Imagine Together
2013-14 Saturdays
Dates and Faculty
2013
September 13-14 Terri Elton, Luther Seminary
October 11-12 Rozella White, Emory Center for Pastoral Services
November 8-9 Colleen Windham-Hughes, California Lutheran University
December 13-14 Susan Engh, Director for Congregation-based Organizing for the ELCA
2014
January 10-11 Jeremy Meyers, Augsburg College
February 7-8 Nate Frambach, Wartburg Seminary
March 7-8 Hans Wiersma, Augsburg College
April 11-12 David Fredrickson, Luther Seminary
May 9-10 David Fredrickson, Luther Seminary
Imagine Together
September 14, 2013
Faith Formation in a Missional Age
Terri Elton | Luther Seminary |
The world is changing rapidly. 1 out of every 5 adults in the USA claims to have no religious affiliation.
Our task of faith formation just got more difficult. The purpose of this year’s Practice Discipleship
Project is to explore the realities of faith formation in this missional age. This session will be an open
discussion on the challenges we all face when doing ministry in this era. What are the challenges we are
faced with? What is the opportunity? What are your fears and anxieties? What are your joys? We will
seek the collective wisdom of the group on ways we can faithfully move forward and continue to
support one another in our work.
October 12, 2013
Walking Together in Solidarity: A Theology of Accompaniment
Rozella White | Emory Center for Pastoral Services |
The ministry of accompaniment is the sacred act of being in authentic relationship with others. The
purpose of this ministry is to allow individuals, groups and organizations to grow in love and compassion
towards each other. Accompaniment calls congregations to listen deeply to their contexts in order to
discern how best to walk alongside the community. This accompaniment provides a reciprocal
relationship of giving and serving that builds the bond between the community and the congregation.
This way of being in relationship calls the congregation to take the needs and the wisdom of its context
seriously.
November 9, 2013
In•cultur•ating the gospel
Colleen Windham-Hughes | California Lutheran University |
The gospel is the good news for all people, in all places, at all times. And yet the gospel must be
translated anew for each generation, made fresh for each culture. What is culture anyway? Learn how
cultural intelligence helps to equip us for the work of inculturating the gospel for God’s people in our
places and times.
December 14, 2013
One-To-One "Relational Meetings" and Six Practical Applications
Susan Engh | Director for Congregation-based Organizing for the ELCA
The field of community organizing offers a great tool for building or deepening relationships within
our congregations as well as in the broader community. The one-to-one is a natural but uncommon
conversation with someone you want to know, or know better. It’s natural because it flows from your
curiosity and your conversation partner’s responses, rather than using a set of pre-determined
questions. It’s uncommon because it requires intense listening and courageous inquiry as you focus
primarily on going deep into your conversation partner’s story.
In this very practical workshop we'll learn how one-to-one techniques can be used in congregational
listening sessions, neighborhood outreach, and intentional visiting of community leaders and public officials.
January 11, 2014
Going Public
Jeremy Myers | Augsburg College | myers@augsburg.edu
So, how can my church engage our community in new and meaningful ways? This session will build off
all the previous theological and theoretical sessions and offer a way forward with a handful of practices
and exercises to empower your congregation to express its faith in public ways with your youth. We’ve
figured out the service project (sort of) but now let’s start talking innovatively and creatively about
community asset mapping, public art, and public rituals.
February 8, 2014
Theories of Culture: A New Agenda for Theology, Ministry, and Faith Formation
Nathan Frambach | Wartburg Seminary |
Culture: a familiar word that rolls off the tongue rather easily, perhaps casually, as though it needs no
explication. How do we move beyond popular definitions to a deeper understanding of the notion of
culture for today? Three assertions:
The Christian gospel and culture(s) cannot be separated;
We live within a pluriverse of cultures;
Congregations are one of those cultures.
This workshop will help participants better understand the reality of culture(s) today for the sake of
faithful, truthful, and effective ministry in a missional age.
March 8, 2014
"When Necessary Use Words"? Verbum Dei Theology for Right Now
Hans Wiersma | Augsburg College |
By now, you've likely been admonished by some t-shirt, poster, or bumper sticker to "preach the gospel
and, if necessary, use words." The slogan (inaccurately attributed to St. Francis) appears to turn the
Theology of the Word on its ear. On the other hand, the slogan resonates in a culture where explicitly
religious speech is met with suspicion or even outright hostility. Still, if "faith comes through hearing"
and "God's Word does what it says," then should we not also be speaking up for the spoken, preached
Word? Along with Scripture, we'll look at past and present resources from Lutheran and
other traditions to guide our investigation.
April 12 & May 10, 2014
Multiple Missional Strategies
David Fredrickson | Luther Seminary |
In the last two sessions of this course, we'll look at the varied NT responses to engaging the culture.
Luke, John and Paul each have distinctive approaches to the way in which the Christian communities
should interact with the Greco Roman world they found themselves in. The 21st century world is
equally complex. Join me in mining these different missional approaches and discover how they
challenge our basic assumptions and offer bold, new directions for engaging the world.
LSM HOME |
