The 2001-2002 Congregational Studies Institutes

November 8-13, 2001 - Philadelphia, PA
Building Congregational Capacity for Public Presence

An opportunity for clergy, academics, and religious leaders

In urban congregations, planting becomes ministry and public presence.

In this era of federal support for faith-based initiatives, congregations are being encouraged to intensify their response to social needs. As the skills, talents, and will of clergy and laypersons are being tapped to better serve the "least of these," congregations are called to assess -- possibly more than ever before -- their capacities for ministry.

This congregational studies institute will focus on five congregations in urban and suburban Philadelphia. For the purpose of developing ministries that make sense, a variety of research approaches will be used to assess the needs and assets of the congregations and their surrounding communities. Course participants, through group experiential learning, will gain an understanding of the historic and current issues that play into a congregation's ability to build capacity for public presence.

The Philadelphia Institute will begin at noon on Thursday, November 8, and end at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, November 13. For more information contact Katie Day at (215) 248, 6345, kday@ltsp.edu

Other Institutes in this series:

• Dallas, January 17-21, 2002
  Focus: Congregations at Worship
• Chicago, April 4-9, 2002
  Focus: Congregations in Changing Urban Community

These institutes are a project of The Hartford Institute for Religious Research at Hartford Seminary, The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia, the Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, and the Seminary Consortium for Urban Pastoral Education (SCUPE) in Chicago.

Download a brochure and registration form on all three Institutes in Adobe Acrobat format (requires free Adobe Acrobat reader)