Post-Event Resources

On this page you’ll find videos of the conference presentations and reports on the topics discussed. We hope event participants will share their experience with others in your congregation or organization and take the opportunity to discuss ways in which your congregation might, as a community, strengthen or reclaim its missional energy.

Feel free to use these videos and printed resources as well as the advance preparation materials (found here) for study and conversation in a Sunday School class, small group meeting, with the church boards and leadership, or in midweek programs. You can read more about this event in the March 2017 edition of The Moravian magazine.

As we approach the next Synod season (coming Spring 2018), our fervent hope is that the good work done during the Inter-Synodal conference will inform forthcoming conversations and decisions. Please continue to pray for all our brothers and sisters that we may grow in faith, love, and hope as we follow Christ in proclaiming his Good News, and serving the world.

Keynote Address
Moravian Congregations: A Historical Perspective
-The Rev. Dr. Craig Atwood

Dr. Atwood is the Charles D. Couch Professor of Moravian Theology and Ministry at Moravian Theological Seminary in Bethlehem, PA

Keynote Address
Moravian Congregations: Where Are We Now?
The Rev. David Guthrie

Rev. Guthrie is President of the Provincial Elders Conference for the Moravian Church, Southern Province in Winston-Salem, NC.

Imagine Talks

Imagine Talks are five-minute meaningful presentations by Moravians willing to share their experiences and visions of church. To watch the videos on a larger screen, click the “YouTube” icon or the full-screen box on the bottom right of the video thumbnail.

  • Brave Hearts: Courageous Living as Generation Moravian by Sister Frances Beasley, Member, Home Moravian Church, Winston-Salem, NC
  • Following Jesus in 2017: The “Trick’ll Be” Existing as the Church Beyond Church Walls by the Rev. Christie Melby-Gibbons, Executive Director, Tricklebee Café, Milwaukee, WI.
  • Guess Who’s Coming… What Happens When the Church is Concerned about Reconciliation More Than Being Hip or Huge by the Rev. Russ May, Pastor, St. Philips Moravian Church and Co-founder, Anthony’s Plot Community, Winston-Salem, NC.
  • Men Making a Difference by Sister Angelica Regalado, Ministerial Candidate, Moravian Church Southern Province.
  • Rethinking Mission: Taking Church to the People by Brother Rusty Rushing, Provincial Acolyte & Student Pastor, Peace Moravian Church, Charlotte, NC.
  • We Are the Church Together: Transforming Church Buildings by Sister Ruth Cole Burcaw, Executive Director, Board of Cooperative Ministries, Moravian Church Southern Province. (NOTE: This was originally presented at the 2016 Leadership Focus Event.)
  • What’s It Like Being a Young Adult Moravian? by Sister Sarah Durham, Home Moravian Church.

Printed Materials

  • Inter-Synodal Conference Program Booklet (4.5 MB – PDF File)
  • Top Priorities Coming Out of Open Space Group Discussions (100 kb – PDF File) At the end of the event, participants were asked to prioritize the topics discussed from one to five. These would be the topics they believe are most important for the future of the church. For scoring purposes, we allotted five points to their number one choices, four points to their number two choices, and so on. This document shows the top 12 priorities of the event participants by total point value, number of #1 votes, and total votes (the number of times it was someone’s top five choice).
  • Discussion Group Notes from the Open Space Technology Process (link to Google Docs Folder)
  • Advance Preparation Materials (visit this website)

 A Word about Open Space Technology

Open Space is a tool that enables groups of any size to address complex, important issues and achieve meaningful results quickly. It’s a highly participatory process which has been successfully used in multiple situations all over the world, with 5 to 5,000 people. Open Space is based in the belief that organizations and communities run on passion and responsibility. It allows groups to self-organize around what they really care about to get things done. In Open Space meetings, events and organizations, participants create and manage their own agenda of parallel working sessions around a central themes of strategic importance. At the Inter-Synodal Conference, participants identified compelling topics in answer to the question: “What will it take to reclaim our missional energy today?” They were then able to attend group discussions on those topics.

Acknowledgements

Special thanks to the brothers and sisters of New Philadelphia for their gracious hospitality. We especially appreciate Sister Rachel Weavil and Brothers Jerry Bumgardner, Mike Sloan, and Joey Transou for their invaluable assistance.

We appreciate very much the hard work of the following individuals, who shared in the creation and execution of the Inter-Synodal Conference:

2018 Synod Worship Planning Committee: Robbie Alphin, Carol Foltz, Sam Gray, Andrew Heil, Nola Knouse, Gregorio Moody, Joe Moore, Angelica Regalado, Fran Saylor

2018 Synod Program Planning Team: Ruth Cole Burcaw, Zach Dease, Amy Gardin Linville, Margaret Norris, Riddick Weber

Aaron Linville (Synod Logistics Team)
Mike Riess (IBOC)
Malissa Bumgarner, Peggy Dodson, John Foltz, Beth Hayes, Sabrina Maksi, Jeannie May, Heather Stevenson, Shanda Trogdon (event volunteers)