Third academy to begin today in San Antonio

The third session of the Holy Boldness Urban Ministry Academy is to begin today with a worship service at Travis Park UMC, San Antonio.
The session is to run through Sunday. The theme is how the church can missionally engage the community.
Pastor Rudy Ras-mus of St. John’s Downtown UMC, Houston, is to be the keynote speaker at the event. He is to preach from his newest book, Touch.
Workshops are to focus on outreach, health, grant writing, advocacy and other topics.
Workshops for the event include:
> Wholeness, Healing and Health.
> Wesley Nurse Program.
> Grant Writing/Grantmanship.
> Advocacy for Social Justice
> Pathfinders: Alcohol and Drug Ministry
> Partnering with Neighborhood Organizations
> Hispanic Ministry
> The Church as a Social Provider
The Holy Boldness Urban Ministry Academy is a two-year academy designed to show clergy and laity leaders ways to transform congregational life. The academy covered seven Holy Boldness themes in the first year. The first session was Sept. 28-30, and the second was Jan. 18-20.
The Rev. Mike Lowry, executive director of new church development and transformation, said the three sessions have had a “fantastic response.”
“Churches are waking up to the possibilities of life and health change that goes on where you rediscover Christ again in the neighbor, in the person. They are going from being focused inward and dying to being focused outward in mission.”
The next two or three years will show the “full import” of the academies, Lowry said.
For information about the academy, visit www.thetransformedchurch.org/holyboldness.html, or call the Office of New Church Development and Transformation.