Thursday, September 5 - 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Montgomery First UMC Montgomery, Alabama

Retreat for a day and leave with sermon plans for the season!

Who is invited? Anyone who proclaims from the pulpit and is interested in a day apart to retreat with colleagues and plan sermons and series based on the liturgical calendar for Advent, Christmas, and the Feast of the Epiphany in Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary - Six Sundays and Christmas Eve. 

What to expect? The retreat is intended to provide a transformational day of collaborative, creative exploration for planning sermons and sermon series. These sessions included time to read and reflect on lectionary scriptures, generate ideas in small groups, and report back on the best ideas generated during collaborative planning. 

What is the goal? The intended outcome is the generation of two or three complete worship series with series titles, clear theme statements for each series and each Sunday in the series.  You will walk away with a variety of resources for use with each theme, including professionally prepared graphics that you will receive digitally after the seminar.  

Rev. Dr. Sam Parkes will lead a process of creative collaboration. Sam is the Senior Pastor with Mary Esther UMC in Mary Esther, FL and is passionate about the possibilities in preaching.  Dr. Parkes has a TH.D in homiletics (the academic discipline of preaching and sermon craft) from the University of Toronto.  

Rev. Jeremy Steele will also provide leadership for this event.  Rev. Steele is the Teaching Pastor at Christ United in Mobile.  He is passionate about reaching people with the message of Jesus in a way that engages them with the movement of God. Jeremy loves to write and has published several books, articles, and resources for churches and is a regular contributor to Interpreter Magazine, Mycom, and Seedbed.

Limited space is available so register today! The registration fee of $20 is due upon submission. Lunch is included. 

Questions? For questions about the event, please contact Rev. Ashley Davis at ashley@awfumc.org. For questions regarding registration and payment, contact Sarah McWilliams at sarah@awfumc.org.