As an introduction to a new Kaleidoscope series on Christian ethics in the modern world, speaker Dean Thompson will offer two presentations on the ethical and theological contributions of Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Reinhold Niebuhr to our ongoing hopes for Christian unity and moral courage during complex and challenging times.
- Dean K. Thompson is President and Professor of Ministry at Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary. An ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Dr. Thompson was pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Charleston, West Virginia, for nine years prior to becoming the Seminary’s eighth president in 2004.
Thompson grew up in Huntington, West Virginia, and following his theological education at Union-PSCE, he served at Montgomery Presbyterian Church in Montgomery, West Virginia, from 1973 to 1979; at Central Presbyterian Church in Austin, Texas, from 1979 to 1984; and at Pasadena Presbyterian Church in Pasadena, California, from 1984 to 1995, when he moved to Charleston to lead the 1,600-member congregation with a strong ministry in community outreach.
Dr. Thompson earned his degrees at Marshall University, A.B., and Union Theological Seminary in Virginia (Union-PSCE), B.D., Th.M., and Ph.D. He also has received honorary degrees from Centre College, D.D., and Hanover College, D.D.
Throughout his years of pastoral ministry, Thompson has also served as a member of the board of trustees and an adjunct professor at San Francisco Theological Seminary and Union-PSCE, and as an instructor at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary. He has also served on the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s Committee on Theological Education (COTE). At Louisville Seminary, Dr. Thompson is a member of the faculty team that teaches “Practical Theology in Congregations.”
“Presbyterians are thinking people with warm hearts. We are expectant servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God (I Cor. 4:1). We long for our ministers to nurture and lead the church as biblical/theological sense makers who, in their preaching, teaching, pastoral care and leadership, feed God’s people with the gospel’s empowering grace and truth. The diverse and ecumenical congregations which support our Seminary yearn to call pastors who are trained and committed to nourish them with the stories of Israel, the teachings of Jesus, and the basic beliefs of our Christian heritage.”
Dr. Thompson has published 60 articles and reviews and presented lectures, seminars, and addresses on subjects such as leadership, history, theology, ministry and theological education, mission and ecumenism, worship and preaching, and justice and mercy. He is the author of “Pastoral Grace Notes: On God and the Problem of Evil” in The Register of the Company of Pastors (Vol. 9, No. 2, Fall 2008) and “Wrestling with the Death Penalty” in The Presbyterian Outlook (October 29, 2007), co-author of Go Therefore: 150 Years of Presbyterians in Global Mission (Presbyterian Publishing House, 1987) and Virginia Presbyterians in American Life: Hanover Presbytery (1755-1980), and co-editor of Essays on the History of the Household of Faith, a collection of writings in honor of James Hutchinson Smylie in Affirmation (Fall, 1993).

A2 Old and New Ways to Do Missions
The face and nature of the mission field is changing so how do we need to be effective? Rev. Swayze will address these issues and more. Dr. George Bates will give an update on current and future relationships with the Presbytery of the Northeast. As our partnership is in the process of being renewed for another five years, we may be asked to participate in other projects of the Presbytery of the Northeast while continuing support for cisterns and early childhood development. Some of these possibilities will be discussed. Following the visit to our presbytery of eight missionaries from the Presbytery of the Northeast, we were asked to “keep the flame burning.” We will have a roundtable discussion of simple and effective ways to do this. Finally, the proposed mission trip to Brazil in July, 2010, will be discussed and promoted.
-Rev Dick Swayze served as a missionary in Brazil from 1962-1976, retired as an installed pastor in 2000, and now serves as Brazil Consultant for the Outreach Foundation along with serving as part-time interim and pulpit supply in the Presbytery of Mississippi.
-Dr. George T. Bates is a professor emeritus at Alcorn State University where he taught in the Department of Agriculture for 33 years and served as Associate Research Director for 12 years. Following his retirement from the university, he served as Disaster Recovery Coordinator for the Presbytery of Mississippi for 21 months on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. He is married to Linda Bates and they have two adult children, John and Martha, who both reside in North Carolina. George first visited Brazil in 2001 and helped to establish the partnership between the Presbytery of Mississippi and the Presbytery of the Northeast. Since that time, he has made many trips to Brazil to help with the partnership projects of installing cisterns to capture rainwater for home use and of the Pre-Escola Linda Bates in the city of Patos. He is incoming moderator of the Mission Committee of the presbytery.

A3 Looking at Stewardship: Giving God Both the Cash and the Credit

Scripture's first mention of stewardship is in Genesis, believe it or not. So what can stewardship mean for the faithful Christian and the congregation? We'll draw from Bible study, history, educational theory and marketing/public relations practices to develop your theology and practice of stewardship.

- Lynn Miller is a member-at-large in Mississippi Presbytery. A graduate of Union Presbyterian Seminary and Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, she has served congregations in Georgia and Mississippi in various capacities.

A4 One Step at a Time: A Pilgrim's Guide to Spirit Led Living
Spiritual pilgrimage is a lifelong journey of asking questions and seeking answers, of learning how to see more clearly and to listen more carefully, of changing and being changed, and ultimately of pursuing God and learning how to better walk with God each step along the way. And no matter where we start in our faith and relationship with God, the journey for Christians is marked by seeking to know, love, and serve God better; to follow Jesus Christ more fully; and to be filled and led by the Holy Spirit. Spiritual pilgrims also know what it is like to struggle, to fail, to get off track, to be discouraged, to doubt, and to be frustrated and disappointed with God. Still, they value their relationship with God highly enough to keep pursuing God. They value their faith. They want to know God and see the Holy Spirit at work within them, their relationships, and every other aspect of their lives.

This workshop, based on a book written by Timothy Geoffrion, is intended to encourage pilgrims engaged in this journey and to provide them with a holistic model for spiritual growth that links a closer relationship to God with growth in every aspect of their lives, including their heart, mind, emotions, relationships and behavior.

-　 Pastor Bendall spent fourteen years in retailing before pursuing the call to ministry. He is a graduate of Michigan State University and Louisville Seminary. Born in Alexandria, VA, he spent twenty-six years in Michigan shoveling snow before accepting his first call as an Associate Pastor in Columbus, OH, then Head of Staff in Teays Valley, WV, and finally Gulfport, MS. George is the pastor of Westminster Presbyterian Church and has served this congregation since June 2007. He and Joyce have been married thirty-three years and they have a son, Matthew, who is a freshman at the University of Mississippi.

A5 Ancient Faith and Modern Cosmology: Book of Genesis
In this class, we will explore how the stories of creation we find in the Bible compare with the standard cosmological model advocated by most contemporary physicists. We'll take a tour through the beautiful poetry of the Creation Hymn and then meander our way through Einstein's theory of general relativity; we'll take a short detour into quantum physics and Christian theology, and along the way we'll hopefully catch a glimpse of God's love as revealed in the glory and grandeur of our stunning universe. Bring your spacesuite and your Bible and prepare for a most awesome journey.
-Mat Taylor grew up in Mississippi and graduated from Belhaven College with a BA in Philosophy. After studying Greek at Reformed Theological Seminary, he attended Columbia Theological Seminary in Atlanta, Georgia, and received his Master of Divinity in 1997. Mat first served a small congregation in Louisiana while his wife Robin studied law at Tulane University. Upon her graduation from Tulane in 2000, they moved to Mobile, Alabama, where Mat served as Pastor of Cottage Hill Presbyterian Church and Robin worked as an attorney for a small, well-respected law firm. In February 2005, Robin and Mat became the proud parents of Zachary Allen Taylor. Soon after Zachary's birth, the family moved to Covington, Tennessee, where Mat served as Senior Pastor of First Presbyterian Church. While in Covington, their son Jack Thomas Taylor was born.

A6 Clerk of Session
This course will cover the duties of the Clerk of Session contained in the Book of Order and other resources pertaining to records, minutes and reports to Presbytery, etc.
- Lila Chancellor - lifelong Presbyterian, married, mother of 4, grandmother of 8. She has served the church as PW Moderator at the local, Presbytery and Synod levels. She has served as Moderator of the Synod, secretary of Mission Haven Board; Seven years as Clerk of Session of First-Trinity.

This study will look at how we understand conflict as individuals. We will look at how the Bible views conflict and some examples of conflict in the New Testament. A self-assessment exercise will be used to show how we individualy handle conflict when it comes our way.

- Bob Lee is an professional interim minister currently serving at First-Trinity Presbyterian in Laurel.