2008 Convocation & Pastors’ School

Speakers

Featured Speaker

Ron Heifetz, King Hussein bin Talal Senior Lecturer in Public Leadership, was the founding director of the Center for Public Leadership. Known for his seminal work during the last two decades on the practice and teaching of leadership, his research focuses on how to build adaptive capacity in societies, businesses, and nonprofits. His book Leadership Without Easy Answers is currently in its thirteenth printing and has been translated into many languages. He co-authored the best-selling book Leadership on the Line: Staying Alive through the Dangers of Leading with Marty Linsky. Co-founder and Principal of Cambridge Leadership Associates, Heifetz consults extensively in the United States and abroad. He is a graduate of Columbia University, Harvard Medical School, and the Kennedy School and a physician and cellist who studied with the Russian virtuoso Gregor Piatigorsky.

Franklin S. Hickman Lecturer

Adam Hamilton is the founding pastor of the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas.  He earned a B.A. degree in Pastoral Ministry from Oral Roberts University and a Master of Divinity Degree from Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University. Adam has received the B'nai B'rith award in Social Ethics, the Denman Award in Evangelism, and the Circuit Rider Award for excellence in church leadership.  He was named Distinguished Evangelist of the United Methodist Church by the Foundation for Evangelism, and he was named one of the "Ten People to Watch in America's Spiritual Landscape" by Religion and Ethics Newsweekly.  He has authored six books and several small group studies and has been awarded two honorary doctorates and numerous other awards.  The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection has grown from four people in 1990 to over 12,000 adult members with an average weekly worship attendance of over 7,500 in 2006.  The church was listed as the most influential mainline church in America in a 2005 survey of American pastors. 

We regret to inform you that Dean Blair Sheppard will be unable to participate in this year’s Convocation and Pastors’ School. His deep devotion to Duke University required him to unexpectedly rescind his commitment in late August in order to address pressing issues for the University. Thank you for your understanding.

Blair Sheppard is dean of Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business and chair and founder of Duke Corporate Education. He earned a BA and MA from the University of Western Ontario and his PhD in social and organizational psychology from the University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign. Blair has extensive experience working as a researcher, consultant, and teacher in the areas of leadership, corporate strategy, negotiation, organizational relationships, and organization design. He has consulted for more than a hundred companies and governments, including the United States Postal Service, the Canadian Government, Deutsche Bank, Eli Lilly and Company, Ernst & Young, GlaxoSmithKline, IBM, Johnson & Johnson, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, Norfolk Southern, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Verizon, and Wachovia. The fruits of his work have been published in more than fifty books and articles.

Distinguished Panel of Bishops

Al Gwinn is bishop of the North Carolina Conference of the UMC. He began his current leadership in 2004, after more than thirty years in local church leadership. During his tenures he led congregations through successful land acquisitions, multicultural leadership implementation, building campaigns as large as $11 million and significant attendance increases. In 2002, while he was serving First UMC in Lexington, Ky., the congregation led the conference in mission giving. He served as chair of the Board of Ordained Ministry, chair of the Committee for New Church Starts, trustee of Methodist Wesley Village and Kentucky United Methodist Foundation, trustee of Kentucky Wesleyan College and chair of the Area Episcopal Committee.

Janice Riggle Huie serves as bishop of the Texas Annual Conference of the UMC, having been assigned there in September 2004. The Texas Annual Conference is composed of approximately 700 congregations and more than 290,000 members, spread throughout east Texas. Since Bishop Huie’s assignment there, the Texas Annual Conference has adopted a bold new missional strategy aimed at making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. In connection with her episcopal assignment she serves on the boards of trustees of The Methodist Hospital, Southwestern University, Wiley College and Lon Morris College as well as The Texas Methodist Foundation. Bishop Huie is serving as president of the Council of Bishops. A noted speaker and experienced leader, she has preached at numerous annual conferences and seminaries and led retreats for both pastors and laity in the area of leadership and spiritual formation.

Greg Palmer began his service as bishop of the Iowa Annual Conference of the UMC in 2000. He currently serves as president designate to the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry and the Council of Bishops. He is the co-author of Becoming Jesus’ Prayer: Transforming Your Life Through the Lord’s Prayer (The Pilgrim Press). He served local churches in Ohio and North Carolina after earning his undergraduate degree from George Washington University in Washington, D.C. and his Master of Divinity degree from Duke Divinity School.

Larry Goodpaster now serves the Western North Carolina Annual Conference following his assignment to the conference this year. He was elected to the episcopacy in 2000 and previously served as bishop of the Alabama-West Florida Conference. His experience with congregations includes seven pastoral roles and a district superintendent position in Mississippi. He is a member of numerous boards of ministry and academic authority. In April 2008, he was elected president of the Council of Bishops and will start his tenure in 2010. He has extensive teaching experience in the denomination across the United States, as well as notable published works. Goodpaster received his undergraduate degree from Millsaps College in Jackson, Mississippi, and his Master of Divinity degree and Doctorate of Ministry from Candler School of Theology.