United Methodist Communications
Office of Public Information
www.umcpresscenter.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June8,2011
Nashville, Tenn. KimAnn Shockley has been named coordinator of a new project to discover more about the renewal of existing local churches and the practices that lead to transformation.
The project is an 18-month effort to build on the Call to Action research by broadening understanding of how local churches are achieving success. The project will be jointly funded by the General Board of Discipleship, United Methodist Communications, the General Council on Finance and Administration and the General Commission on Religion and Race.
"Through the Call to Action research, we know the combination of key factors that contribute to congregational vitality," said the Rev. Karen Greenwaldt, chief executive of the General Board of Discipleship. "What we need now is to do some detective work to learn more about how thriving churches achieved success. We're looking for the surprising stories that haven't yet been told."
As project coordinator, Shockley will work with the agencies to identify churches that stand out, whether in terms of reaching more young people, achieving greater diversity, experimenting with new approaches, or seeing interesting outcomes.
Shockley will oversee a team of analysts who will be deployed to a geographic area to ask specific questions to learn more about how the churches experienced renewal. The team would move around the U.S. from area to area.
Shockley previously worked as a ministry coach and congregational excellence coordinator. She provided oversight and direction of transformational processes in the 83 United Methodist churches of the East Central District of the Florida Conference, and coached 14 congregations through the ReFocusing process of transformation in Central Florida. She has also worked for the Western Pennsylvania Annual Conference as a media resource director and Operation Sunday School team member.
A graduate of West Virginia Wesleyan College, Shockley earned her B.A. in Christian Education in 1980. In 1984, she received an M.A. in Christian Education from Ashland Theological Seminary. She has completed additional training from Church Resource Ministries and On Purpose Ministries.
Co-author of Imagining Church-Seeing Hope in a World of Change, Shockley is currently working on a new book to be published in 2012.
Media contact:
Diane Degnan
[email protected]
615-742-5406 (w)
615-483-1765 (c)
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