Association Updates

You know how important we believe it is for you to guide people into appropriate ministries based on their gifts, passions, and so on. To make it easier for you to do that, we encourage you to put a link to our online spiritual gift assessment directly on your church's Web site. You don't even need to give your members any special login or password to use it! The link information is customized to your specific member number, so it will continue to work as long as you're part of the association.

It's as easy as 1-2-3! For everything you need, click here.

Church Volunteer Central Live
Church Volunteer Central Live-Multiply Your Ministry: Moving from Sitting to Serving, had a wildly successful inaugural tour. In the fall of 2005 and spring of 2006, this workshop reached nearly 7,000 people in 98 cities! If you missed it…in fact, even if you made it but wish more people from your church could have experienced it, we've got good news: The tour has been extended throughout the fall of 2006! Cities and dates will be posted soon on our site and at www.group.com/cvclive.

We're also looking for churches that would like to partner with us to host this event. Click here if you're interested in partnering with us.

Turbocharge Your Children's Ministry (July 9-13)
Fasten your seat belts! Sue Miller and Group's children's ministry experts have mapped out a direct route to more effective ministry.  Working in Group's fun and intimate setting, you'll be guided through a step-by-step process to develop a winning plan for your ministry. 

• In-vision the goal of your ministry and what success will look like.
• Evaluate your ministry and identify what's working, and what's not.
• Develop action steps to get you from where you are to where you want to go.
• Take home practical tools, insights, and solutions to help you stick to your plan and keep others motivated along the way.

Ministry Thinkubator (July 24-27)
Is your church relevant or a relic? How many new ministry ideas has your church successfully undertaken in the last 1-2 years? If you can count them on one hand, then chances are you're stuck. Most churches are dying for change. What's killing them are old ideas - stiff wineskins unable to contain new wine. Now, you can learn first hand what it takes to develop new ideas to revitalize your ministry and church. Join others from around the country as they engage in a Genesis process of creating and executing new ideas. Experience immersion into the innovation process as you acquire the tools to generate positive change for your ministry. Who should attend?

• Pastors and their spouses whose churches seem stuck, but want to change things
• Church staff members who yearn for an experience to propel them forward
• Church and lay leaders who are sick and tired of the “same-old thing”
• Para-church innovators
• Church planters
• Denomination leaders
• Young leaders desiring to do “a new thing” in ministry today

• Ideas gleaned from Harvard, Disney, and Group Publishing - one of the most creative ministry environments in America.
• Tools and best practices for fanning the flames of creativity that you can replicate at your own church
• The 10 commandments for effective brainstorming to tap new ideas from your leadership team.
• A guide to the 4 primary factors affecting church change and successful implementation of new ideas into your congregational culture.
• Practical tools for strategic execution of ideas, including follow up ideas for 90 days after this event.

Click here for more information, including the members' registration code that gets you a $50/person discount!