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By Barbara Dunlap-Berg*

1:00 P.M. EST April 4, 2011 | NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS)

An April 6 webcast will help United Methodists focus on how to make the changes necessary to meet the denomination’s future challenges. The Call to Action Steering Committee report will help guide the conversation. A UMNS photo by Kathleen Barry.

An April 6 webcast will help United Methodist leaders and church members focus on how to make the short- and long-term changes necessary to meet the denomination’s future challenges.

The United Methodist Church Leadership Summit, slated for 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Central Time, will be webcast from Nashville with conversation groups organized in episcopal areas.

“The Council of Bishops and Connectional Table are hoping to create informed conversation about the adaptive challenge facing our church,” said Neil M. Alexander, co-chair of the Call to Action Steering Team and president of the United Methodist Publishing House. “This involves both sharing information and creating tables of dialogue about important issues.”

In the wake of decades-long membership decline, the Council of Bishops and the Connectional Table created the 16-member Call to Action Steering Team, which includes clergy and laity, to reorder the life of the church for greater effectiveness in the church’s mission “to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.”

Bishops, past General and Jurisdictional conference delegates, annual (regional) conference leaders, young leaders and emerging leaders from all annual conferences are invited to take part in the webcast.

The Call to Action Steering Team’s final report, presented last November to the Council of Bishops, stated that the status quo of a shrinking and aging U.S. church is “toxic” and unsustainable.

“We must reduce the perceived distance between the general church (including the general agencies), the annual conferences and local congregations,” the report said. “We must refashion and strengthen our approaches in leadership development, deployment and supervision. … In short, we must change our mindset so that our primary focus and commitment are on fostering and sustaining congregational vitality.”

Reshaping the church for the 21st century

Alexander expressed optimism about the leadership summit.

Delegates from the Illinois Great Rivers Annual Conference listen intently during the 2010 session. A UMNS web-only photo courtesy of the Illinois Great Rivers Annual Conference.

“We expect a growing consensus about the key issues we must address, possible answers and deepened commitment to make constructive changes in practices and policies at all levels of the church,” he said.

“The summit is a hopeful time where we celebrate what God has done and is doing through us, while focusing our attention, our energy and our resources on the future God has planned for us.”

The webcast is anticipated to draw 1,500 active participants.

The first hour will consist of presentations by the Council of Bishops and representatives of the Call to Action Steering Team, followed by an hour of guided conversation among participants in their own locations. During the final hour, the Nashville presenters will respond to email questions posed by leaders around the world.

It is preferred that people gather in groups with a trained facilitator to help guide the conversation during the middle hour of the summit. Bishops may organize as many sites as needed in their annual conferences. Additionally, any individual may participate by logging on to www.umcleadershipsummit.org. Questions may be sent to Summitquestions@umc.org.

“This experience of holy conferencing is a witness to hope and a commitment to bear fruit worthy of our calling,” Alexander said. 

“United Methodists on four continents will be linked together by the Internet to worship and pray, turn our attention to God and commit together to reshape The United Methodist Church for ministry in the 21st century.”

The United Methodist Church Leadership Summit, webcast from Nashville on April 6 from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. CDT, will be archived for later viewing at the Leadership Summit website.

Viewers are encouraged to participate in the UMC Leadership Summit Survey, which will be posted during the webcast and will remain available until midnight CDT on April 10, 2011. A summary of findings will be posted on April 12 on the Leadership Summit website.

*Dunlap-Berg is internal content editor for United Methodist Communications.

News media contact: Barbara Dunlap-Berg, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5489 or newsdesk@umcom.org.