LEESBURG — A year after Hurricane Georges caused the cancellation of Discipleship Weekend, the event returned with a renewed spirit, according to Carol Sue Hutchinson, director of the Florida Conference Council on Ministries Discipleship ministry office.

"…the evaluations we received were excellent," she said. "I also heard people say it was one of the most spiritual events they’ve been to."

Discipleship Weekend is a three-day training event offered by the Florida Conference Council on Ministries’ Discipleship, Youth, and Church and Society ministry teams with the Board of Lay Ministry. It is designed to give laity training and resources in education, stewardship, evangelism, worship, family and youth ministries, and missions. It also includes times for spiritual renewal, worship and networking.

Laura Roy, director of education ministries at Pine Island United Methodist Church in Bokeelia, said the three workshops she attended touched her spiritually—something she said doesn’t happen at every event.

She said one class, in particular, moved her. It was "Designing Ministry Outside the Box," led by the Rev. Carmen Johns, minister of discipleship at Beach United Methodist Church in Jacksonville. Johns shared the steps her church took to attract younger members, Roy said.

"They prayed for two and a half years before they did anything," she said. "It really hit me that they spent that much time in prayer."

Roy was also impressed with Johns’ story of how her church members prayed for their neighbors. Each month, they chose a different street and prayed for the people who lived there. At the end of the month, church members visited the street they had prayed for.

"They heard stories from the people…about things that had happened in their lives during the past month that they couldn’t explain," Roy said. "It was God’s spirit working through prayer when people didn’t even know it."

Phyllis Rabb, director of Christian education at Big Bend United Methodist Church in Riverview, said the addition of "very alive worship," different music and technology was reaching youth workers and younger church members.

She also said the change in focus gave Discipleship Weekend broader appeal. Prior to 1997 the event was for people involved in Christian education. That year it merged with a youth leadership event to become Discipleship Weekend.