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<\/h3>\nOn Friday, July 30th and Saturday, July 31st, the Riverside Innovation Hub gathered online with 75 participants from 12 local congregations to mark the launch of new learning community. We spent our time together learning more about who is in the learning community, how our learning will take shape, and what’s next.
\nEnjoy a few highlights from our event.<\/p>\n
<\/h3>\nOne person from each congregation was invited to introduce their congregation and why they’re participating now. Some shared that they hope this learning community can provide\u00a0 guidance as they reimagine what church might look like after the pandemic has disrupted the ways in which the church had often remained inside the four walls of a building, or for others in time of deep transition. Some congregations hope that this learning community helps hold them accountable to the neighbor-oriented work they have wanted to do, but have not always been able to make a priority. Others hope for a process to learn how to be good neighbors in their neighborhoods. See this blog post for a list of partner congregations<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n We kicked off the event with an introductory video with tips for Zoom events<\/a> and fun facts and photos of the staff.<\/p>\n The six RIH Staff also each got an opportunity to introduce themselves.<\/p>\n The three congregational facilitators, Jennifer, Amanda, and Geoffrey, shared\u00a0a little bit about their “why,” or why they feel called to do this work, in this place, at this time. To read more about the congregational facilitators<\/a>, check out their introductory blog post.<\/p>\n The three congregations that will be participating in this role are Pilgrim Lutheran Church in Mac-Grove neighborhood of St. Paul, Trinity Congregation in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood of Minneapolis, and Saints Luke and James Episcopal in the East Harriet neighborhood of Minneapolis.\u00a0<\/p>\nIntroductions to RIH Staff<\/h3>\n
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Introductions to Mentor Congregations<\/h3>\n
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Participants from 3 mentor congregations also attended the virtual event. The role of the mentor congregation is to accompany four new congregations along their two year learning journey with the Riverside Innovation Hub. This includes being a trustworthy conversation partner, a participant in a learning cohort led by RIH staff, and a curious contributor to the ongoing mutual learning of all of us swept up in God\u2019s call to be neighbor, in our beautiful and broken world.<\/p>\nPublic Church Framework<\/h3>\n
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Much of Saturday’s time was spent in breakout groups of the learning cohorts. Everyone got to introduce themselves, and the facilitators took time to share about their hopes and expectations for their learning cohorts over the next two years.<\/p>\n![\"diagram](\"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/ccv\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/17\/2021\/08\/1-300x169.png\")
The rhythm of the learning community alternates from large group learning events, like this Launch event, to cohort meetings, with congregational team work and meetings in between.<\/p>\n