Equipping families, churches,
and professionals to bring hope and healing
to adopted and foster children.
September 10-11, 2010 - Nashville, TN
Show Hope is partnering with Empowered To Connect to present the Empowered To Connect Conference during September 10-11, 2010 in Nashville, Tennessee. This two day conference will be hosted at Covenant Presbyterian Church by longtime Show Hope board members and friends of the Chapmans, Dan and Terri Coley. This conference features two tracks with sessions and workshops led by Dr. Karyn Purvis and Michael and Amy Monroe. All participants are highly encouraged to attend sessions on both days. Professionals are eligible to receive CEU credit for their participation on September 10. See the CEU section for more information.
Day One is specifically designed for those focused on serving and supporting others, including social workers, agency professionals, church staff and ministry leaders, counselors, therapists, adoption and orphan advocates, and others involved in adoption and foster care ministries or services.
Day Two is tailored to the needs of adoptive and foster parents (pre and post adoption and foster care).
Conference sessions will be held from 9am-5pm on both days. Light refreshments will be provided during breaks throughout the event, with "on your own" lunch breaks scheduled from 12-1:30pm.
For the detailed schedule, visit the Resources section of this page.
Listen to Michael Monroe and Dr. Karyn Purvis share about the heart of Empowered to Connect,
an initiative designed to provide practical tools and resources to adoptive and foster families.
The presenters
Karyn Purvis, PhD Dr. Purvis is the director of the Texas Christian University Institute of Child Development. She has devoted the past decade to developing research-based interventions for adopted, foster and other at-risk children. She has lectured and taught all across the U.S. and throughout the world to varied groups – from trainings in the U.S. for parents, churches, judges, social workers and counselors, to international trainings for parents and professionals in England, Iceland, Scotland, Romania, Ethiopia and Rwanda. She and her colleague, Dr. David Cross, write regularly for scientific journals and parents magazines, and co-authored The Connected Child: Bringing Hope and Healing to Your Adoptive Family (2007). Dr. Purvis also wrote, together with Michael and Amy Monroe, Created To Connect: A Christian’s Guide to The Connected Child. She is the recipient of the T. Berry Brazelton, M.D., Texas Infant Mental Health Advocacy Award, and in June 2008 was given the title of Distinguished Fellow in Adoption and Child Development by the National Council for Adoption. Dr. Purvis holds both masters and doctorate degrees in Developmental Psychology from TCU, and is a former foster parent, a mother of three boys and a grandmother of eight.
Michael and Amy Monroe Michael and Amy are the proud parents of four children, each welcomed into their family through adoption. Together they lead Tapestry, the adoption and foster care ministry at Irving Bible Church. Since 2005, Tapestry has grown to serve hundreds of families and children each year through a wide variety of educational events, training, support groups, financial assistance and community outreach. During this time, Michael and Amy have had the privilege of personally providing support and counsel to countless couples and singles in the adoption and foster care journey. In addition, they lead the DFW Alliance of Adoption and Orphan Care Ministries, a network of over 25 churches in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area. In 2009, Michael and Amy partnered with Dr. Karyn Purvis to launch Empowered To Connect, an online educational resource for adoptive and foster parents and church ministries. As part of this effort, Michael and Amy co-authored, together with Dr. Purvis, Created To Connect: A Christian’s Guide to The Connected Child. Michael also helps to lead the local church ministry initiative for the Christian Alliance for Orphans and writes frequently for national adoption and foster care publications as well as contributes regularly to AdoptiveDads.org.
Dan and Terri Coley are longtime Show Hope board members who live in Franklin, Tennessee. They have served as foster parents for more than 40 infants and birthmothers, and have adopted children domestically and internationally. Their family is multi-racial and includes children with special needs. It is their heart's desire for every child to have a family, but through personal experience they have come to know the importance of understanding the challenges and needs of children from "hard places." Dan and Terri are committed to help educate and prepare families for the adoption journey and empower them with the tools to help children heal while maintaining healthy families. The Coleys have nine children and five grandchildren. Their daughter Christi lives in Birmingham with her husband Mike and daughter ColeyAnn. Rachel and her husband, Corby, live in Philadelphia with their children, Hank, Reese, and Barnes. Carrie, her husband John, and son Rider live in Winston-Salem. Josh lives in Nashville. Johnson is a senior at the University of Tennessee. Katie (15), Michael (12), Daniel (9), and Anna (8) live at home with Dan and Terri.
The Venue
Covenant Presbyterian Church is located in the Green Hills area of Nashville, Tennessee.
33 Burton Hills Boulevard
Nashville, TN 37215-6103
Show Hope will be offering five (5) Continuing Education Units (CEUs) for attending the Empowered to Connect Conference. These CEUs are approved by the National Association of Social Workers. Those persons who wish to receive credit must attend the conference on Friday, September 10.
Resources
Please download, read and review these materials to help you prepare for the conference.
Detailed conference schedule
Letter to Church Ministry Leaders (from Michael and Amy Monroe)
Empowered to Connect Conference poster
The Created to Connect Study Guide
Hotel Recommendations