Collaborative Paths to Gender Equity

"The future is upon us: what now?” Symposium

The 11th Annual Symposium on the Role of Religion and Faith-Based Organizations in International Affairs will take place on 3 April 2025, in New York City, exploring the vital role of faith-based organizations and civil society in shaping multilateral solutions to global crises. Under the theme "The Future is Upon Us: What Now?" the event will focus on amplifying the impact of these groups in addressing urgent challenges such as climate change, human rights violations, and peacebuilding.

Online Course: Leading Public Prayer

As a Lay Speaker/Servant/Leader, you may find yourself leading prayer in worship services as well as in other settings. Since people learn to pray by listening to others, the prayers they hear in church and Sunday school have a large influence on their own prayer lives! It is vital, then, that you are knowledgeable and lead well. Never fear – prayer is something we learn, and it can be taught! This course may challenge some of your assumptions, test some of your preconceived ideas, stretch your thinking and enrich your prayer life. It will, at the very least, present you with an opportunity to grow in the discipline of leading prayer. The primary objective for this course is to enable the Lay Speaker to effectively prepare and lead various prayer forms, primarily in worship settings. This class has been approved by Discipleship Ministries as an advanced course in Lay Servant Ministries. It is the “prayer” class required for Lay Speaker certification.

Online Course: Across the Rainbow Bridge: Grieving the Death of a Pet

For most of us, the loss of an animal will be our first experience with death. In this way, animals give us a most precious and intimate gift, the opportunity to learn how to live through grief, and to learn that we can live through grief. If we diminish the loss in our own eyes, subdue it, tell ourselves it has no meaning, then we will deflate the enormous value of this gift. Not only does the animal-human bond defy statistics and numbers and double-blind studies, but it defies words as well. The relationship we experience with our pets can sometimes be among the deepest ones we will ever experience in our lives. The sincerity, humility, dedication, purpose, courage, devotion, joy and love that we have learned from our pets will stay with us forever. We will take time and learn how to create a funeral or memorial service. All our beloved pets who have crossed the Rainbow Bridge and into the Animal’s Eden are waiting for their special humans, are free to do whatever they want. There they wait in this Eden for us to come. There is nothing more joyful than a reunion between dear friends who have been apart too long.

Online Course: A Journey Through the Old Testament: Rebuilding the Temple

The Old Testament story of the rebuilding of the temple in the books of Ezra, Nehemiah, Haggai, and Zachariah offers a story of hope and promise during a difficult time for the Jews in Jerusalem. It is a story of promise–promise of God to His people that is still relevant to us today. This recounting, which may be unfamiliar to many Christians, also will give insight into personal growth and spiritual and help the learner find hope in this difficult world as we examine the importance of God’s promise to his people.

Webinar: Unlocking Real Estate Value with United Methodist Insurance Program and Foundry Commercial

In this webinar The Foundry team will cover the different facets in understanding the value of your real estate. They will discuss property valuation and how to assess market climate, along with creating and leveraging underutilized real estate related income streams.

Online Course: Abiding in

This course is for persons called to lead Christian retreats who are looking for ways to guide those they shepherd to grow in the intimacy of abiding in Jesus. Equipped by this two-week course, leaders ranging from the inexperienced to persons with more leadership experience can design retreats centered in the stories of Jesus. You will learn how to design experiences that focus on one Gospel story, including the practices of Christian conferencing, prayer, searching the Scriptures, worship, study, and solitude and silence for reflection The resulting retreats will offer depth to seasoned church members without over-challenging newcomers to the faith.

Online Course: Call and Covenant for Ministry

Are you called to Certified Lay Ministry? Do you feel a call on your life to serve within and outside of the walls of the church in cooperation with appointed or assigned clergy? Are you called to lead discipleship programs, accountability groups, or even to help serve small membership churches? If you are currently a Certified Lay Servant or a Certified Lay Speaker and secure approval as outlined below, you are eligible to enroll in CLM 101: Call and Covenant for Ministry and begin a four module learning process that leads to Certified Lay Ministry! Module One: Call and Covenant for Ministry examines United Methodist theology and ordering of ministry, along with the role of the Certified Lay Minister and other leadership concerns. Alongside fellow students, you will discover how CLMs “fit” into the big picture of ministry in the United Methodist Church and, through conversation with your fellow students and with instructor guidance, you’ll begin the process of discerning your own call. This course requires the formation of a Mutual Ministry Team consisting of the CLM learner, the CLM’s pastor/pastor mentor, the lay leader within the CLM’s church, the district superintendent or designee, and three to five others from the local church. We strongly recommend that this team be recruited prior to the start of the course in order to meet the course objectives including the completion of a ministry covenant assignment. One-on-one meetings with your pastor mentor are also required to meet the learning objectives during this module.