The Immersion conference ended Thursday with worship that included inspired preaching and inspiring music, the latter by Dr. Tony McNeill, a sought-after workshop clinician, lecturer, consultant, mentor and guest choral conductor.
Dr. Obery M. Hendricks, Jr., the final keynoter for The Immersion conference which concluded Thursday, shared his insights on two more of the 7 Marks of Congregational Vitality — Outward Incarnational Focus and Empowering Servant Leadership. The Office of Vital Congregations sponsored the conference, held online and in person at Montreat Conference Center in Montreat, North Carolina.
Author and historian the Rev. Dr. Gary Neal Hansen, the author of the 2012 book “Kneeling with Giants: Learning to Pray with History’s Best Teachers,” used two hour-long keynote slots during The Immersion conference Wednesday in part to offer attendees “a well-rounded diet of prayer.”
Appearing via Zoom Wednesday from Philadelphia, “where it’s sunny and our team is in the World Series,” the Rev. Naomi Washington-Leapheart engaged participants in The Immersion conference in thinking of worship as “a call to faithful reckoning and divine accountability.”
The Rev. Dr. Tom Bryson, the co-pastor at Southminster Presbyterian Church in Vestavia Hills, Alabama, remembers the day as a young boy when his father brought home the family’s first microwave oven.
As a lead-in to next week’s hybrid Evangelism and Immersion conferences, three people heading innovative ministries spoke Tuesday in The Scattered Church series, which provides Presbyterians with theological reflections and practical resources for socially distanced ministry.
The Presbyterian Office of Vital Congregations is inviting people to gather at the beginning of November around Lake Susan at Montreat Conference Center for a deep dive into the seven marks of vital congregations.
