to do others in the future. Both Michael and Cameron were key presenters at the New Church Leadership Institute (NCLI) for training of potential new church planters, a key training for all new church leaders from SCNC. Rev. Hamleth Terrones has been a key person in the development of a much stronger Latino presence in the SCNC.
In the future these people will be much more involved in this Conference’s church development and renewal. The Center for Progressive Renewal will continue to offer New Church Leadership Institute training, and will be expanded to include training for church-renewal pastors and leaders. They will also be offering a series of on-line training opportunities for both new church pastors and pastors who find themselves in church-renewal settings. Training for lay leaders is also planned. Meantime, Hamleth will be developing a NCLI track specifically for Latino church leaders.
All of these new resources arrive in Southern California as the Conference Board is considering how to continue this Conference’s momentum for church development for the next several years with reduced financial resources. The Church Development Team has been working creatively to engage this challenge and has no doubt that the Center for Progressive Renewal will play a key role in achieving our goals in the future.
For existing individual churches in the Conference, this holds out the prospect of much more help in the development of their own ministries. Whether the Center for Progressive Renewal trains you directly, or trains a cadre of Conference volunteers to help our churches, is a decision for the future. But either way, this gives Conference staff a significant addition of excellent human resources that can be helpful to any church in any setting and at any stage in their life as a church.
Rev. John Doerhauer, Conference Minister for Southwest Conference, said this about the people who staff the Center for Progressive Renewal: “Your greatest asset is your ability to inspire local church leaders to find their own unique and chosen pathways to successful mission and ministry. You lay out a blueprint for action that has the potential to revitalize a ministry, as well as inspire creative thinkers to move forward in directions no one has yet thought of trying. At a time when our denomination suffers the continuous loss of churches, membership, and financial resources, you arrive with both a passion for growth and revitalization and a remarkable ability to affect meaningful and lasting changes.”
Revs. Trimble, Piazza and Terrones will be active presenters at the Vitality Event on February 19 & 20, so it is a chance for you to meet them personally. In the meantime, you can learn more about the Center for Progressive Renewal at www.progressiverenewal.org
Article by:
Gary Roberts, Associate for Church Development & Renewal
December 11th, 2009
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