AC2017 Leadership Day Teachers Named

The Rev. Dr. Dawn Chesser and the Rev. Dr. L. Roger Owens will be the teachers for the 2017 Leadership Day on Wednesday, June 7 at Grove City College. The courses, both with afternoon and evening sessions, are open to clergy and laity.

"There was such a good response to the leadership session during last year's Annual Conference Day of Preparation that two course options are being planned this year," said the Rev. Susan Moudry, Conference director of clergy excellence.  "Workshops will be offered on worship and spiritual formation; clergy and laity will be able to choose the one that will most strengthen their leadership development.  

The Rev. Dr. Dawn Chesser is an ordained elder in the Holston Conference and holds a PhD in liturgical studies from Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary. Her focus in her doctoral work has been on understanding contemporary, alternative and emerging worship patterns in the United States as issues of inculturation. She grew up in Arkansas and then spent 19 years living, attending school, and serving churches in the Chicago metropolitan area as a member of the Northern Illinois Conference. She has served in ministry contexts ranging from urban to suburban to rural, large, medium, and small congregations, in varied worship styles, and in campus ministry.  She currently serves as the Director of Preaching Ministries with Discipleship Ministries of The United Methodist Church.
 
The Rev. Dr. L. Roger Owens received his Ph.D. in theology from Duke University. Owens is an ordained Elder in the North Carolina Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. He served both urban and rural churches for

eight years as co-pastor with his wife, the Rev. Ginger Thomas, before coming to Pittsburgh Theological Seminary where he currently serves as Associate Professor of Christian Spirituality and Ministry.

His most recent book is What We Need Is Here: Practicing the Heart of Christian Spirituality (Upper Room Books, 2015).  His other books include, The Shape of Participation: A Theology of Church Practices, which was called “this decades best work in ecclesiology” by The Christian Century. Owens serves on the faculty for the Upper Room’s Academy for Spiritual Formation, where he lectures on postmodern spirituality and traditions of Christian spirituality.

To register for the Leadership Day, use the registration form for Annual Conference 2017.
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