The Rev. Cameron Trimble knows a promising trend when she sees one.

Following a recent announcement that UCC-related Andover Theological Seminary has formed a partnership with the Alban Institute to provide continuing education for clergy and laity, the Center for Progressive Renewal (CPR) will soon begin a similar collaboration with two other seminaries linked to the UCC – Chicago Theological Seminary and the Pacific School of Religion.

The seminaries will roll out their CPR On Campus Program reNEW series titled "Skills for Leading New & Renewing Progressive Churches," with Trimble and the Rev. Michael Piazza, CPR co-executive directors, teaching the program.

The program is a one-week intensive, face-to-face study on the seminary campus. CTS will present it May 16-20; PSR, this summer. Three hours of seminary degree credit and four CEUs can be earned, and the program is available for audit.

"CPR is proud to partner with Chicago Theological Seminary and the Pacific School of Religion to offer practical, skills-based training for seminary students and local church leaders in the areas around these schools," says Trimble. "This is part of a trend of seminaries connecting with non-profit, church-related organizations.

"These schools will be the sole provider of credit for CPR courses and will cross list our courses with theirs through our online learning platform," she says.

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Welcome to our new website! Knowing that you depend on CPR for resources in church planting and renewal, we have redesigned our website to give you better access to more information and learning opportunities.

We are inspired by the extraordinary ministries within the Progressive Church and want to be sure we are doing our part to equip you to succeed in the settings in which you serve. With this newly redesigned site, we have created a more robust website with additional resources, better tools, and a new visual design to support your work in the areas of church growth, church renewal, church planting and church administration.

With our new site, you are now able to easily search for and download resources, register for online webinars and web events, sign up for regional conferences and connect with other people in the progressive church. We hope you find this new design helpful.

Reflecting our commitment to continued learning and excellent delivery, we welcome your feedback as we continue to improve this site.

The CPR Team

Secret One: Marketing begins at home.

Mobilize the congregation. Your congregation is your witness. This is both good and bad news. Consistently, every survey says that the number one reason people choose a church is that someone invites them. Whether yours is a new or renewing situation, you must mobilize the members of your congregation in the inviting process.

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Virginia-Highland Voice

By: Eileen Drennen

See Article: http://vahi.patch.com/articles/where-every-voice-counts#

It was billed as a Meet-and-Greet weekend.

But for the members of tiny Virginia-Highland Church, it was much more.

The Rev. Michael Piazza, who was senior pastor of the largest liberal/inclusive church in the South for 22 years, came to town to meet the members of the feisty congregation at the corner of Virginia Avenue and Ponce de Leon Place.

Having spent two years without a senior pastor and months of winnowing through applicants to find their ideal leader, they were eager to make the acquaintance of the man who’d transformed a small congregation in Dallas, Texas into a mega-church called the Cathedral of Hope.

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