It is autumn, and the weather is beautiful.
This was a week of road trips, except the only road we hit was the one to the airport. Susan took Jacob to sunny Minneapolis, Minnesota to meet their doctors and get some preliminary advice on possible transplant options, should Jacob require such in the future (he is currently doing quite well). They left Sunday night and come back Tuesday (barely); she had planned on being home around 5 PM but thunderstorms near Philadelphia had other plans and they actually returned slightly after midnight. I left Wednesday morning for beautiful Kansas. I and several clergy from Reveille UMC went to Leawood, Kansas to attend the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection's 2010 Leadership Institute. It was quite amazing, with great worship, practical workshops, and a vision from the Institute of the Future. We were inspired, encouraged, and equipped to change lives, to renew the Church, and to transform the world.
Sunrise over Minneapolis
Son asleep in Minneapolis
University of Minnesota, Fairview
Children's Hospital (under construction)
Cool fish in the aquarium at The Mall of the Americas
Trying to find Nemo
Sharks in a mall. How cool is that?
Amazon rainforest in a mall. How cool is that?
Jacob likes turtles.
Jacob's new friend.
Meanwhile, back at home, middle schoolers prepare to
clean their rooms and do their homework.
Jim Noland, Abby Kocher, and Carol Uzzle
Representing Reveille UMC
We visited COR on their 20th anniversary. Begun in a funeral home, the name is appropriate. Now with 17,000 plus members, a simple plan for discipleship, and a heart for service to Kansas City and the world, it is easy to see why 1900 people showed up for their Leadership Institute. They are in the Kingdom building business, and, brother, business is a-boomin'.
Yeah, it is huge.
Their Journey
Their Purpose
Inside the Wesley Chapel
Sue Nilson Kibbey
Executive Pastor, Ginghamsburg UMC
Ultimately Responsible
Correy Trupp, Small group Ministries
Gia Garrey
She has shared a wealth of information with us
about their plan for intentional discipleship.
Michelle Kirby
She has helped us immensely with Alpha, small group formation,
and training for group leaders and facilitators.
The tent for lunch
Abby, under a tree (it could be a fig tree)
The sanctuary holds 3000+
Multimedia abounds.
Yeah, they have guitars.
But they also have choirs and orchestras.
Oh, and Adam Hamilton.
Builder of bridges.
Big ideas, small ego.
Keep up the good work, LaVon!
Teens inspired to ministry as a career
Sticky notes
COR members noted what their church meant to them.
Later, conference attendees also posted notes listing tangible ways that they would change lives, renew the church and transform the world over the next 10 years. We are now better equipped to help volatility yield to vision, uncertainty to understanding, complexity to clarity, and ambiguity to agility. The world is changing and we must change with it, because we are not in Kansas anymore.
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