Church At work

Since the average person spends most of our waking hours at work, how can they live out their faith in the marketplace? What expressions of church can flourish within the context of work? At this pre-conference event you will learn from practitioners who are taking their faith to work. Not only that, you'll discover how this form of Church can be financially self-sustaining.

Speakers: Shawn Mickschl, Steven Barr & Jay Moon

cHURCH AT PLAY

The days when a town gathered on Sunday for church have been replaced by weekends at soccer fields and tailgate parties. Parents spend their free time chauffeuring their kids to sports, while others their expendable time and income to marathons or mountain climbing. What if these past times are not competing with church, but actually providing new contexts for Christians to love and serve their neighbors, disciple one another and even form new expressions of Church? This pre-conference event will give you a new vision how to form faith communities in the place you love to play.

Speakers: Dave Bindewald, Mitch Marcello & Shannon Kiser

Church Beyond the Walls: Essentials for Introducing Fresh Expressions in Your Church & Context

For over a decade, the Fresh Expressions movement has worked to understand how to be church in a changing culture by creating new forms of church alongside inherited congregations. The movement has brought widespread impact and renewal to hundreds of congregations - helping the whole ecosystem of a local congregations life return to being “mission-shaped”. In this Pre-Conference you will come to understand the critical, "what's, why's, and how's" of fresh expressions of church, how it intersects with everyday congregations and communities, and what you can do next to get started!

Speakers: Brad Aycock & Kris Beckert

Dinner Church: A Movement that Brings the ‘Never-Been-Churched’ Crowd to Jesus' Table

While many churches compete to win back the "nones and dones" who have disaffiliated with institutional churches, there remains a large section of the population who are ambivalent or simply unaware of the Church. Grounded in the practices of Jesus and the Apostles, the Dinner Church movement is an expression of Church that deeply resonates with many who would never feel at home in typical "proclamation-focused churches." This pre-conference event will show you an expression of Church that is not only effective in reaching the "never-been-churched" but is also scalable and affordable for normal churches and denominations.

Speakers: Verlon and Melodee Fosner, Shawn Mickschl, Isaac and Jamie Olivarez, Heather Evans, Brian Spillman, Michael Beck, Sean Peters, Dan and Angela Altimus, Luke Edwards and Jay Moon

How a local congregation can become a movement

In the outdated Christendom model, a local congregation gathers neighbors who affiliate with a tradition or denomination. Today, churches and other membership-based organizations, such as Scouts, Lions or Rotary Clubs and even political parties struggle to maintain their base. But the God who makes all things new is renewing the local church with models that reach today's loosely bound communities. In this pre-conference event, you'll discover the Blended Ecology of Church, a method for remissioning a local congregation to empower their members to create new beachheads for the Kingdom of God in all kinds of contexts.

FXUS Partners & Pioneer Development Gathering

FXUS Partners from across the country will meet in this special pre-conference gathering, seeking to implement and deepen the life of fresh expressions of church within their congregations and communities.  We will spend the first part of the day sharing stories, insights, and learnings related to the strengthening the present ministry of fresh expressions within our respective church families.  During the second part of the day we will have the opportunity to hear from Dave Male, Director of Evangelism & Discipleship for the Church of England and former head of Pioneer Development within the Church of England and FXUK. 

Speakers: Gannon Sims & Dave Male

This is a private, invitation-only event.