Summer Urban Ministry Institute Set for July 19-23
This year’s Summer Urban Ministry Institute (SUMI) takes place July 19-23 at the ELCA Churchwide Headquarters in Chicago, 8765 W. Higgins Road. As in past years, this is a significant opportunity for a leadership team from your congregation (pastor plus four lay leaders) to be equipped with some of the best tools for redeeming and transforming your community.
The five-day SUMI event will focus on:
- Developing leadership which connects every person to their God-given potential for transformational ministry
- Identifying a clear purpose and mission that can be owned by an entire congregation
- Developing a strategic plan through study of Scripture and consensus building
- Building skills for analyzing a congregation’s specific context and encouraging constructive community development
- Identifying community stakeholders and mapping available resources
- Engaging community members in terms of co-producing transformation
- Engaging the powers and principalities in our neighborhoods and cities
SUMI’s faculty is a diverse team of hand-picked ministry practitioners. They include Rev. Dave Daubert (specialist in renewal of congregations), Rev. Ruben Duran (specialist in new congregations), Dr. Mary Nelson (Senior Associate, Bethel New Life), Dr. Richard Perry (Professor of Urban Ministry, LSTC), Rev. Carol Ann McGibbon (Co-director, SCUPE’s MACD program) and Dr. Dave Frenchak (President, SCUPE). Each presenter has extensive experience and has worked with faith communities in various contexts.
Cost per congregational leadership team is $2,000 (1 clergy plus up to 4 laypersons, scholarship assistance available). We recommend booking housing at the Ramada Plaza Chicago O’Hare Hotel (which is close by the event location): 5615 N. Cumberland Ave., Chicago, IL 60631, (773) 693-5800. The Ramada offers a complimentary breakfast for guests. Lunch will be provided for all SUMI participants during the event. Participants are responsible for arranging their own meals outside of class hours.
For more information, contact SCUPE’s Ron Pate, ron@scupe.com (503) 245-1105 or (312) 726-1200.
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2008 Congress: April 15-18 at
Fourth Presbyterian Church
The 2008 Congress on Urban Ministry – “Celebrating the Reign of God in the City” – will be held at Chicago’s Fourth Presbyterian Church. “Fourth Pres,” located at the corner of Michigan and Delaware in the heart of Chicago’s near north side, provides a spacious sanctuary for plenary sessions, as well as meeting spaces for workshops and other sessions.
Fourth Presbyterian is one of Chicago’s most historic religious structures, located in the city’s busiest retail area. A wide variety of nearby hotels, restaurants, bookstores and shops will meet the needs of hundreds of Congress delegates.
Dates for next year’s Congress are April 15-18, 2008 – mark your calendar now. A strong National Planning Committee continues to meet periodically to secure workshop and plenary speakers, smooth out logistics and suggest ways to get a new generation of urban practitioners involved in the work of the Congress. Look for more details on registration and volunteering for the Congress in the months ahead.
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Register for Cross-cultural Ministry Intensive
For two weeks in early June, students enrolled in SCUPE’s Graduate Theological Urban Studies and Nurturing the Call programs will gather in Chicago to explore the wide varieties of multicultural ministries that the city has to offer. Professor Cynthia Milsap will lead the class's exploration of the city as a “multicultural global laboratory.”
The intensive will provide a practical theology for ministry within the multicultural context — engaging in a biblical study of the early church’s struggle with cultural barriers. The class will encourage an appreciation of world-views and value systems different from one’s own, helping students build communication skills across cultural divides. Students will visit a wide variety of ministries in diverse cultural settings. They will also learn how to analyze and develop ministries based on a community’s cultural context.
To register for “SCUPE M 302: Cross-cultural Ministry Intensive,” June 4-8 & 11-15, contact Dody Finch at the SCUPE office, (312) 726-1200, dody@scupe.com.
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Efe Ukala: Developing New Markets for SCUPE’s Programs
(Ms. Efe Ukala began her work as SCUPE’s Marketing Director in February 2007. Just last year, Efe completed an undergrad degree at the University of Chicago in Law, Letters and Society. Her education includes studies in London, Togo and her homeland of Nigeria. Efe makes her home in Chicago’s Hyde Park community.)
Efe, what does your work involve as Marketing Director for SCUPE?
Basically, I’m trying to let greater numbers of people know about SCUPE’s various programs of study, and help them see how they might fit into these programs. Whether it’s Nurturing the Call or the Graduate Theological Urban Ministry Program, whether it’s the Congress on Urban Ministry or the Summer Urban Ministry Institute, my job is to help inform and recruit potential students and participants.
What strategies have you used so far in your work?
So far we’ve tried everything from ads in Chicago newspapers to an “Open House” in April. We’re also in the process of visiting many local colleges, letting graduating seniors (and others) know of the educational opportunities that SCUPE offers. In the future, we’ll be participating in academic fairs at specific colleges and universities where we hope to meet many more potential students.
Efe, what have you discovered in just a few months with your work at SCUPE?
SCUPE has some excellent programs in urban theology, community development and ongoing pastoral resourcing. While some people who I speak with do know of SCUPE, many more people still need to hear about us as and about our specific programs of study.
Contact: Efe Ukala, SCUPE Marketing, (312) 726-1200, efe@scupe.com.
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Register Now for MACD’s “Congregational-based Community Development” Course
Dr. Mary Nelson, Founder and Senior Associate of Bethel New Life will teach MACD’s “Congregational-based Community Economic Development,” June 11-15 in Chicago.
The course examines theory, methods and best practices of community economic development; ways to analyze the strengths and weaknesses of the local economy; and the larger context for analysis through an overview of regional, national and global economies. The course will also focus on the significant contribution of the institutional church in the field of community economic development.
To register for these courses, contact Dody Finch at the SCUPE office, (312) 726-1200 or dody@scupe.com.
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CAATS Students Engaged in Full Course of Studies
Nine bright theological students have stood at the core of SCUPE’s Center for African-American Theological Studies (CAATS) during this past academic year. They comprise what will be the initial graduating class for the program jointly sponsored by SCUPE and Virginia Union University’s Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology. Pictured above is a recent CAATS class taught by Dr. John Kinney, Dean of the Proctor School of Theology.
Besides studying, many of the CAATS students are also working ministers in their local Chicago-area churches. In addition to their already heavy work load, students must be part of several intensive classes conducted on the Virginia Union University campus. Pray for each of the CAATS students who are pioneers in an extremely challenging program.
If you are interested in further details about CAATS, please contact Rev. Dernard Newell at SCUPE, (312) 726-1200 x222, dernard@scupe.com.
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Must Read!
“Living Lutheran: Renewing Your Congregation” by Dave Daubert, Augsburg Fortress, 2007
Kelly Fryer's book “Reclaiming the ‘L’ Word” introduced one congregation's journey through renewal. Now Dave Daubert provides a practical how-to guide that will enable church leaders to help individual congregations walk through the process for themselves. Creative and informative, the book provides a straightforward approach that helps congregations reclaim Lutheran traditions for the 21st century. Rev. Daubert is a city pastor, an executive with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and an instructor in SCUPE’s Summer Urban Ministry Institute.
“I Refuse to Lead a Dying Church” by Paul Nixon, Pilgrim Press, 2007
“God has called all leaders, lay and clergy, to lead healthy, growing spiritual movements. For this reason, I refuse to lead a dying church. And I invite you to join me in refusing, ever again, to lead a dying church.” With this energy, Paul Nixon leads readers to make six critical choices in urban church life: 1) choosing life over death, 2) choosing community over isolation, 3) choosing fun over drudgery, 4) choosing bold over mild, 5) choosing frontier over fortress and 6) choosing now rather than later. Nixon is a United Methodist minister who has coached pastors in many denominations. He now pastors EpicenterDC, a new church based in Arlington, Virginia.
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Roger Johnson
SCUPE’s CityVoices
200 North Michigan Avenue
Chicago, IL 60601
(312) 726-1200
(312) 726-0425 fax
roger@scupe.com
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