The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection’s
Bright Hope for Tomorrow: The Future of the United Methodist Church
September 25–27, 2019
Resources from Leadership Institute 2019 are available at ShareChurch.com.
Conference Resources
The United Methodist Church is at a crossroads. For forty-eight years United Methodists have been in conflict over the official position of the denomination regarding God’s welcome of, and how the church will be in ministry with, LGBTQ persons. 2020 will be a defining year for the UMC as General Conference seeks to come to a resolution of the conflict. What will this mean for your church? For the future of United Methodism?
Leadership Institute 2019 is aimed at helping United Methodist leaders navigate and lead through the next steps for the denomination.
Join us for this historic and important gathering as we, together, help shape the future.
Come to Leadership Institute 2019 to…
Sharpen Your Vision
Catch a leadership vision for a future that reflects a vibrant, vital, missional United Methodist Church — one that is passionately Wesleyan and authentically Christian, and is enthusiastic about drawing all people into relationship with Jesus Christ.
Guide Conversations
Be equipped to lead difficult conversations, building consensus in your ministry context, as you seek to affirm the full participation in the church of people of all ages, nations, races, classes, cultures, gender identities, sexual orientations, and abilities.
Explore the Paths Forward
Learn about the latest opportunities and the potential impact on your local church from leaders who are currently charting various courses forward, including:
- staying and reforming our current structure,
- disaffiliating from the UMC to start something new, or
- dissolving the UMC to multiply into new Methodist expressions.
Lead a Movement
Leave prepared to lead a movement within your Annual Conference to win hearts and minds to the center and eliminate discriminatory language, restrictions and penalties in the UM Book of Discipline regarding LGBTQ persons.
Day 1
Wednesday
Pre-Institute
| 7:30 am | Guest Check-In |
| 9:00 am | Pre-Institute Session 1 |
| 12:00 pm | Lunch (provided) |
| 1:30 pm | Pre-Institute Session 2 |
| 4:30 pm | Dinner (on your own) |
Leadership Institute
| 4:30 pm | Guest Check-In |
| 6:30 pm | Opening Worship & General Session 1: Adam Hamilton: A Defining Moment/For the Bible Tells Me So |
Day 2
Thursday
| 8:00 am | General Session 2: Race, Gender, Sexual Orientation and Inclusion |
| 10:30 am | Break |
| 11:15 am | General Session 3: Proposals Coming to General Conference |
| 12:30 pm | Lunch (provided) - Optional Lunch and Shares |
| 2:00 pm | General Session 4: Ron Heifetz: Leading Divided Communities |
| 3:15 pm | Break |
| 4:00 pm | General Session 5: David Brooks: Moral Leadership in a Divided Society |
| 5:30 pm | Dinner (on your own) |
| 7:00pm | Optional Community Event: An Evening with David Brooks, The Second Mountain |
Day 3
Friday
| 8:00 am | General Session 6: Reforming the UMC and the UMC in 2020 |
| 9:00 am | Session 7: Strategy Session by Annual Conference Instructions |
| 9:10 am | Transition to Breakouts |
| 9:30am | Annual Conference Breakouts |
| 10:45 am | Break |
| 11:15am | Session 8: Adam Hamilton: Closing Worship and Casting Vision for the Future |
| 12:30pm | Dismissal |
Featured Speakers
David Brooks
David Brooks is an Op-Ed columnist for The New York Times, a position he began in September 2003, as well as an Executive Director at the Aspen Institute. He is currently a commentator on “The PBS Newshour,” NPR’s “All Things Considered” and NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
Mr. Brooks’s most recent book, The Second Mountain, was released in 2019. He is also the author of The Road to Character, Bobos In Paradise: The New Upper Class and How They Got There and The Social Animal: The Hidden Sources of Love, Character, and Achievement.
Mr. Brooks is on the faculty of Yale University, and is a member of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences.
Rev. Adam Hamilton
Adam Hamilton is the founding pastor of The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection. The church began in 1990 with four people and a dream of creating a congregation where thinking people – non-religious and nominally religious people – would become committed followers of Jesus Christ. In the years since, the church has become the largest United Methodist Church with over 20,000 members and an average weekend worship attendance of 10,000.
Adam is the author of over 25 books, including Unafraid: Living with Courage and Hope in Uncertain Times and Making Sense of the Bible. He has been married to LaVon since 1982. They have two daughters and one granddaughter.
Early Bird Pricing available through September 6
$169
Leadership Institute Only
$259
Leadership Institute
+ Pre-Institutes
Special Price
Young Adults
& International Guests
To make room for leaders from 1,500 United Methodist Churches, registration is limited to three people from each congregation (clergy and laity). Thank you for helping us make room for a maximum number of churches to be represented. (Visit the FAQ page for more detail)
If you are not part of the United Methodist Church, plan to join us in September 2020 when we return to our ecumenical format of offering practical ministry tools and ideas for all church leaders.
Pre-Institute
Wednesday
Pre-Institute sessions are offered on Wednesday, September 25, led by dynamic guest speakers. Each 2.5-hour session goes in-depth on a variety of ministry topics centered around leading through complex and difficult times.
Most of the sessions are offered in both the morning and the afternoon sessions, so you can select any two to attend. Unleashing the Word is offered only at the AM Session.
Morning Session
9:00 – 12:00 am
Afternoon Session
1:30 – 4:30 pm
When Everyone’s Perfect But Me
Rachel Billups
Difficult Conversations
Magrey deVega
Strengthening Your Culture for Real Church Growth
Will Mancini
Navigating Transition: Leaning Into the Future Without Fear
Matt Miofsky
Achieving Next-Level Generosity in Times of Uncertainty
Joe Park
Leaning Into Your Call
Susan Robb
Unleashing the Word
(AM Session Only)
Adam Hamilton
Reckless Love: Jesus’ Call to Love Our Neighbors
Tom Berlin
The Bible and Human Sexuality: A Hermeneutic of Love
(PM Session Only)
Steve Harper
As a church, our purpose is to build a Christian community where non-religious and nominally religious people are becoming deeply committed Christians.
More than 11,000 people find hope, meaning and purpose each week at Resurrection.
Church of the Resurrection began in 1990 with a dream of being a church where thoughtful people who were not actively involved in church might become followers of Jesus Christ, grow in their faith, find meaningful relationships, and be sent out each week, inspired to serve God by serving others. The church began with four people.
Learn more about our church at cor.org.
