Mercer Planning 2015 - 2016

May 29, 2015

Dear Friends,

Provenzano Point at Camp DeWolfe (May 2015)

Our little Mercer day-to-day staff of three met off-site the other day at our diocese's beautiful Camp DeWolfe in Wading River NY to plan Mercer programming for the 2015 - 2016 year. I am happy to say that we have the year from August 2015 until June 2016 planned with events and activities designed to resource our clergy, congregations and all persons interested near and far.

We have aimed this coming year:

 - to streamline our offerings;
 - to offer hybrid courses in which much of the study and conversation happen online with in-person meetings to complement that online interaction.

In addition, we intend to make material from online courses available continuously online once the course itself is complete.

You can expect our listing of next year's events to be up on the Mercer School online calendar very soon.

Finally, I am excited to share with you news that the link to access our inaugural Robert Farrar Capon Lecture with the Reverend Canon Lloyd A. Lewis is ready. The audio of his masterful lecture, as well as images of the gathering, are available there.  The link will be posted both on the Mercer School site (www/mercerschool.org) and the website of the Diocese of Long Island (www.dioceselongisland.org).

Sincerely,
John McGinty+
Canon for Formation

Planning for the 2015-2016 Mercer Theology Year

The George Mercer Jr. Memorial

School of Theology

May 16, 2015

Dear Friends,

Here at Mercer School of Theology we are looking ahead, "straining ahead" as Saint Paul would have it, with all our heart and mind.

Our website is being renewed and we hope to have that ready to go live within weeks.

We are planning programming for next year as well. Each of the workshops we sponsor - for Safe Church, Racism Awareness, for Vestries and Church Treasurers, Eucharistic Visitor training and more - will continue unabated.  We also will continue to provide spiritual sustenance in tandem with our partners in the Long Island Faith Formation Team of our diocese - the youth & young adult ministry office, Camp DeWolfe, and Education for Ministry.

In addition, there are changes being made to our diocesan School for Ministry.  We are beefing up our preparation for ordination both for vocational deacons and priests. More on this later.

Next year we hope to resource people from across the diocese (and beyond) with a series of half-day events (usually Saturdays) which will address some of the 'biggies' of church life:
* marriage and family issues,
* effective Christian education,
*youth and young adult ministry
*development and effective parish stewardship
* music and worship
. . . and more.

Each of these events will feature leaders prominent in knowledge and ability in the topic of the day.The goal is to energize you and to provide you new ways to think about and engage these areas of our life together.

And, since we find consistently that the viability of on-site courses of any length taking place at Mercer is consistently a problem, we will be offering hybrid and online courses in areas of theological and ecclesial interest.  (A hybrid course features some meeting in-person and the remainder online).

Finally, our ongoing lecture series in spirituality (Being Human) and that in memory of Dean Robert Farrar Capon will continue. The first Capon Lecture will take place Next Thursday evening, May 21, with the Rev Canon "Tony" Lewis.

I hope this description provides some idea of who we are and what we are attempting here at Mercer School of Theology.  As always, your comments and suggestions are welcome to jmcginty@dioceseli.org.

Sincerely,
John McGinty+

Canon for Formation

Postponement of Faith Formation Convocation (originally May 16th)

May 14, 2015
Ascension Day

Dear Friends,

It is with regret that I inform you that our 3rd annual Faith Formation day, scheduled for this Saturday, May 16th, will be postponed until a later date yet to be determined.

We have worked hard to plan for this third annual gathering, intended to support and nourish those involved and interested in passing on the faith from generation to generation.  I have been excited that seven congregations and others involved in innovative and growing ministries across the diocese had agreed to present workshops sharing the good work they are doing.

Sadly, despite our best efforts, the number of registered participants was far from robust enough to sustain the day.  We will be working to understand why this has been so and to plan more effectively for the future.  Our intent is to provide the resources you need to know and teach and live the faith well.

Please accept my apologies.  Registered participants will be reimbursed their registration fees, of course.  We intend to reschedule this offering to a later date, likely during the fall of this year of 2015.

Blessings to you this day of Ascension!  May Christ, seated at the right hand of his Abba and ours, strengthen us all for the good work we have been given to do.

Sincerely,

John P. McGinty+

Canon for Formation
Dean, Mercer School of Theology

What do we mean by "Faith Formation"?

Dear Friends,

On Saturday, May 16 at Mercer School the Diocese of Long Island's 3rd annual Faith Formation Convocation will take place.  Our theme this year is:

Walk [Still] in Love, as Christ Loved Us.

You can get more information and register by clicking: FFCIII

But what do we mean by the phrase "faith formation"?  Sometimes we can take for granted that everybody knows what we mean by church-language, even when it changes over time.  

So . . .

• do you teach Sunday School?
• are you involved in youth ministry, or would you like there to be a youth or young adult ministry in your church?
• do you participate in an adult educational forum in your parish?
• do you listen to a sermon on Sundays (or do you write one)?
• do you want to make sure your parish has a living word to say to your neighborhood?
• do you want to assure that every generation in your parish community hears a caring word from the church?

If you answer "Yes!" to any of these, you are involved in faith formation.  Already.  And the day coming up on May 16th is meant to support and resource and inform and assist you in this ministry.

If you have more questions about faith formation, be in touch!

Blessings,

John+

Canon John McGinty

Dean, Mercer School of Theology

jmcginty@dioceseli.org

Joy Skjegstad Workshop Schedule Change - Only Saturday, May 2nd

April 22, 2015

Dear Friends,

There is a change in the scheduling and structure of the "New Community Ministry, New Funding Partners" workshop that will open the month of May here at Mercer.  Rather than being a 2-day workshop, we will meet solely on Saturday, May 2nd.  The renewed schedule is here below.

Registration will remain open at tinyurl.com/MinistryAndFunding with changes made to the schedule there as soon as possible.

Forum: New Community Ministry, New Funding Partners 

This workshop with author and consultant Joy Skjegstad will assist clergy and lay leaders in undertaking effective ministry in the local community and in finding funding to make it possible. Join us May 2, 2015 at Mercer School of Theology.

For registration, please visit http://tinyurl.com/MinistryAndFunding

Saturday, May 2 - 

Morning session

Winning Grants to Strengthen Your Ministry
Is there grant funding available for your ministry? If so, how can you get it? This is an overview of winning grant strategies for ministries from Joy Skjegstad, a 20-year veteran grantwriter and author of Winning Grants to Strengthen Your Ministry.

You will:

Learn how to find potential funders

Gain an understanding of how corporate and foundation funders think

Learn about the process of applying for a grant

Learn how to describe and "sell" your ministry work, including the faith-based aspect

Discuss how to approach “secular” funders as a ministry organization


Afternoon Session

High Impact Community Ministry

As Christians, we are called to build relationships with our neighbors and to minister effectively to the community around us. In addition, community ministry is a key link for churches in staying relevant, reaching young adults, and practicing effective evangelism.

This training by Joy Skjegstad, author of 7 Creative Models for Community Ministry (Judson, 2013) will inspire you with new ideas and help you identify next steps for moving forward.

This session will cover:

--strategizing on building new relationships in your community

--identifying the fit between your congregations gifts/passions and the needs in your community

--developing /strengthening your current ministry strategies

--reviewing the 7 models for community ministry

--reviewing case studies from churches that have launched successful ministries

--creating volunteer opportunities that will draw out the people in your church.

Sincerely,
John McGinty+

Canon foe Formation

A thank you and an Invitation

April 21, 2015

Dear Sisters and Brothers,

What a great day we had this past Saturday with Sharon Ely Pearson.  Her workshop on 'sowing the seeds' well in Christian formation was filled with solid information, great ideas, humor.  Mercer and the Diocese of Long Island are grateful to Sharon for her presence and all that she offered.  WE hope to se her again 'ere long!

Looking forward, on Friday and Saturday May 1 and 2, author and consultant Joy Skjegstad will travel here to offer an informative 2-day workshop. One day will focus on building up ministry to the community by your church.  The other will offer strategies for finding funding for the good work your church wants to undertake,  You can learn more and register at this web address: tinyurl.com/MinistryAndFunding.

Share the news and join us!

Peace,

John+

On Christian Education and Funding Great Parish Ministry - please join us!

April 17, 2015

Dear Sisters and Brothers,

Tomorrow we are overjoyed to welcome Sharon Ely Pearson, in herself one of the finest resources on Christian education, who will be here at Mercer School to offer a day of learning and resourcing to educators from the Diocese of Long Island.  Believe it or not, seats are still available.  If you are able to come you will be happy you did.  Call 516.248.4800, extension 140 today to register.

Sharon Ely Pearson

And on Friday and Saturday May 1 and 2, author and consultant Joy Skjegstad will travel here to offer an informative 2-day workshop. One day will focus on building up ministry to the community by your church.  The other will offer strategies for finding funding for the good work your church wants to undertake,  You can learn more and register at this web address: tinyurl.com/MinistryAndFunding.

Joy Skjegstad

And click on the video above to hear Joy Skjegstad speak about her book

7 Creative Models for Community Ministry

Share the news and join us!

Peace,

John+