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Continuing Education: Multi-Generational Worship Planning
July 16, 2020 @ 6:00 pm - July 18, 2020 @ 1:00 pm
$25.00
July 16 and 17, 2020 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm through July 18, 2020, 9:00 am – 1:00 pm This is an ONLINE course.
Discussion Groups will be held from 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm on Thursday and Friday and 9:00 to 10:00 am on Saturday
“I don’t know that song that’s in the hymnal.” “Why can’t we sing some of the old ones?” “If we get that screen out of the church, I’m sure people will come back.” “Can we sing some of the songs I hear on the radio?” We serve congregations that have a multitude of expectations because people are living longer and technology is advancing so quickly. Our oldest members grew up on AM radio and vinyl records, and our youngest have satellite radio and millions of songs at their fingertips. Our oldest members sang out of a hymnal, read out of the Bible, and placed their money in an offering plate. Our youngest members can do all that from their phones as well as text their friends, post a selfie on Instagram and watch a YouTube video. How can worship be engaging for four generations at the same time? How can we keep the attention of our younger members without alienating our older ones? Now that coronavirus has isolated our most vulnerable members, how can we design worship services so that they feel included?
Our Multi-Generational Worship Class will challenge Pastors and Worship Leaders to think creatively of incorporating classic and contemporary themes, images, and songs to produce worship services that are dynamic and deliver an uplifting message to their congregations.
Project Requirement: One project will be to design a worship service using whatever resources the student has available PLUS add at least one new component. For example, if your congregation has a pianist that only knows 10 hymns and a black and white copier, what can you do to add more substance to the worship experience. Can you design a new altar setting? Post a picture in front of the sanctuary? Bring in a projector? Play a CD? Anything different.
“Passionate Worship fosters a yearning to authentically honor God with excellence and with an unusual clarity about connecting people to God. Whether fifteen hundred people attend, or fifteen, Passionate Worship is alive, authentic, fresh, and engaging. People are honest before God and open to God’s presence, truth, and will. People so desire such worship that they reorder their lives to belong. The empty places in their souls are filled. They experience a compelling sense of belonging to the body of Christ.” — Bishop Robert Schnase in The Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations.
Rev. Dr. Ed McKinney has served as a pastor in the Western NC Conference for 22 years. He was born in Greensboro and raised in Kernersville, NC. He is a graduate of Greensboro College (B.A. – Religion 1995), Duke University Divinity School (M.Div. 2000), & Hood Theological Seminary (D.Min. 2011). Pastor Ed has served Groce UMC (Asheville), Gamewell (Caldwell County), Arbor Grove-Union (Wilkes County), Glencoe (Rockingham County), and Fairview (Thomasville), and currently serves at Stokesdale UMC. From Asheville to Stokesdale, he has served congregations of 30 to 300, churches with two services and a two-point charge, served as solo pastor to multiple staff. Dr. McKinney challenges his congregations to engage in the community by cooperating with local non-profits and schools. Dr. McKinney seeks to designs worship services that are dynamic, multi-sensory, and interactive. Ed is married to Sarah McKinney, who received a Masters of Christian Education from Pfeiffer, and currently raises our three children, boy/girl twins (13) and daughter (8). Ed enjoys playing tennis, golf, hiking, reading, traveling, and attending sporting events.
Required Materials: Think Like a Filmmaker: Sensory-Rich Worship Design for Unforgettable Messages. (see purchase link below)
Optional: Students may want to purchase a membership for the Worship Design Studio at https://www.
Purchase Think Like a Filmmaker
Registrations are closed for this event