The New Church Leadership Institute (NCLI), a ministry of the United Church of Christ, kicked off this morning as 125 pastors from across the United States converged on the Candler School of Theology at Emory University. NCLI gathers potential and practicing new church developers and revitalizing pastors from the UCC and other denominations for a weeklong intensive training in the latest tools and theories for evangelism and church growth.

Divided into two tracks—New Church and Revitalization—NCLI offers workshops by gifted leaders, pastors and visionaries from within the UCC and elsewhere. Facilitators include Rev. Michael Piazza, Dean of the Cathedral of Hope UCC in Dallas, Texas; Beverly Wallace, the assistant to the Bishop of the Southeastern Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America; and Jim Griffith, the founder of Griffith Coaching Network, a network of coaches committed to helping church leaders develop more fruitful ministries.

“We believe that new and revitalizing churches hold the vision for the future of the progressive church,” said Cameron Trimble, NCLI’s director, “and the work we will do this week will take us further on our journey to building the Body of Christ.”

For daily updates and “tweets” throughout the conference, please visit www.growtheucc.org.