Don’t just talk about mission and vision in another strategy session — put it into action with a spiritual foundation!
Ignite new energy in your congregation as a team (one pastor plus up to 6 lay people) explores how to pursue God’s dream for flourishing in your community. During the 12-month experience, you will become a congregation that is more risk-taking, more imaginative, and more laity-empowering. Teams will discern, design, and carry out a social impact experiment while being grounded in spiritual practices and a supportive community. The program follows our 4-module R.I.S.K. framework emphasizing tools for collaboration and creativity, with language and a process that are applicable long beyond this program. Many participants describe this as leadership development, spiritual formation, and innovation all in one!
Through monthly train-the-trainer workshops, you will:
Discern your congregation’s strengths and callings
Engage in deep listening to a diverse set of voices in and around your congregation
Generate multiple ideas for living into God’s dream for your church
Select one idea and try an experiment toward implementation
Draw learning from the experiment and plan next steps
Examples of church experiments resulting from this cohort program:
Monthly lunch program for lonely seniors, partnering with local restaurants
Guided nature walks as a spiritual approach to anxiety
Yoga and nutrition classes to address health issues among church and community members
Creating a computer and study center for community youth after school
We welcome congregations and individuals of any denomination, faith tradition, race, ethnicity, gender identity, or sexual orientation.
Scholarships are available.