APCE Annual Event early bird registration ends Nov. 14

Pre- and post-events will highlight the soul of Memphis and its civil rights legacy

by Beth Waltemath | Presbyterian News Service

Jen James, program director of NEXT Church, will offer a pre-event workshop called “Moving to Impact — Getting at the ‘Why’ of Ministry” on Jan. 28.

Memphis, Tennessee’s history with the civil rights movement and current concerns around rights and relationships with Indigenous people ground pre-event offerings for the Association of Partners in Christian Education (APCE)’s 2025 annual gathering to be held in Memphis and online from Jan. 29–Feb. 1, 2025. Attendees will have an opportunity to arrive early to the historic Peabody Hotel and sign up in advance for tours of the National Civil Rights Museum; the Lynching Sites Project; its gospel, soul and R&B scene; and an “interactive learning experience that teaches the Indigenous rights history rarely mentioned in American history.”

This year’s annual event theme is “Wrestling with God and Church Toward a More Beloved Community.” Early bird rates for the in-person gathering, available until Nov. 14, are $395 for members and $580 for non-members. The early bird rate to register for the full online event is $165 or $185 on or after Nov. 15. Single-day registrations are also available.

Local service opportunities and visits to area nonprofits are also offered before and after the annual event. From Jan. 27–29, an educator certification course on worship and sacraments is available on site and in hybrid format for an additional cost of $225. On Tuesday, Jan. 28, Jen James, NEXT Church’s director of Programs and Operations, will offer a workshop on measuring the impact and understanding the “why” of your ministry.

Participants are invited to register separately for pre- and post-event programs.

This year’s plenary speakers are the Rev. Dr. Almeda M. Wright, author of “Teaching to Live: Black Religion, Activist-Educators, and Radical Social Change” and “The Spiritual Lives of Young African Americans,” and the Rev. Jeff Chu, author of “Does Jesus Really Love Me?: A Gay Christian’s Pilgrimage in Search of God in America” and the forthcoming “Good Soil: The Education of an Accidental Farmhand.”

The conference will feature more than 60 workshops offered Jan. 30–31 in person as well as some hybrid workshops. Along with practical workshops focused on worship, intergenerational ministry or formation of various ages and stages of life, several presenters will lift up the themes of civil rights, segregation and injustice. For instance, Dr. Stephen Haynes, professor of Religious Studies and Director of the Liberal Arts in Prison Program at Rhodes College and theologian-in-residence at Idlewild Presbyterian Church in Memphis, will lead one called “The Last Segregated Hour,” covering local and national ecclesial segregation and the Memphis “kneel-ins” of the 1960s. The Rev. Valerie Grissom, a worship pastor from Northwest Coast Presbytery, will focus her workshop on rituals with children, youth and young adults that address loss and injustice.

Simultaneously with the in-person event, ACPE will offer the Annual Event Online in Spanish (Evento Anual en Línea en Español), which is made possible by a partnership with the PC(USA) through the Office of Christian Formation. It will cost $10 for residents of the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico.