2024 Parish Development Forum 

1:00 PM EDT Tuesday July 9, 2024 thru Noon Thursday July 11

For Orthodox clergy and laity the Parish Development Forum is a conference which encourages discussion of timely topics and discovery of practices used by healthy, vibrant Orthodox parishes.

Co-sponsored by the Western Pennsylvania, Midwest, and Bulgarian Dioceses of the Orthodox Church in America, the 2024 Forum will be held at the Woodside Event Center at Archangel Michael Orthodox Church, Broadview Hts., Ohio 44147.

Theme: Our Parish and the Future: Equipping to Serve in a Secular World  

At this the eleventh Forum, attendees will face forward -- actively considering what it will take to build a bright parish future. Attendees will collaborate on The 2030 Project -- a set of structured, facilitated discussions designed to share experiences and identify the key behaviors, skills and "new muscles" parishes will need to thrive amidst often unnoticed current and future societal, cultural, demographic and technological trends. Project 2030 discussions will involve extended exploration of three significant parish issues: building a healthy, collaborative parish environment; integrating converts and newcomers, and establishing a mission mindset.

Forum Goals

 The goals for the 2024 Parish Development Forum are:

1. To Equip attendees to 'serve’ in the context of secular pressures
2. To Focus parishes on a longer view –“Project 2030”
3. To Explore the individual skills and abilities and "corporate" competencies needed for an Orthodox parish to flourish in the future.

Content

In depth discussions and presentations will include:

• Orthodox Converts Speak: Becoming part of the Parish Fabric: New Wine and Old Wine skins
• Learning from Our American Saints: In the World not Of the World
• Materialism, Science, and Reality: Does Science Give us Certainty?
• Understanding Our Culture: The Impact on Evangelism, Communication and Formation
• Healthy Parish Environment: Active Listening and Dialogue
• Building a Mission Mindset: Obstacles and Practices

“This conference is the best actual conference I have been to in terms of helping parishes grow and become healthier... a really tremendous job.” Orthodox Priest; 2023 Speaker

Space is Limited

To maintain an intimate setting for thoughtful exchange among attendees the 2023 Forum attendance will be limited to 90 persons.  

Early Bird Registration/Fees

An Early Bird registration Fee of $110 per attendee (a $50 savings) is available until midnight Wednesday June 26. After June 26 registration is $160. registration closes Saturday July 6.

Your registration fee includes conference materials, two lunches, two dinners, one breakfast,one social reception. It covers other other costs including credit card processing, speaker stipends and travel.

Cancellation

Cancellations received before July 1 will be eligible for a full refund (less credit card fees.) Cancellations received before July 5 will be eligible for a $50 refund. No refunds offered after July 5.

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 “A wonderful conference and well worth the investment”. 

2023 Attendee

“a marvelous, useful, and fulfilling conference. Our group of four from our Church are rarin’ to go, and now we have lots of tools as well as hope.” 2023 Attendee