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A Successful 5th Interchurch Center Conference!

CBMS is pleased to report the success of our 5th annual Interchurch Center Conference. This year, titled “Reenvisioning Mission and Ministry: Creative Strategies for the Church of Tomorrow,” we had amazing speeches from all of our speakers, beginning with our keynote address: How We Gather’s Casper ter Kuile. Casper co-founded Sacred Design Lab, a research and design consultancy working to create a culture of belonging and becoming. His engaging speech allowed audience members to reflect and converse with each other, ask thought-provoking questions, and learn about the parallels of gathering in different circumstances.

Bill Woolsey, founder of the FiveTwo Network, and Melissa Spas, Director of Education and Engagement of the Lake Institute on Philanthropy and Giving, rounded out the rest of the speakers with their own respective talks on Christianity’s place in leadership and the ways that we can contribute philanthropically beyond monetarily.

The conference was wrapped up with two panels. The first was a diverse panel of pastors from various backgrounds and denominations speaking of their experiences as leaders of the faith in New York. The Reverends Cleotha Robertson, Andrew Durbidge, William Critzman, and Lenny Duncan delivered touching anecdotes about the struggles of leading a congregation, being LGBT, not having enough money to renovate appropriately, and more. Ultimately, their different backgrounds demonstrate the individual perspectives that they bring to the table to solve the problems that they all face.

Finally, the Council of Church Advisors, a not-for-profit group that was a primary sponsor for the Conference, held a panel with its members discussing how to spearhead solutions from different professional avenues. They are a diverse group of individuals from different professions that have joined together to help address and fix the ailments presented to most modern congregations and, from a multi-faceted approach, work with leaders of said congregations.

We hope all who attended enjoyed themselves and took something valuable away from the conference. Here’s to another successful conference next year!

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