After spending two days working on new directions in the Church of Scotland I thought it only appropriate to mention the kick-off  of a conference today in the Presbyterian Church in Canada.

The Emmaus Project began their first conference this evening in Alliston, Ontario with 145 individuals from 17 presbyteries.  It grew out of the Long Range Planning Committee of Assembly Council identifying five statements as relevant for "strategic planning and developing an overall vision."

1. Visibility and relevance that result in change in the world. — How can the PCC make a visible and relevant contribution to positive change in the world?
2. Christ-centred living that nurtures and empowers individuals to embrace God’s world. — How can that kind of living be nurtured?
3. Committed leadership that is prepared to take risks. — How can we encourage and develop that kind of leadership?
4. Congregational vitality that enables courageous choices. — How can we encourage congregations to move forward in intentional mission?
5. Effective structure that supports meaningful ministry and mission. — How do presbyteries and the national church support this goal? How may our structures become more effective?

The conference looks to address five "qualities" of presbyteries:

• Become encouraging and supportive of congregations
• Assist and challenge ministers through the struggles and growing pains of ministry
• Become proactive rather than reactive
• Be visionary rather than plodding
• Help shape new directions in mission

through the exploration of:

• What it means to be on the road to Emmaus
• How to recognize Jesus' presence on our journey
• How to turn and move to Jerusalem with confidence
• The implications of the risen Christ walking with us
• How this shapes our mission for the future
• Ways for presbyteries to become both prophetic and pastoral

So this conference is underway.  While it has a Twitter hashtag (#emproj) it seems that only @PCConnect is posting tweets (and that is reported to be @ccarmichael ).  There is also a Facebook page for the Project.  And there should be regular updates on the Project Emmaus news blog.  I am looking forward to hearing how the conference goes.

A blog entry yesterday gives a brief overview of the conference and an insight into the planning that has gone into it.  Some excerpts:

This marks the culmination of a three or four year process emerging from the Long Range Planning committee as a follow up to the Flames and Sabbath year initiatives. LRP went through a very long strategic planning strategy when it was finally decided that the best way to transform the institution of the PCC was to work through the basic building blocks which are the presbyteries.

The decision was not to do new programs but rather develop a strategic plan. Each selected presbytery (we had 27 presbyteries apply but could only accept no more than 17) sends a critical mass 5-10 reps depending upon the size of the presbytery, sufficient to effect change within their own framework.

Please pray for us during these next four days as we seek to not simply renew, but actually transform the workings of our presbyteries so that they may become more forward thinking, engaging in appropriate mission and providing support to congregations for this century.

We understand that the stakes are high, and we need courage to look at significant change and movement forward. So we do ask that you join us on our Emmaus journey through your prayers and support during these next few days.

You might want to look through the other blog entries a bit including one on Presbytery Best Practices and one on 1925 that considers the PCC's "Presbyterian identity" in light of their resistance to church union in 1925.

So it will be interesting to watch the Twitter feed, blog, and Facebook page as the conference proceeds through the weekend.  But maybe more interesting will be watching how each of these presbytery groups returns to their homes after the conference to begin re-visioning their own presbytery.  As always, Semper Reformanda, so stay tuned...