REVIVE.
A Resource Collective Assisting Congregations
REVIVE.
A Resource Collective Assisting Congregations
Restore, Renew, and Re-launch
Welcome to “REVIVE.,” a ministry of the Wesleyan Covenant Association!Questions?
For more information, contact WCA Coordinator of Congregational Resources, Rev. Jan Dillard at jdillard@wesleyancovenant.org.
REVIVE Consultancy Speaker Series
What’s Next and How Can We Help?
Rev. Jan Dillard - WCA Congregational Resource Coordinator
Bio: Jan Dillard is a retired elder in the Global Methodist Church; former elder in the UMC. She was an elementary science educator and for eighteen years of her prior 25-year teaching career, she loved working with special needs children on the elementary and middle school levels before leaving the field of education to enter pastoral ministry. She has an M.Ed. degree with emphasis in Cognitive Theory from Missouri State University, and an M.Div. from Asbury Theological Seminary. She has been blessed by the work of being the Lead Person alongside a great team of Missourians for the Missouri Wesleyan Covenant Association Board, and now serves as Coordinator of Congregational Renewal for the Global Wesleyan Covenant Association. Jan is married to Jack, and together they have four grown children and four grandchildren, and a cat named Norman.
The Foundation of Prayer for the Future of Your Congregation:
Why, How, & with Whom
Rev. Dale Shunk - Coordinator of the WCA International Intercessory Prayer Network
Bio: The Rev. Dale Shunk served 40 years as an elder in the Western Pennsylvania Conference of The United Methodist Church, and on June 11, 2023 has become a Senior Elder in the Global Methodist Church of the MidSouth PAC where he lives in Wilmore, KY to be near his grandchildren. He is a founding member of the Wesleyan Covenant Association and now is the Coordinator of the WCA’s International Intercessory Prayer Network.
https://wesleyancovenant.org/2022/09/12/why-pray-join-the-wcas-international-intercessory-prayer-network-by-rev-dale-shunk/
Topic: Rev. Carolyn Moore, Wesleyan Covenant Association and Global Methodist Church Pastor and Transitional Council Leader Global Council, writes: “More than two years ago, we launched the International Intercessory Prayer Network, calling for intercessors to gather in every regional chapter. We now have intercessory groups all over the world, crying out for God to move among us. Every month, intercessors meet by Zoom to seek the Holy Spirit’s leading and listen for the voice of God as we discern the future of the Global Methodist Church.”
Two years have turned into many more, and this prayer movement has grown, as the dynamic Holy Spirit helps prayer movements to do! The IIPN wants every church that finds themselves in the valley of decision and struggle at this moment to join in prayer with us. Rev. Shunk joins with us on our consultant team to guide you in that effort!
WCA Resource and Renewal Tesia Mallory Worship
and Worship Resources
Rev. Dr. Tesia Mallory - Dean of Chapel, United Theological Seminary, Dayton, OH
Bio: Tesia Mallory is the Dean of the Chapel at United Theological Seminary. Her professional interests include liturgical theology, creative worship, women worship leaders, worship consulting in the local church, the sacraments, and liturgical music. Tesia received her Doctor of Ministry from United focusing on Wesleyan Eucharistic Theology in May 2021 and is an elder in The Global Methodist Church.
https://www.facebook.com/TLMWorshipResources
Topic: As your congregation transitions from those liturgies and United Methodist Resources into Global Methodist Theological materials, it is good to gain a fresh, Wesleyan-founded worship start. Tesia’s enthusiastic, warm approach to music, liturgy, and worship materials will help you to transition. Meet Tesia, and let her help you get started with resources such as Calls to Worship, Opening Prayers/Collects, Litany Prayers, Song Suggestions (modern and traditional), Prayers for Illumination, Prayers of the People, Pastoral Prayers, Baptismal Remembrance Liturgies, Seasonal Communion liturgies, Resources for children, and Information about the liturgical year.
Session 1: Finding Identity in Christ: “A Traumatic Reality"
Session 2: Clarification through Identification
Dr. Zawdie K. Abiade - President of Abiade & Abiade Associates, Inc., and Founder of Bridge Talk; Christian counseling consultant and under pastoral appointment with the Global Methodist Church
Bio: Dr. Zawdie K. Abiade, Christian counseling consultant and under pastoral appointment with the Global Methodist Church, is president of Abiade & Abiade Associates, Inc., and founder of Bridge Talk, a nonprofit family counseling ministry. He is a Marriage and Family Christian Therapist and consultant. Experienced in guiding work groups and theological polity for Asian/Pacific Islanders, African Americans, Native Americans, and Hispanic/Latino(a) communities, Dr. Abiade brings a wealth of knowledge and experience in the area of cultural diversity. His training is practical, offering tangible benefits to businesses, organizations, and academic, religious, and financial institutions. His counseling expertise, strong Christian faith, and pastoral experience make Dr. Abiade’s guidance invaluable to individuals, families and congregations. His strong faith in Christ and expertise will equip us to recover, renew, reorient, re-connect, rehabilitate, re-vision, re-ignite, and re-launch in our local settings, both emotionally and spiritually.
Session 1: Sexual Holiness and Relational Apologetics
Session 2: Sexual Redemption – Ministry Approaches
Debra Baty - Served as member of the Accountable Discipleship Task Force, as the Chair of the Sexuality Task Force, and as a member of the WCA Global Council
Bio: A charter member of the WCA, Debra Baty has served as a member of the Accountable Discipleship Task Force, as the Chair of the Sexuality Task Force,1 and as a member of the WCA Global Council. Debra is dedicated to equipping the church regarding the stewardship of creation along with sexuality and gender. She is the author of the Resources4Redemption newsletter, established in May of 2016, (available on Substack since June of 2020) serving to equip followers of Jesus to speak the gospel fluently, truthfully, and kindly on issues related to sexuality. Along with Mark Ongley and Garry Ingraham, she is a speaker for the 3 C Seminars on Sexuality and Gender. A member of Asbury Church, Debra is also is a fan of Lewis and Tolkien. Both she and her husband enjoy backpacking, kayaking, cycling, and other outdoor activities.
Garry Ingraham - Founder and Executive Director, Love & Truth Network
Bio: Garry Ingraham is the founder and executive director of Love & Truth Network, a ministry that equips pastors and Christian leaders to develop environments which foster relational and sexual wholeness. Since 2016, he has also served as the director of Transforming Congregations, a renewal ministry equipping Methodists to address sexual brokenness and gender identity confusion. Through leadership training, preaching and teaching, conferences and various ministry opportunities, Gary's ministries serve to promote relational and sexual wholeness within the Church.
Mark Ongley - Author of Into the Light: Healing Sexuality in Today's Church and Pure Hearted: Bonding Together for Sexual Wholeness
Bio: Mark Ongley has counseled hundreds of people with varying issues of sexual brokenness, and is author of Into the Light: Healing Sexuality in Today's Church and Pure Hearted: Bonding Together for Sexual Wholeness. Recently retired from pastoring for 27 years as a United Methodist, he blogs at Tsunami Surfing (tsurfing.substack.com).
WCA Resource Recovery Renewal Initiative WIF Greg Brooks
Greg Brooks - VP of Business Development, Wesleyan Investment Foundation
Bio: The Wesleyan Investment Foundation was founded in 1946 by individuals who understood the unique dynamics of church financing and saw a need to help finance church building projects and provide affordable loans. Our primary purpose and operations are providing loan assistance to churches and church-related entities so they can expand their facilities, purchase land, build, renovate, or refinance current debt. We are able to provide these loans with the funds that are invested by individuals and organizations who value a faith-based investment opportunity.
We currently have approximately 1,500 loans with churches and organizations all across North America. The vast majority of these loans are a first mortgage-backed with buildings or land as collateral, and most are guaranteed by the local district or denomination they are affiliated with. In our over 78 years of operation, WIF has never had to foreclose on a loan that we have provided.
We are an Indiana nonprofit corporation incorporated in 1960. We have no shareholders or members, and our affairs are administered by our Board of Directors. We are organized and operate exclusively for charitable and religious purposes. We are a tax-exempt entity, and no part of our net earnings inures to the benefit of any person or individual.
www.wifonline.com
VP of Business Development of the WIF, Mr. Brooks writes: “It’s been our honor to come alongside the WCA and the GMC in this season. So far, we’ve been able to help more than 50 churches by providing more than $8M in disaffiliation fund loans. We’ve heard so many stories of how the Lord is working in this season of transition and we’re grateful to play a small role in this endeavor.” We look forward to sharing with you the ways in which you might partner with the WIF in expanding your church ministries to meet the challenges of transitioning to your new church pathways.
Topic: Information about loan assistance to churches and church-related entities to expand facilities, purchase land, build, renovate, or refinance current debt.
National Center for Life & Liberty: What’s Next?
David C. Gibbs III - President and General Counsel, National Center for Life and Liberty
Bio: The Wesleyan Covenant Association welcomes David C. Gibbs III and Jonathan Bailie, of the National Center for Life and Liberty as our guests. The NCLL states their mission as serving to protect and defend the Bible-based values upon which our nation was founded, endeavoring to protect and defend these important foundational areas that support our freedoms: Life Values, Constitutional Values, Church Liberty, Christian Education, and Homeschool Education, and has walked alongside many churches who have chosen to exit the UMC under paragraph 2553. They return now to speak of the current situation in which churches who may wish to leave the UMC may find themselves.
Mr. Gibbs serves as president and general counsel of the National Center for Life and Liberty (NCLL), a legal ministry that protects the rights of churches and Christian organizations nationwide, with offices in California, Florida, North Carolina, and Texas. A graduate of Duke University School of Law, Mr. Gibbs speaks regularly at churches and conferences across the country, and has worked with Churches who may choose separation from the UMC.
Jonathan Bailie, MBA, JD - Chief Financial & Operations Officer, National Center for Life and Liberty
Bio: Mr. Bailie’s role at the NCLL involves creating and implementing the initiatives needed to maximize the ministry’s effectiveness and expand its reach, stemming from his desire to help the churches the NCLL serves reach their communities for Christ.
Recovering Scriptural Integrity and Wesleyan Wisdom
Dr. David Watson - Lead Editor, Firebrand Magazine (www.firebrandmag.com); Academic Dean and Professor of New Testament at United Theological Seminary, Dayton, Ohio; Elder in the Global Methodist Church; Blogs at www.davidfwatson.me; Co-host of “Plain Truth: A Holy-Spirited Podcast”
Bio: Dr. Watson teaches New Testament, Greek, courses in church renewal and courses in Bible and disability. His interests include theological (and especially Wesleyan) readings of Scripture and the Bible and disabilities. He participates both in the Society of Biblical Literature and the Wesleyan Theological Society. As Academic Dean, Dr. Watson oversees the academic program of the school and is a member of United’s Executive Staff.
Firebrand is an online magazine intended to promote theological reflection in various related traditions, including Methodist, Arminian, Holiness, Pentecostal, and others, and espousing four core values: The authority of Scripture, The Nicene-Chalcedonian faith, The Wesleyan tradition, and the cultivation of intellectual virtue.
Session 1: Your Church Can Multiply; Why and How Any Size Church Can Help Launch a New Church
Session 2: Disciple-making Made Simple (Not Easy); How Disciples Make Disciples
Session 3: Planting a Church Without a Pastor: How to Start a
Micro-church in Your Home
Dr. Steve Cordle - Executive Director, “The River Network”
Bio: Steve is the founding pastor of Crossroads Church, group-based church with 4 locations around Pittsburgh, Pa. His missionary heart can be traced to his coming to Christ through a missionary team while living in Brussels, Belgium. He also coaches pastors and church planters in the United States and in Western Europe. He has also been a Master Trainer with Dynamic Church Planting International, and is the author of three books. Steve is a classically trained pianist and a middle infielder on his softball team. His most important partner is his wife Linda; they have three adult sons, three daughters-in-love and four grandchildren.
Nehemiah Journey 2.0: Renew, Revitalize, Refresh!
Rev. Jill Jackson-Sears - Pastor of the First Global Methodist Church Dallas
Bio: The Rev. Jill Jackson-Sears is the pastor of the First Global Methodist Church Dallas, which is now meeting Sundays at the Lake Highlands Family YMCA. The newly formed congregation began meeting in member homes, then shared space with Fellowship Dallas in the former movie theater at Park Lane and 75. Jill has been a key leader in the Wesleyan Covenant Association.
Topic: Two years ago the Revitalization Task Force of the Wesleyan Covenant Association, under the leadership of the Rev. Dr. Leah Hidde-Gregory, created the Nehemiah Journey, a program for local churches seeking revitalization. The goal was to help pastors get healed up, churches prayed up, and congregations revitalized. The creators of the program have seen God create a wonderful community within the first 30 minutes of the initial gatherings, with pastors expressing their surprise as they realized they were in a safe space to express their hopes and fears, frustrations, and hurts. The initial pilot program and the Nehemiah Journey is now a ministry of the Global Methodist Church. Even from reading this description, it is easy to see how much it has to offer!
What are Your Options? How Can I Meet with a Regional Coordinator, or a “Ground Team” Representative? What’s Next for the Wesleyan Covenant Association? (And other assorted and relevant questions.)
Rev. Dr. Scott Field - President Global Wesleyan Covenant Association
Bio: Rev. Dr. Scott Field has long worked toward Methodist reform and renewal. He served as a pastor in the Northern Illinois Conference of the United Methodist Church for 41 years. Scott served on the Board of Directors of Good News for 15 years and, along with an outstanding team, led the Reform and Renewal Coalition efforts at four UMC General Conferences. He, along with his wife Lynda, were the local arrangement organizers for the inaugural gathering of the Wesleyan Covenant Association in Chicago in 2016 with 1800 in attendance. Further, Scott took the lead to form the Northern Illinois Regional Chapter of the Wesleyan Covenant Association and has worked voluntarily for the last seven years within northern Illinois to inform, connect, advise, and resource Methodists in the disaffiliation process for separation from the UMC. Scott retired from the UMC in 2019. With the launching of the Global Methodist Church, he has been part of the Leadership Council of the Great Lakes Provisional Annual Conference, also serving on the Great Lakes Board of Ministry and leading the Sessions Committee planning the Great Lakes Convening Conference in the fall of 2023 and the first regular session of the Annual Conference in June 2024.
He is deeply committed to the mission of the WCA to advocate for a fair, transparent, feasible, and globally available process for congregations and pastors to determine their most faithful and fruitful ministry future, whether within the UMC or another denomination. Scott and his wife Lynda have been married since 1976. They are blessed with three adult children who have married wonderful spouses and enjoy their (so far) six grandchildren.