Keynote/Workshop Theme: Creating a Culture of Innovation

“Reinventing ministry for the common good, kin-dom of God” is how Corey Schlosser-Hall, thinks about his vocation. Prior to service with the Presbyterian Mission Agency, and now the Interim Unified Agency, he served as Executive Presbyter (EP) for the Presbytery of the Northwest Coast from 2006-January 2022.

A Ruling Elder, Corey grew up in the Dakotas and graduated from the University of Oregon . . . Go Ducks! He earned a Ph.D. in Organizational Communication from the University of Minnesota and is an ICF credentialed leadership coach. His executive service is informed by a background as communications director, university faculty, wilderness guide, entrepreneur, food service manager, and consultant.

Corey and his spouse, Rev. Adrienne Schlosser-Hall, are parents of two daughters—Maya Ruth and Hannah Rose—and a fabulous new son-in-law, Aidan! Corey likes to do anything with his wife and kids, engage in CrossFit, and listen to good music.

Workshop Theme: Innovative Property Development

Carlin Beekman serves as a Vice President for Foundry’s Brokerage Services team. She specializes in serving churches, denominations and non-profit entities. Carlin focuses on assisting our mission-minded partners in making informed decisions around the properties they have been entrusted with. She is passionate about helping organizations leverage their real estate for Kingdom purposes and helping them develop creative strategies around property utilization.

The workshop session from Foundry Commercial’s Mission Property Group will explore how a church’s mission and vision should dictate their real estate decisions. It will cover current trends in church real estate, offering insights into how changing landscapes impact ministry opportunities. Participants will learn the importance of aligning their real estate decisions with their mission, ensuring that properties serve as powerful tools for ministry rather than just assets. Through practical examples, our team’s goal is to inspire church leaders to view their properties as dynamic resources for outreach, growth, and community impact.

Workshop Theme: Sustainable Digital Ministry and Storytelling

Leslie Smith Kons is the founder of Studio Kons, a digital ministry consultancy helping small to mid-sized churches build strategies that reflect their values and actually last. A Director of Music & Digital Ministry with over 20 years of church experience and degrees from the Cleveland Institute of Music and Yale, she knows church life from the inside out.

Your church is already doing meaningful things. The challenge is building a digital presence that captures and shares that story, consistently and in a way that actually sounds like you. In this hands-on workshop, Leslie Kons will walk you through how to spot the stories hiding in plain sight, how your website, social media, and emails can work together as one connected narrative, and how to build simple, repeatable rhythms that hold up no matter who's on staff or what season you're in. Whether you're starting fresh or finally ready to update what you've had for years, you'll leave with a clearer strategy and a more sustainable path forward.

Workshop Theme: Clerks of Session Day

Susan De George is Hudson River Presbytery’s Stated Clerk and Congregational Assessment Specialist. Prior to becoming the Stated Clerk, Susan pastored three different congregations, all in Hudson River Presbytery. She is also a trained mediator, a ICF-trained coach, a lawyer, a GreenFaith fellow, and an adjunct professor at Mercy University. She holds a MA and MPhil from Union Theological Seminary (NYC), a MPhil from Columbia University, a JD from Pace Law School, a DMin from Drew University, and a certificate in sustainable gardening from the New York Botanical Garden. Susan enjoys swimming, playing fiddle, guitar, flute, and mountain lark, doing several different kinds of crafts, and having interesting conversations with folks who really want to change the world.