Vital Conversations: Why Numbers Matter to be held on Jan. 13

Vital Conversations - Why Numbers Matter: A Conversation with Conference Statistician Rev. Dr. Dennis Shaw

End of year statistics: the pastors hate them, the laity don’t always understand them. Why do we count? Why do we have to? Is there value in these values we record and report? In this Vital Conversation we will talk with our conference statistician, the Rev. Dr. Dennis Shaw, on why numbers matter and how they can help our ministry. We will also answer questions about the end of year EZRA report and how to manage some unique challenges to this report in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Please join the discussion on Wednesday, Jan. 13 at 11:30 a.m.

Register for Vital Conversations HERE

Rev. Dr. C. Dennis Shaw is a retired Elder continuing to serve as the Mountain Sky Statistician, a member of our Conference Council on Finance and Administration and the Board of Directors of the Mountain Sky United Methodist Foundation. 

Dennis and his wife Marilyn are proud parents to a blended family of four with six grandchildren. They have moved East in order to be in the same time zone as most of their family. 

Dennis has an eclectic background with degrees in Music, Business and Theology.  A life-long practitioner, observer and student of Leadership, his 2012 Doctor of Ministry is in Church Leadership. In his spare time, he once ran a three-hour, 5-minute marathon qualifying him to compete and complete the Boston Marathon. 

Serving appointments in Colorado Springs and Sandy, Utah, his entire adult life has been dedicated to service of some type:  health care, nation, church, family. Much of his adult life has included the search for the meaning of numbers and weaving them into the story in some way.  Paraphrasing Bishop Gregory Palmer:  ‘Every number has a story; every story has a number.’