Holy Shift Spirit Rising (PDF).
The world is rapidly changing. And so is the church.
As our congregations diversify, struggle and restructure, leaders and members are experiencing many expressions of change.
From technology to language, leadership to eldership, faith to hope – which expressions do we pay attention to?
Which of our skills and abilities can we use to help our congregations evolve with these changes?
What do we need to equip our church for change?
Holy Shift: Rising Spirit is a three-day event designed for United Church ministry personnel and congregation members to connect, learn and share our unique ways of shifting with the rising Spirit.
Hear from three prominent leaders in our church who are working with the shift:
- Keynote Jason Byassee: Author, teaching pastor and educator at the Vancouver School of Theology.
- Keynote John Pentland: Author, speaker and Lead Minister at Hillhurst United in Calgary, Alberta.
- Guest Preacher Deb Bowman: Former BC Conference President & Executive Secretary; 2015 Moderator Nominee; Coordinating Minister at Ryerson United in Vancouver.
Discuss how to be effective “shift practitioners” with leaders from our very own conference:
- Jennifer Swanson: Communication Diva; Minister at Ioco United in Port Moody.
- Ivy Thomas: Kamloops-Okanagan Presbytery Conference Minister for BC Conference.
- Treena Duncan: Conference Personnel Minister for BC Conference.
- Richard Bott: Technology and communications enthusiast; Minister at Dunbar Heights United in Vancouver.
Explore in workshops the impact and possibilities of expressions like:
- Techno Shift: Communication technology and social media
- Knee Deep in Shift: Leadership burnout
- Sand Shift: Maintaining hope
- Talking Shift: Framing the new context
- Elder Shift: Creating eldership in congregations
With music leadership from Donna Dinsmore!
Cost to participate is $50 per person and includes lunch on Saturday and Sunday and dinner on Saturday.
Questions? Contact tduncan@bc.united-church.ca.
Schedule of events:
Friday, April 22
- 7:00-9:00 pm Worship and Speaker
Saturday, April 23
- 8:30-10:30 am Worship and Speaker
- 11:00-12:00 pm Workshop
- 12:00-1:30 pm Lunch
- 1:30-3:00 pm Workshop
- 3:30-5:00 pm Speaker
- 5:00-7:00 pm Dinner
- 7:00-9:00 pm Evening Activity
Sunday, April 24
- 10:00 am Worship with Trinity United
- 12:00 pm Lunch
Join like-minded leaders for an educational and developmental festival of faith, presented by:

