The Northwest Clergy Group is designed is a series of educational sessions for the purpose of equipping pastors to do ministry

Our format is as follows: Meet at Noon and bring your lunch/beverage to Sioux City First UMC (1915 Nebraska St., Sioux City, Iowa). First UMC has a newly remodeled room that provides a restaurant-style seating area where we'll eat and get caught up to date with personal news. A refrigerator and micro-wave are available for your use. At 12:30 p.m. we'll shift to a learning/discussion format. We plan to provide either mp3 recordings or other online (audio or visual) material for you to review in advance so that we can move quickly into discussion. We'll close this time by 1:15 p.m. The Chapel at First UMC will be available and prepared for any of us who may want to spend time in prayer and meditation following our discussion time.

We will now meet on the 1st Wednesday of the Month: Feb. 1, Mar 7, (April ? (Holy Week, etc.), etc.

Participants receive .1 CEU’s for each gathering with a minimum of 3 gatherings required to obtain credit for any CEU’s.

Below are the podcasts that we have (or will) cover in our Northwest District Sub Group.  Feel free to listen on your computer by just clicking the title, or download the file to your ipod or mp3 player.

Wed., March 7, 2012 - Tammy Kelley: Smart and Healthy Church Practices (One of the nation's leading volunteer directors talks about what works with people and church policies.)


Wed., Feb. 1, 2012 - Don Cousins: Pastors Developing Leaders (Leadership expert shows pastors how to disciple influencers even if they personally don’t have the gift of leadership.)

Wed., Dec. 7, 2011 - Bill Easum: Reproductive Movement (The VP of Easum Bandy & Associates and 35-year pastor talks  about the four major reproductive moments in American churches today.)

Wed., Oct. 12, 2011 - David T. Olson: American Church in Crisis (An expert researcher looks at church attendance trends and what’s ahead for pastors striving to reach people.)

Wed., Sept. 14, 2011 - Stan Toler: Raising Money in Tight Times (This pastor and bestselling author talks about practical ideas for increasing offerings during a difficult economy.)

Wed., June 15, 2011 - Article from the magazine Ministry - International Journal for Pastors, May, 2011, titled "Where is the joy?": Three keys to avoiding burnout" by Rev. Martin Thielen, DMin, Senior Pastor, First UMC, Lebanon, Tennessee (He discusses self care including, as pastors we need to "divert daily, withdraw weekly, and abandon annually.")

 
Wed., May 11, 2011 - Bill Donahue: Adult Spiritual Development (The pastor of Leadership Development for Group Life at Willow Creek Community Church discusses trends in training and spiritual formation in adults.)