Helping Churches Tell Their Story, Leave Their Mark

Annual workshop for local church historians scheduled for Nov. 3

The North Texas Conference Committee on Archives and History is sponsoring the Annual Workshop for Local Church Historians from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 3 at the Conference Ministry Center (500 Maplelawn Dr., Plano, TX 75075). The workshop is designed to help those whose job it is to keep and record the history of your local church. The workshop includes speakers, breakout sessions, lunch and more. 

Rev. Stan Copeland, senior pastor of Lovers Lane United Methodist Church, will keynote the workshop with a discussion of his new book Together: United Methodists of the Temple, Tabernacle and Table and how and why he put together the story of his congregation’s search for diversity.

Workshop sessions will address how to find your church’s story, selecting the format to tell your church’s story and getting started. 

Tim Binkley, C. A., the archivist for the Perkins School of Theology, and Kent Roberts, the archivist for Highland Park United Methodist Church, will lead a panel on how to find out what happened at your church in the past, even if you don’t have a formal archive.

Representatives of Highland Park, First UMC Whitesboro, First UMC Richardson and Warren UMC will lead a panel discussing creative ways to present your story including film, social media, regular media, cookbooks, plays and other ideas.

Representatives of Casa Linda UMC, Webb Chapel UMC and Tyler Street UMC will lead a panel on how to get started telling your story.

There will be plenty of time and lots of expertise available to answer your local church history questions and share issues with other local church historians.

The cost is $20, which includes a box lunch and is payable in advance to the Conference. Make your check out to North Texas Annual Conference, put “2018 Historians Workshop” in the subject line and mail it to the Conference or to the conference registrar, Rev. Bonnie Bridger-Coffman (3024 Clay Mathis Rd. Mesquite, TX 75181).

The deadline for registration is Oct. 29, 2018. For more information, email Bonnie Bridger-Coffman or call (214) 707-3469.

Published: Wednesday, October 3, 2018