212 19th St, Virginia Beach, VA 23451

EMAIL: [email protected]

virginia beach united methodist church

212 19th St, Virginia Beach, VA 23451

november 2, 2024

Tracks

Each Church Will Choose One Track For All Participants From Their Church

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Lunch and Learn Breakouts

(Individuals Will Choose One Lunch and Learn)

Listen First -- Learning to Engage Your Church's Community

In this workshop, we'll think about the importance of a church's presence in its local community. We will consider strategies for hearing the voice of a community and methods for effective interfacing with neighbors of small churches in Virginia.

With Rev. Dr. Jonathan Page

Rev. Dr. Jonathan Page is the Director of Connectional Ministries for Innovation and Creativity in the Virginia Annual Conference. He is passionate about churches living in connection with community and creating relational spaces for transformation. In his work with the Annual Conference, Jonathan leads in thought and action around strategic planning, ideation facilitation, and anything that benefits from an innovative and creative perspective.

Jonathan is originally from Virginia Beach, VA, having grown up in Haygood United Methodist Church. He attended Christopher Newport University, earning a Bachelor’s Degree in Modern Languages and Literatures. During his last year of college, Jonathan began working as a Youth Pastor at Francis Asbury UMC in Virginia Beach, a position he held until moving to Durham, NC to attend Duke Divinity School. Following the completion of his Master’s of Divinity Degree, Jonathan moved back to Virginia to serve as an Associate Pastor at St. Andrew’s UMC (Virginia Beach) and as a Lead Pastor at Fieldstone UMC and Herndon UMC. Jonathan was ordained as an Elder in Full Connection in 2014 and earned a Doctorate of Education in Organizational Change and Leadership from the University of Southern California in 2023. He and his wife Kelly, a special education teacher, live in Chesterfield County with their son Alfred (age 3), Jonathan’s mom Ruth, and their two dogs Winnie and Emmet.

Stewardship Made Easier

What would it mean to your ministries if you could receive a 5 or 10% increase in offerings? This workshop will provide a useful philosophy of stewardship, 11 key implementable tools, as well as additional resources to improve the stewardship of your congregation. Ideal for finance and stewardship leaders.

With Rev. Jeff Witt

Rev. Jeff Witt, the pastor at St. Andrew’s United Methodist in Virginia Beach, has been a pastor in the Virginia Conference since 1987. He has an ABS in economics and business management, as well as a Master’s in Divinity. He has served four churches as pastor, finance chair for districts and former finance chair for the Virginia Conference Foundation. He has been a stewardship and financial administration workshop leader.

Cultivating Talent

Are you looking for tools to help transform your church culture and build effective ministry teams? This workshop will introduce you to GallupStrengths, a powerful tool that can be used in ministry to equip and empower effective ministry teams that are instrumental in transforming the core aspects of church culture and growing our ministry.

With Rev. Amanda Webber

Rev. Amanda S. Webber, RN is a Gallup Certified Strengths coach with 15 years of experience equipping and empowering congregations by focusing on their strengths. As an ordained elder in the Virginia Annual Conference and the Lead Pastor at Oak Grove in Chesapeake, Virginia, she combines her pastoral experience with strategic strengths-based coaching to foster growth, resilience, and harmony in church staff and leadership teams. Amanda's unique blend of theological training, real life experience, and practical coaching has made her an advocate for church revitalization through the Next Level Innovations program working with faith communities towards collaborative and thriving futures.

Beauty Across Cultures

It is said, “not every ministry setting is cross-racial, but every ministry context is cross-cultural.” In ministry, cultures necessarily encounter different cultures. And there is power and beauty when they do so. This workshop introduces how such things can happen, in light of various experiences of a clergy, whose identity faces cross-cultural settings everywhere.

With Pastor Kyungsuk Cho

Kyungsuk currently serves as one of the pastors at Old Bridge United Methodist Church in Lake Ridge,VA. He sees himself a missionary, and has worked with congregations in diverse contexts in VA—including small to large membership churches in rural, suburb and urban settings. He also has served in various leadership roles in the Virginia Conference and Northern Virginia District.

The Role of Laity in the Church

What does it mean for the laity to be in ministry? We’re called to reclaim our biblical understanding of all Christians as ministers, remember the call of our baptism, and return to our Wesleyan roots of Methodism being a lay movement of renewal and revival. Ministry is the work of the whole people of God. Let’s envision together a church where each and every one of us takes our call to ministry seriously.

With Martha Stokes

Martha Stokes currently serves as the Virginia Conference Lay Leader. She (will be retiring OR retired at the end of May) from her role as Director of Church and Community Relations with Pinnacle Living. Prior to that position, Martha served for 14 years as the Director of Inclusivity and Lay Leadership Excellence on the Connectional Ministries staff for the Virginia Conference. She is endorsed as a Lay Speaker and holds professional certification through The United Methodist Church in Older Adult Ministries. Martha received her Master of Social Work degree from Virginia Commonwealth University and her Bachelor of Arts in religion and social work from Meredith College. She and her husband, Steve, are members of Duncan Memorial United Methodist in Ashland (Three Notch’d District).

The Micro-Church Toolbox: Simple, Essential Practices for Congregations

with Fewer than 20 Members

There’s a growing number of micro-churches in the United States--congregations with fewer than 20 folks. Learn how this new reality for the Church comes with hope, promise, and a distinctive set of tools for building the kingdom of God. Micro-churches can offer the simplicity, nimbleness, and intimacy that the gospel calls for and our neighbors hunger for.

With

Teresa Stewart

Practicing Emotional Intelligence as a Spiritual Discipline

Have you heard it said, that faith is better than emotions...that we shouldn't trust our emotions? Taking time for self awareness, choosing , and sharing your life with others are called pursuits in the world of emotional intelligence (EQ). In this workshop, we will explore how emotions and faith intersect for a healthier and more connected life of faith. If you tend to avoid of push down emotions or if you're a person who acts and decides intuitively, this workshop will help you integrate your thinking, feeling, and doing. As Methodists we talk about this as our head, heart and hands. You'll walk away with tools to begin or continue practicing emotional intelligence as a spiritual discipline. Rev. Charity Goodwin

With

Charity Goodwin

Simplifying Structure in the Small Church

Are you in a small congregation with a big heart for ministry, but the traditional committee structure feels too cumbersome for your context? Would your congregation rather spend more time engaged in ministry than meetings? Join us for a Lunch & Learn overview of simplifying structure for the small churches for greater community impact based on the best-selling book, Mission Possible for the Small Church by authors Kotan & Bradford.

With

Kay Kotan

A New Chapter: Transforming Through Stories Using a Storyboard Tool

Stories have the power to transform us. This workshop will introduce participants to God’s ongoing redemptive story and the role the church today plays in communicating that narrative. Participants will be encouraged to remember what God has done and narrate what God is doing in their congregations using a unique storyboard tool.