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Turn Aside and See to Help Church Leaders Look at God's Calling

By Tom Gillem

(NASHVILLE, Tenn., Sept. 11, 2009/GBOD) — Clergy and lay leaders of United Methodist congregations will have an opportunity to look closely at God's call for them during Turn Aside and See, a highly interactive day-long experience offered by the General Board of Discipleship (GBOD).

Registration is underway for the event, which will be conducted at a church site in each jurisdictional conference in September and November.

Carol Krau

The Rev. Karen Greenwaldt, top executive of GBOD, says Turn Aside and See invites individuals and teams to identify God's call through Scripture, to note excuses that hold their congregation back from answering God's call and to determine assets for responding to God's call.

The Rev. Karen Greenwaldt

The multisensory experience will look at the story of the burning bush in Exodus, where God is calling Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egypt to the Promised Land, and will include art, biblical reflection, drama, music and video.

"It's not a conference or a lecture, it's not a how-to. It's a day of really exploring the Scripture and thinking about what it means for our congregations," Krau says. "We believe that God is still calling people, and that's what the church is for."

Turn Aside and See is designed for adults who have the responsibility for helping their congregation order its life so that the church's mission of making disciples is accomplished. The target audience is pastors, key lay leaders and Sunday school teachers.

We are still living in a time of great transition in the church, from the period of Christendom when everybody thought they knew what the church was all about, to a time of when things don't work as well as they used to," Krau says. "To move to be more effective requires intentionality and prayer and Biblical reflection and discernment.

"This one-day experience provides an opportunity for leaders of a congregation to do that -- to be spiritually renewed and to be intentional about exploring what it means to be God's people and to know what God is calling them to do," she says.

Turn Aside and See will be led by GBOD staff and hosted at local churches. On Sept. 26, it will be held at Bridgewater United Methodist Church, Bridgewater, N.J., and Cascade United Methodist Church, Atlanta; and on Nov. 7 at Church of the Resurrection, Leawood, Kansas.

The cost, which includes lunch and participant materials, is $35 per person, or $30 per person for a team of four or more. To register, go to www.gbod.org/du/turn_aside. For more information, contact Mary McDonald by phone at 877-899-2780, ext. 1760, or e-mail at mmcdonald@gbod.org.

The General Board of Discipleship's mission is to support annual conference and local church leaders for their task of equipping world-changing disciples. An agency of The United Methodist Church, GBOD (www.gbod.org) is located at 1908 Grand Ave. in Nashville, Tenn. For more information, call the Media Relations Office toll free at 877-899-2780, ext. 7017.

*Tom Gillem is a freelance writer for GBOD.

News Media Contact: Steve Horswill-Johnston, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 340-1726 or shorswill-johnston@gbod.org.