The Rev. Cameron Trimble eagerly expects elevated participation in this summer's New Church Leadership Institute. But, she says, don't look too high into the sky when "Seven Secrets" for vital, transformational church leadership takes place Aug. 9-13 in Atlanta.

"We're not about theory; we're not 30,000 feet in the air here," says Trimble, CEO and executive director of the Center for Progressive Renewal, referring to the fourth annual Institute gathering. "This is a practical, hands-on approach about how to do this work."

Trimble anticipates that more than 200 people – nearly double last year's attendance of 120 – will take part in the ecumenically focused event. "You will leave with practical information that you can use the very next day at your local congregation. You will leave equipped to go start and renew churches," she says.

Customized tracks in church planting, church renewal and judicatory resourcing will be available, along with seven plenary sessions, 14 keynote speakers and more than 35 workshops for new churches, renewing churches and denominational staff.

"We are re-imagining the church; this is not just for new-church leaders," says Trimble, who has led the event the past three years. She defines the core competencies – the "Seven Secrets" – required for successful church development as:

• Assets – beginning where you are
• Vision – seeing where you're going
• Mission – turning church inside out
• Communication – from identity formation to market saturation
• Connection – creating transformational community
• Administration – managing for mission
• Transformational worship – the heartbeat of vibrant and vital church

The planning team for this year's program also includes the Rev. Michael Piazza, the CPR's executive director of multiplication; the Rev. Geneva Butz, associate conference minister of the Pennsylvania Southeast Conference; Gregg Carlson, the Center's director of online learning; and Jim Powell, COO of the CPR.

Keynote speakers will represent the UCC, Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, the Episcopal Church, the Alliance of Baptists and the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Among them will be Doug Pagitt, "a major speaker, mover and thinker," says Trimble. Pagitt is also founder of Solomon's Porch, a holistic mission-based Christian community in Minneapolis. Other speakers include the Rev. Yvette Flunder, senior pastor of City of Refuge UCC in San Francisco; the Rev. Donna Allen, visiting assistant professor of preaching at Lancaster Theological Seminary; and Lisa DePaz, the CPR's director of Hispanic ministry.
 
The CPR is funded by Local Church Ministries, the Southeast Conference and "Hope for Peace and Justice." It also offers a continuing series of one-hour webinars with church-growing and renewal experts. Cost is $9.99 for each hourlong session. Events such as the New Church Leadership Institute and the Churches Birthing Churches Conference (Oct. 22-24 in Chicago) provide a more intensive training experience.

For more information on the Center for Progressive Renewal or to register for the Institute's "Seven Secrets" event, please visit <www.progressiverenewal.com>.

Click here to hear Cameron Trimble in a recent radio interview with Doug Pagitt regarding the conference and the relevance of progressive thought in churches.