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Groundbreaking Video Resource, "Opening Ourselves to Grace," Charts Course for Illinois Great Rivers Conference

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (GBOD, June 23, 2006) - A new digital video disc, Opening Ourselves to Grace, and New Streams of Living Water: Charting the Course of Christian Discipleship workbook were the centerpiece of plenary sessions produced and led by General Board of Discipleship staff at the Illinois Great Rivers Conference recently held in Peoria, Illinois.

"These ground breaking resources seek to help Christians grow from church membership to discipleship,” said the Rev. Karen Greenwaldt, top executive (General Secretary) at The General Board of Discipleship, a national agency of The United Methodist Church.

"These resources will move us forward on a path that will deepen our spiritual life together, provide new resources for spiritual leadership, and actively engage us in God’s mission to transform the world,” says Greenwaldt.

Conference participants explored the meaning and practical application of the means of grace in the life and mission of the church. The video captures images of the church at worship and highlights concrete examples of grace at work in our lives and world.

Tom Albin, Dean of the Upper Room Chapel and Director of the Upper Room Program Unit, said that these resources were the result of an extensive process of prayer, active listening across the conference, and careful discernment.

The process resulted in a clear understanding that the three most important leadership needs for lay and clergy were: to have spiritual leaders who practice the means of grace in their own lives and can teach others to do the same; to help local church leaders to have an intentional process for disciple formation that is contextually relevant; and to have conference leaders who can guide and support the connectional system in the twenty-first century.

The 2006 annual (regional) conference was designed to help introduce the participants to use the resources developed to address the first two needs. "Our ongoing dialogue and prayer will support the third area. I believe that 2,100 delegates prayerfully engaged in a year-long process could, by God’s grace, change the course of this annual conference,” said Albin.

Albin believes that the work at the annual conference and use of the new resources will "set the course for spiritual renewal and effective ministry for the next ten years."

"The workshop sessions led by Tom Albin, Steve Manskar, and Donna Gaither were wonderful, as they cast a vision for our lay and clergy members of how their churches might experience transformation," said the Rev. Patricia C. Johansen, co-chair of the New Streams Team. "The DVD and workbook resources were very well received."

"We believe that the work of the New Streams Team, in collaboration with the GBOD, will have a deep, spiritual impact on the lives of people in the Illinois Great Rivers Conference," says Johansen.

"The DVD and workbook are the culmination of two years of work with the Illinois Great Rivers Conference," said Steve Manskar, Director of Accountable Discipleship at The General Board of Discipleship.

Manskar and Albin led a workshop on the means of grace and the DVD, while Donna Gaither, Executive Director of New Solutions, who helped create New Streams of Living Water: Charting the Course of Christian Discipleship, led a session on the workbook.

Gaither says "The workbook is designed to help a local congregation build and/or improve an intentional disciple formation process."

Both resources were presented and distributed at the conference sessions. The resources will be available for wider distribution in early 2007. For more information, contact Donna Gaither at 615-340-7567, or Jeanette Pinkston, Director of Media Relations, at jpinkston@gbod.org.

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