LAKE JUNALUSKA, NC – Sponsored by the Southeastern Jurisdiction Association of Older Adults, Lake Junaluska Conference and Retreat Center will host the 2010 SEJ Older Adult Conference August 9-12, 2010, entitled Wisdom and Grace. The theme of the conference will be “Reaching Up, Reaching Out – Our Call to Spirituality and Mission” and will offer exciting opportunities to attend workshops, worship and concerts all while engaging with others.
Each day of the conference will include opportunities to attend two enriching workshops, including those that focus on spiritual growth and Bible study, a hands-on community volunteer experience, a workshop on world hunger and its’ prevention, and more. Each workshop will be taught by a different engaging speaker, and will focus on the role of the older adult in the area being studied. Workshops will also include a Professional Track with Margo Corbett, M.A., who will focus on healthcare stewardship and how to be a savvy patient and caregiver. Corbett is founder of the Savvy Patient School, which offers classes on these and other healthcare topics.
In addition to attending workshops, conference guests are invited to Holy Communion each morning, followed by an inspiring message from platform speaker Reverend Gayle Felton. Rev. Felton is an elder in the North Carolina Annual Conference and holds a Master of Divinity from Duke Divinity School and a Ph.D. in the history of Christianity, also from Duke. Her messages will concentrate on personal and social holiness.
Bishop James E. Swanson will officiate at each evening worship service, with a sermon series entitled “Refrigerator Soup”, which will focus on blending the stuff of life into a soup that tastes good, nourishes one’s own life as well as others’, and trusts God to account for what may be missing. Bishop Swanson is an award-winning preacher who oversees the Holston Conference, which includes over 900 United Methodist Churches in Tennessee.
Inspiring worship and entertaining music will also be a featured part of the conference, with the Junaluska Singers providing music during worship services, and a concert by old-time pianist Ethan Uslan, which will feature wonderful renditions of hit songs of the ragtime era, jazz age and big band years.
Please join us for this exciting opportunity for enrichment and learn to “reach up and reach out”. Register for the conference before June 1st and take advantage of the early-bird fee of only $65. After June 1st, the cost is $85. Single-day registration is also available for $35 per day. More information about the conference, including a registration form, leader biographies and a detailed schedule, can be found at www.lakejunaluska.com/olderadult or by calling Pam Naplen at 828-454-6656.
Written by: Andie Robbins, Communications Intern