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Flight School
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Flight School Update — Great News! The Ohio Conference Church Development Flight School program did not end in May 2007 as expected. Rev. David Plant, our Flight School instructor, has graciously offered to continue the program and do one school a year over the next five years around the various associations if we can gather at least five churches together at each location. The 2007-2008 training will be in the Eastern Ohio Association. The success of the Flight School program has been very gratifying, and if your church would like to participate, or if you would like to send a second team for training, watch for information about future dates and locations. Read more about Flight School.
Is your church looking for ways to enhance its ministry? The Ohio Conference Church Development Team, with the cooperation of the five Associations, is sponsoring Flight School...an academy for equipping church leaders to step into new ministry opportunities sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ. Flight School is a UCC church transformation program, adapted from a successful program used by the United Methodist Church. Training sessions will be held one Saturday per month for eight months (except for December). It is recommended that your pastor and 4 - 6 lay leaders attend as a team. Homework will be given after every session. Teams will gather at 9:00 am, and training will conclude at 2:30 pm. Some highlights of the training your team will receive: Learn the importance of leadership, discipleship, commitment and covenant Develop a healthy vision/organization/process Lifecycles of churches Understanding current reality Finding the focus of your church Spiritual and mission formation Using demographics Setting boundaries and "handling turbulence" Transformational leaders Children, youth and adult ministries Caring for self and soul Click here for more information about what happens at Flight School. Flight School Director is Rev. David Plant of the Northwest Ohio Association. He is assisted by members of the Church Development Team. For more information, contact Nancy Cope, Ohio Conference Church Development Consultant, at 330-332-1143 or Copesalem@aol.com.
Cost
The only cost to your church will be: $10 fee per person per training session to help pay for snacks, lunches and some printing costs $25 per month plus mileage for your coach All other costs will be covered by Church Development dollars. Similar programs in other denominations are much more costly. You will be encouraged to increase your OCWM giving by 1% per year for a period of 5 years, with half of that increase designated for Ohio Conference Church Development. This is optional, but it is hoped that "Flight School" will be so beneficial that you will wish to help replenish the sources that will make it possible for future training to occur.
Church development teams around the Conference are excited about this training. We urge you to take advantage of the opportunity to transform your church, to develop leaders, to "take off and fly" with God as your pilot!
General Content of Flight School
Our Vision: Every congregation is a healthy, growing, spiritually vital, risk-taking center for making and equipping disciples of Jesus for the purpose of transforming the world.
Session #1 "The Flight Plan" The importance of leadership; core principles; commitment and covenant The importance of a coach and working a program Life cycles of churches Understanding current reality - The cultural shift and the church; introduction to Percept
Session #2 "Starting Your Engines" Finding the focus (of your church, of yourself) Spiritual formation, vision formation, mission formation What demographics can and can't teach us Turning current realities into realized missional opportunities Using the God Is Still Speaking Initiative
Session #3 "Handling Turbulence" Systems thinking primer; managing change and conflict As leaders go, so goes the Church; setting boundaries; learning to live in the triangle Expect bumps Don't survive — thrive
Session # 4 "Taxi Down the Runway" Transformational leaders; growing leaders; organizing for transformation Multiplication ministry models Keeping back doors closed Children, youth, adult ministries — zeroing in
Session # 5 "Air Traffic Control" Discovering and developing spiritual gifts Care for self and soul
Session # 6 "Take Off" The ways of worship of the churched and unchurched Small, middle, large sized opportunities
Session # 7 "Reaching Our Destination" Mission management plan
Session # 8 "Flying High" Your flight navigator (coach) and you Checking landmarks Continuous affirmation Celebrating our stories Commissioning our intentions

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Services to Our Members • Church Development	Learn about Percept, a 21st Century church development tool

Faithful and vital churches who are God's witnesses to the Good News are an essential ministry and mission for the Ohio Conference and the Associations. God calls congregations into urgent, compelling and necessary ministry and mission. Many UCC churches are experiencing a new and deeper fulfillment in ministry and mission through revitalization. For information how the Ohio Conference can help your church, contact:
	Flight School
	Department of Church Development
	Percept Update February 2007
Flight School Update - February 2007
Nancy Cope Ohio Conference Church Development Consultant 6161 Busch Blvd., Suite 77 Columbus OH 43229 800-282-0740 or 614-885-0722 Copesalem@aol.com

Members - Church Development Department

Rev. Michael Castle - Chair and Board Liaison Ms. Nancy Cope - Consultant Rev. Barry Bordenkircher - NWOA Mr. Hank Stonerook - CSEOA Rev. Kenneth Heintzleman - NWOA Ms. Linda Harris - EOA Board Liaison Rev. Scott Griswold - SONKA Mr. Ulysses Jackson - WRA Rev. Jeff Schultz - EOA Ms. Peggy Hollenbeck - CSE Alternate Rev. Nancy Nelson Elsenheimer - UCC Local Church Ministries
Learn about Flight School

Percept now available to all Ohio Conference churches
Log on to www.link2lead.com to begin.
21st Century ministry tool gives your congregation the information necessary to meet community needs. Find out what you need to know!
Percept Update - February 2, 2007 The Ohio Conference contract with Percept to provide demographic information to all churches in the Conference expired on February 28, 2007. But you can still get information valuable to your congregation by logging onto Percept's www.Link2Lead.com website. Here's how to get several free reports from Percept. Go the www.Link2Lead.com and click on: Getting Started Register (Our account number is 20165) My Community There are 4 free reports in the *10 Facts Series: Basic Race & Ethnicity Faith Generational You may also obtain a First View Report* by zip code. The normal cost for this report is $85, but while the Conference contract is in effect, it’s free. A detailed report (over 20 pages) called a Ministry Area Profile (MAP) may be downloaded for specific zip codes or a circumference area around your church. The cost for this is normally $315, but the cost to you will be $150 until February 28. To obtain the MAP report, please contact your Association office for a password. You will also need to provide a credit card number. After the Percept contract with the Ohio Conference expires, the above information will be available at full cost to your church. Church Development will reimburse half the cost of the downloaded Ministry Area Profile ($157.50), based on a paid receipt. So – go on line now and take advantage of the subsidy afforded you by the Ohio Conference Church Development Fund. Find out what the demographics are in your area, what concerns residents, what they believe, what programs they need from your church and what types of worship they desire, just to name some of the information available. If your church is interested in transformation and revitalization, this information is invaluable.

The Ohio Conference Church Development Committee has contracted with Percept to provide information to help local churches engage in mission within their area. If you are a church leader in the 21st Century, knowing your world is not an option. Knowledge of your ministry environment is expected and necessary. Since its inception in 1987, Percept has supplied thousands of churches and hundreds of regional and national denominations with demographic resources. It is the only full-service demographic information company completely dedicated to church leaders. The Ohio Conference Church Development investment in the Percept program can be a valuable tool for all churches. But it’s only valuable if you take advantage of it! You can access the demographic information (based on zip code areas) by logging on to *www.link2lead.com* and following the introductory steps. In addition, the socioeconomic information will be available at 20 sites within the Conference. Please contact your Association office or Nancy Cope at copesalem@aol.com or 330-332-1143 for the site and contact person nearest you.	Receive demographic data about your community, plus information about local: • values and beliefs • concerns and needs • faith involvement • church participation • socioeconomic realities


Learn about needed programs and services what people look for in a church what style of music and worship respondents prefer respondents’ beliefs about community concerns and much more
Log on to www.link2lead.com to get started.

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Ohio Conference UCC, 6161 Busch Blvd., Suite 95, Columbus OH 43229 • 800-282-0740 • 614-885-0722 • ohioucc@ocucc.org

OC Home	Services to Our Members	Top
Ohio Conference UCC, 6161 Busch Blvd., Suite 95, Columbus OH 43229 • 800-282-0740 • 614-885-0722 • ohioucc@ocucc.org