Suitcase
Seminars – a popular church leader training program that has reached
thousands of clergy and lay leaders over the past 12 years – is being
repackaged for 2002.
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Save
the Dates!
Practical training for:
> Church officers and other leaders:
Saturday,
January 12, 2002
Maple Street Congregational Church, Danvers
>
Leaders in evangelism, mission and justice:
Saturday,
February 2, 2002 Christ Church United, Brockton
>
Church communicators:
Saturday,
March 2, 2002
Location to be announced
>
Youth groups and their leaders:
Sunday,
May 19, 2001
Location to be announced
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“Kellogg’s
repackaged their cereal 30 times over the last 100 years, but the same
quality product is still inside the box,” said Susan Dickerman, Associate
Conference Minister for Leadership Development. “Like Kellogg’s, we
are repackaging Suitcase Seminars to target more specific areas of training
that are related to the Conference’s Vision for Renewal and Growth.
But the same quality, in the form of experienced leaders, good resources
and opportunities to network will still be there.”
Instead of four events that each cover a wide variety of topics, next
year’s events will each be focused on a particular subject area. Conference
staff hope that the new packaging will allow for more targeted publicity
to church leaders who are likely to be interested in particular topics.
The
first of the four events, on January 12th in Danvers, will be more like
the traditional Suitcase Seminars, providing training for church officers
and other leaders such as historians, treasurers and moderators. The
second event ,on February 2 in Brockton, will focus on training in evangelism,
mission and justice. On March 2, a variety of workshops at a location
to be announced will focus on improving communications, including hands-on
computer workshops. And on May 19, an event will be held for youth groups
and their leaders at a location to be announced.
Dickerman said it was clearly time for a change with the Suitcase Seminars
program, because interest has begun to wane over the last couple of
years.
At
their peak, Suitcase Seminars reached 800 people each year, but in recent
years attendance had dropped down to about 500.
Details on the events will be available later on the Conference Web
site and in The Mailing.
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