Living the Plan: Local Church Leaders Workshops

Invest in lay, clergy, and indigenous leadership.

Upcoming Local Church Leaders Workshops embody that Strategic Plan goal for the Oklahoma Conference.

On weekends in January and February, 11 such workshops will engage thousands of United Methodists across the state. You are invited to participate.

These workshops anchor the many training opportunities offered throughout each year in Oklahoma. On this page and the next, two people report on Evangelism and Lay Speaking events they attended in the fall.

At the Local Church Leaders Workshops, classes and presenters may vary, but all have a common theme: "Victory in Jesus."

Bishop Robert Hayes Jr. will speak in person at the Tulsa, Ardmore, and Oklahoma City Districts’ workshops. His videotaped message will be shown at the other sites.

Some class titles sure to draw your interest: Organized to Beat the Devil, How to Put Sabbath-Keeping Back in Your Twittered Life, Well- Baby Clinic, Hilarious Giving, and What the Bible Really Says About Women in Ministry.

Also: Setting the Attitude Thermostat for Your Church; Funerals in the 21st Century; Our Home Town; Shepherds and Gatekeepers—welcoming and caring for people; A Child Shall Lead Them; Fully Alive, Fully Mature; and A Culture of Generosity.

At the Stillwater District workshop, sales of crafts and homemade foods in The Marketplace will support the district’s Volunteers In Mission scholarship fund.

The Clinton District event will include a silent auction, to help offset educational costs for Oklahoma State Reformatory inmates taking college classes, and an offering to benefit the Wesley Foundation at Southwestern Oklahoma State University.

Among classes at the Tulsa District workshop is Crucial Conversations—learning to handle conflict in the local church.

In Ardmore District, large bath towels will be collected for New Day Camp and the offering will benefit the Methodist churches in Liberia. A curriculum exchange is planned, too.

Aly Shahan is coordinating the workshops. Contact her at the United Methodist Ministry Center, 800-231-4166 ext. 2198; 405-530-2198; ashahan@okumc.org.

Local Church Leaders Workshops Web site