We were again asked by the General Assembly Council to hold two Vision Enablers Training Event in the year 2004, so that denominational folk, General Assembly Council members, and Board of Stewardship members might attend to learn more about TOUCH THE FUTURE. For this reason, we held an event July 12-14, 2004 and have one scheduled for September 24-26, 2005.

The training event in July was held for the sixth time at St. Columba Episcopal Retreat Center in Bartlett, Tennessee. It has become a comfortable atmosphere for the training event participants. We had 13 participants at the event representing six presbyteries outside the denominational staff participation. There were four denominational staff persons/board members.

It was well attended and well led with our original leadership. Bill Ramsay came back to lead a Bible study on Exodus. Davis Gray spoke about what discernment is. Fran Vickers again gave the group tools for working with groups. We again had "testimonials" from Fran Vickers on use in the local congregation, and Lisa Anderson on use with an institutional board. Roger Ricketts attended the event to speak to the participants a little bit about the Comprehensive Giving Campaign which has become another piece to the TOUCH THE FUTURE puzzle.

Participants were still prepared for working with discernment task forces through each Vision Enabler participating in a small group to role-play scenarios throughout the event. This fostered a special bond for many of the Vision Enablers while equipping them with valuable skills.

The leadership for the event included Bill Ramsay with Bible Study, Davis Gray with discernment how-tos, Fran Vickers with group process, Margaret McKee with prayer and meditation, Lisa Anderson and Nancy McSpadden with worship, Roger Ricketts with the Comprehensive Giving Campaign, and Elinor Swindle Brown with the brass tacks of the TOUCH THE FUTURE process.

Page updated on April 20, 2005