I believe that PALCON for the US & Canada has begun. Just posting this thread for people's reflections, reports, etc.
I'm going to register today. Looking forward to seeing Naznetters there.
I believe that PALCON for the US & Canada has begun. Just posting this thread for people's reflections, reports, etc.
I'm going to register today. Looking forward to seeing Naznetters there.
Registered and ready. My experience at PALCON is that it is heavily weighted toward the clergy. I am curious how many lay people are registering?
Hey roommate...Originally Posted by Jim Abrams
Did you happen to read the list of who was invited to attend?
Grace and Peace,
Jon Twitchell
Cape Elizabeth Church of the Nazarene | YourChurchWeb.net | YourChurchPianist.net | FuneralChaplain.com
The "L" doesn't stand for Laymen anymore. It's Pastors and Leaders conference now, which seems a bit more appropriate. I will be at PALCON at ENC - my first official duty as associate pastor - not a bad deal.
...just my $.02.
Nope. Sorry, just took the "L" in PALCON to mean Lay - Leaders. No wonder, that totally explains my query. Thanks.
Well... looks like we ought to have a NazNet meeting at ENC at least...Who else is going?
Grace and Peace,
Jon Twitchell
Cape Elizabeth Church of the Nazarene | YourChurchWeb.net | YourChurchPianist.net | FuneralChaplain.com
Olivet to host PALCON May 17-20
http://www.olivet.edu/news/newsDetai...b-cd91714fb8c4
I'll be at the PALCON at ENC.
My favorite memory from the last PALCON was my need to grab my sleeping bag and find an alternate place to sleep, as my roommate snored so loudly. An older gentleman, he is the father-in-law of a pastor on our district who is a friend of mine. On the last day, my friend asked if I had gotten any sleep. When I explained that I was sleeping in a lounge due to the snoring, he replied, "Sorry. That's why I am not rooming with him. Even my mother-in-law can't sleep with him."
Reminded me of my college days rooming with Bob Evans!
"Fully embracing the Gospel, fully engaging the world"
Mike if I kept you awake I am sorry. If I smored I never knew it because I was asleep and you never told me. To my defence though Nan has slept alot closer to me than you ever did and did not say anything until a few years back. Because of that conversation I now have a sleep apnia machine and as a result don't snore. I look like Darth Vador when I sleep but I sleep alot better.
I'll be working at the PALCON at Olivet. Maybe I'll meet some Naznetters. I'll be the 6'4'' guy in the sound booth with long blonde hair.
palcon at mnu june 1-4
"Love without holiness disintegrates into sentimentality. Personal integrity is lost. But holiness without love is not holiness at all. In spite of its label, it displays harshness, judgmentalism, a critical spirit, and all its capacity for discrimination end in nit-picking and divisiveness."-Mildred Bangs Wynkoop
I will be at the ENC Palcon!
I will be at NTS during Palcon at ENC.
I decided I had to limit conference time and chose to forego PALCON in favor of a DIFFERENT CONFERENCE to be held this fall in New England!
Wilson
"But by the grace of God I am what I am." (1 Cor. 15:10)
I opted not to go to the PALCON at ONU next week. Looking at the schedule, it just didn't grab me, especially for the number of days I'd be committing to it.
A couple of my pastor friends are going, though, so hopefully they'll share all the really interesting stuff with me afterward.
I'm not too excited about the workshop lineup - a few of the speakers are going to be good. I'm going mostly because it should be a good opportunity to meet a lot of pastors in the area on my second day in the new job.
...just my $.02.
Me too.
Though I'm hopeful for the speakers, I'm all "conferenced out" and have been for a while. (This is besides the fact that with the internet, you can "get" much of this kind of stuff without leaving home or office.) I'm really looking forward to being with and talking with people.
I'm going to SNU Palcon - are there any NazNet pastors attending?
Also, I haven't registered and don't have anyone to designate as a roommate. Non-smoker, Christian, male preferred.
I guess I missed it Ryan. Where is your first staff assignment.
SNU was still a non-smoking campus the last I heard, Scott.
Pennsville, NJ.
...just my $.02.
I plan to be at the ENC palcon.
I'll be at ONU tomorrow. I just returned from sabbatical on april 4, so being gone 3-4 days is not really thrilling me. It will be great once I'm there I'm sure, although I'll be fighting the temptation to skip the non-plenary sessions in favor of library time. Hank I'll look for you at the sound booth. I'll be the portly one with no hair. Good luck picking that description out of a crowd at a pastors convention!I'll be working at the PALCON at Olivet. Maybe I'll meet some Naznetters. I'll be the 6'4'' guy in the sound booth with long blonde hair.
You guys know that this would all be much simpler if you would just upload a photo of yourself for your avatar, right?Hank I'll look for you at the sound booth. I'll be the portly one with no hair. Good luck picking that description out of a crowd at a pastors convention!
Good thought. I've replaced my old avatar with a close-up of my wife and me.You guys know that this would all be much simpler if you would just upload a photo of yourself for your avatar, right?
(with no disrespect intended to the winner or the loser of our last presidential election)
Last edited by Scott Sherwood; May 17th, 2010 at 06:27 AM. Reason: disclaimer
No kidding.You guys know that this would all be much simpler if you would just upload a photo of yourself for your avatar, right?
At least if I ran into Ryan Scott, I'd recognize him!
Grace and Peace,
Jon Twitchell
Cape Elizabeth Church of the Nazarene | YourChurchWeb.net | YourChurchPianist.net | FuneralChaplain.com
Hmmm.... About as well as we'd recognize you, I suppose...
I'm in Ardmore tonight and am looking forward to Palcon this week.
But that's mostly because we've met before.
...just my $.02.
Take away the beard, the crown, and substitute blond hair for the black, and essentially that is me. I don't know who made my avatar(a result of being bored and googling images of myself) but they were almost spot on.You guys know that this would all be much simpler if you would just upload a photo of yourself for your avatar, right?
I'm always up for a challenge.Hank I'll look for you at the sound booth. I'll be the portly one with no hair. Good luck picking that description out of a crowd at a pastors convention!
I attended the Palcon at TNU. I do think it was perhaps better than some I have attended in the past. I particularly enjoyed Dr. Michael Henderson. His insights were challenging and relevant. His is the only CD I brought home with me.
Seminars which were available to us and which I attended were 1) Emergent-cy in the Church [I thought it was a fair presentation and not entirely one-sided. Presenters were Steve Hoskins/Dwight Gunter. They are probably more conservative than other presenters that some of you may hear. They did hammer the Concerned folk.]
2) The Theological Legacy of H. Ray Dunning [I'm sure this is probably regional, but he has had a great influence on TNU and I was interested in his perspective after 40 years.]
3) Community Gardening ??? presented by Jason Adkins. I think it is a TNU program associated with Social Justice studies. I'm probably at political opposites with this young man, but I greatly admire him and his enthusiasm and his passion to be involved in his community. I really wish him great success in what he's trying to do.
4) Preaching Controversy Presented by Dan Boone. I thought it was well presented and spoke to issues that are too often and too long ignored or white washed. In my opinion, the church has given away it's authority to speak to the moral issues of our day. We have sacrificed some authority to the 'god of legalism' and some to the 'god of political correctness'. In many ways I don't think the secular world cares what we think about these issues anymore.
5) A Look at Social Justice Presented by Jamie Casier. Again, probably my opposite politically, but a fine and admirable young man. I am glad to see TNU moving in the direction of studies in social justice (whole new department). I really came away believing that if we could sit down together and share in respectful, honest and open dialogue, then we have a lot that we could learn from each other.
My wife just called and suppers' ready. You'll understand if I stop right here.
I really appreciated his book on John Wesley's class meeting when I read it in seminary.
Jamie is an ENC graduate. As is Jamie Gates, of a similar position at PLNU. ENC grads leading the way in social justice and Christian responsibility.
Great post, Glenn. This was the kind of review I was hoping to get. I'd love to sit down with you for longer than we met in the past. I think you're right.
And gave a very good review. You've set the standard, Glenn! Thanks so much!
"No scripture can mean that God is not love, or that his mercy is not over all his works" (John Wesley - Free Grace, 26)
Those all sound like better workshop offerings than those I saw on our list. Glad to hear your report. The ONU PALCON is ongoing now - perhaps we'll get a similar report from them.
...just my $.02.
Random Monday SNU Palcon Thoughts...
- The notebook they're handing out is the best one ever, and I've seen them all.
- SNU Food is always great - I can't believe the students complain about it.
- It was hot and humid this afternoon, but unlike Houston, it cools off here at night.
- What's with the candles all over the platform?
- I'll stand for prayer but I'm not interested in standing for 45 minutes of music.
- The PA System has a hum in it.
- It's always great seeing old friends, NazNet friends, and having nice conversations with people I've not been privileged to meet before.
- It's interesting watching a couple of guitar players earnestly strumming two chords again and again and again and again.
- It's also interesting hearing singers singing four words again and again and again with such intensity. They're more spiritual than I am.
- I like the old songs integrated with the new ones, it adds depth and context for me.
- GS Mittendorf prayed a wonderful Communion prayer
- I suspect that the new wine we had for communion wasn't all that "new."
- A fairly large pulpit had to be moved to center stage for the sermon. What happened to the fancy lexan ones?
- I liked the suggestion that pastors write out the story of their call so they can be read by future generations.
- I appreciated the affirmation by the GS that we believe God calls people to the ministry.
- It's very rare for me to listen to someone else preach. I think I'm out of practice listening. Not a good thing.
- I appreciate the tender heart of Jess Mittendorf.
- The altar call was textbook Preacher's Retreat/First Night of Palcon, any other ministry directed to pastors. I guess it's needed.
- I noted that they left the GS's name on the video for the whole sermon. It seems strange to me to put his name up there when he's preaching such a great message about Jesus.
- I heard several mentions of Palcon being a "Community of grace/faith" - really, I kind of doubt that a 2 day conference has a chance of being a "community" of anything, but I know it's the current buzz word.
We were very understaffed for the ONU sound recording crew so I ended up working in a variety of workshops instead of the services. I didn't get to listen to the entirety of any one workshop, but all of these are workshops that were in my buildings and were very interesting to me when I did get to hear them.
1.Emerging Church 101-Carl Leth and Mark Holcomb This workshop placed alongside of each other what the emerging church values, what they are reacting against, and how the Wesleyan tradition compares to Emergent thought. This comparison then pointed out the similarities and dissimilarities between Wesleyan and Emergent/Emerging thought(There was a survey of Emergent thinkers, the movement was not totalized) and showed where dialogue could happen between the two in areas where they are dissimilar. Overall, I thought it was well done. It pointed out points for dialogue between the two which I thought was good. Holcomb and Leth were an interesting combo for this presentation also, given their relative stances on the Emerging Church. I have the handouts from the presentation. I will try to post them on this thread.
Caley Spangenberg,Steve Spangenberg, Joseph Lee, Cindi Schemflpig - Family Ministry Strategies for Your Church Most churches approach the church through age group ministry, but this workshop emphasized a holistic approach to the church in working through family systems. The presenters were four of the pastors on staff at Kankakee First Church and it was so compelling an attending pastor said he was going to go back to his church and fire his children's staff and start over. A statement made while I was in the workshop was that there was not 1 pastor for every age group, there were 4 pastors for all age groups and the workshop attempted to show how that all worked out. I thought it was a very interesting concept and philosophy of ministry but thought it fell short in the definition of "family". It only really dealt with biological families as opposed to functional families. People like myself(single, no kids) and older adults with no kids would probably feel left out at a church that emphasized this model. This is a ministry philosophy that would be very good for a church with lots of young couples with children. I work at KFCotN as a maintenance sub-contractor and it was interesting to hear the ministry philosophy straight from the pastors. KFCotN is definitely attendance heavy in favor of those with no kids.
Bob Crew-Funding the Ministry outside the offering plate This presentation pointed out through statistics that 9% of Americans wealth is in liquid assets while 91% is in non-liquid assets such as land, houses, cars, etc. This workshop was a way to get practical tips on how the church can access the other 91% of their local congregation's wealth. Thoughts that were being tossed around when I was in there were people donating things to church to be sold with proceeds going to offering(receipt could be given in turn, tax deduction for donater) and asking people to prayerfully consider adding their local church to their estate plans. There were more but I had to leave. Very interesting workshop though, according to the research presented it works at churches across all socio-economic standards and even though they tend to be given few and far between they are 100-400% bigger than a cash offering coming from the 9% of liquid assets. I don't know if this was recorded right, Bob decided to turn off the recorder after his workshop was done which may have blanked the disc. Here is his organization's website.
http://nazarenefoundation.org/churches
Woodie Stevens - “Principles and Techniques for Closing the Backdoor-This workshop was really aimed at how to stop the bleeding when it comes to losing church members in the U.S. According to the stats he presented, the Nazarene margin of gain was 90,000 in 2009 after total loss was subtracted from total gain (give or take a few since i don't remember the exact number). The question driving this seminar was how to be a good local Nazarene church and there were brainstorming sessions and questions throughout. Stevens landed them on being incarnational in approach to evangelism, holiness centered, and community involved. Essentially, he encouraged them to be the church that goes beyond Sunday and one that embraces their denomination heritage. I wish I could have stayed in this one longer but I was not able to. Very good session in my opinion.
Dr. Dennis Kinlaw's sermon is worth buying. I recommend it to everyone reading this post. Copies can be bought at http://www.cornerstoneaudiovideo.com/
I think the one thing I liked most about this conference as I was walking around was listening in on pastor's conversations about the local church, their struggles, and their encouragement to each other. Made me proud to be in this denomination. I do not really think my generation would be as polarized to the church as they are if they saw what I saw at PALCON, an amazing depth of love, caring, and thoughtful reflection shown by pastors agonizing over how to make the church better.
Last edited by Ryan Plott; May 19th, 2010 at 10:01 PM. Reason: grammatical errors
Was at the ONU Palcon last week, as always the best times were the fellowship with other pastors. However Hanks comment on Dr. Dennis Kinlaw is correct. If you didn't listen to anything else this year I'd recommend you listen to it. At 87 he's still a brilliant communicator and a man seeking the heart of God.
Betty and I are planning to attend the SNU Palcon. Since we already live here, we won't be staying on campus. And, since I am working another job, I will only pay for the one day session, tho I can drop in on some of the other services/sessions. Looking forward to it.
Godspeed!
Mark B.
Yeah, the options aren't too friendly for those who live close to the campuses. If I didn't live near ENC, I probably wouldn't be going (due to four children - I just can't take off for 3-4 days). So having to pay full price for several meals and a room I won't be using is unfortunate.
I need to use a lighter touch in reporting on SNU Palcon, otherwise I won't get out of it what I need to...anyway:
- Often at denominational meetings I feel that "how to have church" is being modeled for us. For instance, "contemporary" has been the approach for several years now. If that's true, I wonder what candles and a darkened "sanctuary" is telling us?
- I went to the emergent worship with Tim Crutcher -- he knocked the ball out of the park - over the "CENTER" field fence!
- Mark Hollingsworth's video of his GS brother is really funny - then, to his, and everyone else's surprise, Stan Toler did a walk on.
- I note more people sitting in the back, elevated portion of Herrick for the service, don't know why.
- The praise team did a traditional hymn and did a terrific job with it. A lot of times contemporary bands don't know what to do with hymns, but these folks did.
- Cliff Sanders brought a good message on the relational aspect of Holiness. Very listenable.
- My favorite statement from the message: some need to stop worrying about loving God and begin focusing on letting God love us.
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