In late January we hosted our learning event focused on the Artform of Accompaniment. Brenna and Geoffrey reflect below on lessons and learnings from that event.Ěý

Trust the Process: A Journey of Connection and Transformation

This past January, a gathering took place at Augsburg University, marking the beginning of an extraordinary journey for our congregations. We embarked on a path to explore and embody the art of accompaniment, a journey aimed at not just knowing about the neighbor, actually knowing the neighbor, and unraveling a new way of being church in the world.

The Essence of Accompaniment

Accompaniment, the first of four art forms we dive into, challenges us to not just know about our neighbors but to actually really know them—to see their essence. This deep understanding is fundamental, setting the stage for the upcoming art forms of interpretation, discernment, and proclamation. Our learning event was more than an educational endeavor; it was an invitation to transform how we interact and perceive the people around us.

The Power of Practice

A pivotal aspect of our gathering was the emphasis on practicing accompaniment through one-to-ones. That’s when I really saw the importance of cultivating these connections and practice among ourselves.

During a lunchtime exercise, participants paired up with someone from a different congregation, someone they didn’t know, and then embark on a journey of discovering the essence of each other. The simple act of asking questions and just listening unveiled the profound impact of hearing and sharing stories. Returning from the exercise, the air was filled with laughter, smiles, and a sense of connection. This practice, as many reflected, was the highlight of the day, underscoring the simplicity and inspiration found in truly meeting someone new and authentically connecting.

Creating a New World Together

This event was not just about learning; it was about preparing to build a new world together. The question, “when my world and your world collide, what happens now?” captures the essence of our mission. We are preparing to step out of our comfort zones, to listen and share stories, to connect our narratives with those of our neighbors. This is the groundwork for a new world—a world as intended by God.

The overarching vision of our journey is rooted in the belief that we are created for connection. It’s our stories with those of our neighbors that we find the blueprint for this new world. Through connecting, listening, and truly hearing, we step into a realm of mutual understanding and empathy. This connection goes beyond mere interaction; it’s about engaging with stories on a deeper, heart level, being with and allowing the stories to move and transform us from within.

A Transformed Perspective

The learning event taught us that true connection involves more than just knowing each other’s stories; it’s about letting those stories resonate within us, altering our worldview, our thinking, and how we engage with the world. This process of connection with others, leaning into their story, and allowing it to transform our mind and heart is what prepares us to embrace a new perspective, living in a world that we’ve collectively reimagined.

As we continue on this journey, we continue leaning into the knowledge that our shared stories and connections are not just pathways to understanding but the very fabric of the new world we seek to create together

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Wrapping up a season of orientationĚý

As we wrap up the calendar year of 2023, our RIH learning community is concluding its first season of work – the season of orientation. These first few months of gathering, learning and connecting have been saturated with lots of new ideas, invitations and challenges. I may have heard one or two folks describe this season feeling as though we’ve been drinking from a fire hydrant – a fair way to describe it. However, our intention has been to zoom out in this season and look at the journey ahead from the 30,000 foot perspective. We have been aiming to offer an overview of a new map of sorts.Ěý We believe this map will help our learning community of folks explore God’s call to them in this present moment of our changing world.Ěý

For many of us in congregations, we’ve been working off of older tried and true maps to help us get our bearings and shape our ministries. Those maps may have been more reliable in previous times. However, the landscape of the world we live in and its challenges has shifted significantly in recent decades. These shifts have only intensified in recent years…the global health crisis of Covid 19, a racial uprising in the wake of George Floyd’s murder, increased economic insecurities, a growing mental health crisis, increasing impacts of our global climate crisis, war and violence, just to name a few.Ěý The list of hurts, heartaches and fears in the world and in our own lives is overwhelming. The church has been deeply impacted by this increasingly unpredictable landscape. But also,Ěý we are a people rooted in a story that is rooted in love and whose fruits are intended to bring healing, nourishment and wholeness to God’s creation. This means that while the church attends to its own struggles, it is simultaneously holding a particular call to help respond to the bad news being generated daily in our communities and around the globe.Ěý

We need new maps. And we need to cultivate different orienteering skills that help us show up in the world looking for and aligned with God’s vision for flourishing and mending in our places. Our season of orientation has attempted to offer some insights on these new maps to inform the journey we intend to pursue together, each in our unique corners of this map…on the ground, from within our congregations’ local neighborhoods.Ěý

How we’ve spent this season

In September we gathered for our launch event and cohorts met for the first time in the weeks following. These gatherings were focused on introductions – many introductions! Introductions to some of the big ideas and imaginations resourcing the work of being vital neighbors. This included learning about the call to be public churches through both theological and practical lenses; an interrogation of the dominating stories that prevent us from living into the call to be about mending and loving in our neighborhoods; and initial reflections on why folks in this new learning community feel compelled to be a part of becoming public churches. We also had introductions to the team of staff who will be stewarding the learning community. And introductions to one another, a growing learning community of church leaders – lay and ordained – stewarding this neighborhood work on behalf of their congregations. In December, we spent time with the team leads from all of our congregations in the hopes that connecting across this group of key leaders will help folks find support and encouragement as we journey together, with the guidance of this new map.ĚýĚý

In November, our RIH learning community gathered online and in person at Augsburg for another night of learning (and un-learning) together for our Cultural Humility event. Joe Davis and Dave Scherer were our hosts and educators, sharing important concepts around culture, power and race. Exploring these important themes from the 30,000 perspective was intended to stir up conversations to help learning community members deepen our capacities for cultural humility in our efforts towards becoming public churches. Because the Riverside Innovation Hub is a learning community oriented towards the call to be neighbor and the call to invest in relationships in our neighborhoods, it is important that we cultivate a humble, curious and compassionate posture as we encounter our neighbors. This is especially true for congregations and individuals who hold more power and privileged identities in the cultural landscape of today.Ěý

Joe and Dave used the analogy of right-handed and left-handed identities, to illustrate how certain identities that are dominant tend to shape who has access to the most power in a given context. In our context, typically some of the right handed identities include: white, able-bodied, cisgender male, property owning, English speaking, etc. This means left-handed identities in our context, such as BIPOC, queer, female, differently abled, non-English speaking, etc. often experience systems that are not made with their identities in mind. Individuals with these identities typically will have less power in the systems that shape our daily lives. It is critical to bring our curiosity, humility and compassion to our efforts to connect and listen to our neighbors, especially when we hold a majority of right-handed identities. Our own identities can create blinders towards understanding across differences. For those with many “right-handed identities,” these blinders can prevent us from seeing how we at times contribute to harm. Ultimately, we want to lean more into seeing the human spirit in each person we meet. In order to do so, it’s important to be aware of what gets in the way of that. Deepening our capacity for cultural humility is an important orienteering skill as we explore and seek to connect with our neighbors.Ěý

Preparing for a season of accompaniment

Now that we are concluding our season of orientation, the next several seasons of this work will move us back onto the ground, into the particular neighborhoods that our congregations are a part of.Ěý We will zoom in to our geographic neighborhoods surrounding our congregations. If you’re in the city, this might be a particular neighborhood that your church is a part of. If you’re in the suburbs, this might be a several mile radius around your church with attention to other neighbors in your city you may already be in relationship with. If you’re in a more rural community, your geographic focus may be much larger to include the neighbors who are a part of your town but live, work and play over a more dispersed geographic area.Ěý

In January, these new maps will guide us into the work of accompaniment – the commitment to listening to and learning from our neighbors’ stories. We will practice the artform of accompaniment in a variety of ways, including creating actual maps as teams prayerfully walk their neighborhoods, noticing signs of desolation and consolation. God is calling the church to pour its attention and curiosity outside the walls of the church and into God’s world. Accompaniment is our pathway to the places and people God is inviting us towards. This foundational artform is at the heartbeat of our RIH learning experience.

Joe and Dave have a ritual that they weave into all the spaces they convene. After anyone in the room shares a response with the large group, everyone says together to that person, “Child of God, you matter.” This practice is informed by the Zulu notion of Sawubona which literally means, “I see you.” It is a word that affirms the value and gift of each person. As our congregations move from our 30,000 view of the call to be public churches, and as folks step into their actual neighborhoods, we hope their encounters with their neighbors will cultivate this same imagination with the people they meet. We are eager to hear the stories that emerge as folks take on-the-ground steps into their neighborhoods, do the work of accompaniment and encounter the stories and individuals there. We trust that the Holy Spirit will be active in inviting us all to truly see our neighbors. We hope that these encounters, over time, generate a deep embodiment of this truth in our neighborhoods: “Neighbor, beloved child of God, you matter.”Ěý

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I, Amanda, said yes to stewarding the young adult book project because I believe that this book, a book that centers and amplifies the voices of young adults who care deeply about the church, will be inspiring, disorienting, and transformational for the readers, congregations, neighborhoods, and communities who experience it. My hope is that this book will inspire us into hope, disorient us away from the status quo, help us remember who God is calling us to be, and continue transforming us so that we can show up more wholeheartedly in the places and spaces we are all called to be.Ěý

We launched the writing phase of the young adult book project in Mid-March by gathering all twenty-two writers at Montreat Conference Center for a Writers’ retreat. The purpose of the time together was to become familiar with each other and this project, preview how we plan to write a cohesive multi-voice book with twenty-two authors, and have each set of co-authors spend time together, in-person, to connect and plan.Ěý

On Friday evening, we gathered for dinner and our first session together. We introduced ourselves to each other, shared what values were carrying into the room and into the project, and looked back at the project’s story so far ().ĚýĚý

On Saturday, we had a mix of large group time and co-author time. In the large group, we looked at the logistics of how this project will come to fruition, and heard from each young adult author on why the theme they’ve been chosen to write on is important to the church.

In co-author pairs, each thought leader and young adult spent time connecting, brainstorming a chapter theme summary statement, and creating a game plan for how they’ll communicate, collaborate, and schedule their work. Each pair did this work uniquely, some started with a hike, some began with solitude, some took a stroll across the retreat center, some began by sharing about how their lived experiences will inform the theme they’ll write on, some began with writing, and all of them did really, really great work. Nicholas Tangen, the thought leader for the Community theme, said, “[He was] glad to meet so many new folks, to conspire and dream with my co-author Amar Peterman (who may be among the smartest people I’ve ever met), and to laugh way more than I had any business to. When people say the church is dying, I’m going to point back to rooms like the ones this weekend and let them know the church is more alive than ever!”Ěý

After dinner on Saturday, we had an optional social hour. We enjoyed refreshments, ate some snacks, and played some group games, like Fishbowl (aka Salad Bowl). Sarah Iverson, a young adult author said, “I had the opportunity to sneak away to a retreat center in the Appalachian mountains with 21 strangers who quickly became friends – all of us invited by Riverside Innovation Hub to contribute to a book about young adults and the church. Or more correctly, a book BY young adults FOR the church. I’ve been asked to co-author the chapter on mental health. I’m so excited to be part of this team as we spend the next year writing and dreaming together. This group of humans has already made me laugh harder and think more deeply than I have in a long time.”Ěý

On Sunday, we distilled some of the immense wisdom in the room. Everyone shared some of their best writing practices, insights on the creative process, advice and encouragement for each other, and some tools and techniques to try out as we endeavor in this collaborative book. Lunch on Sunday marked the end of our programmed time. About half the group traveled home on Sunday, and the other half on Monday. Talitha Amadea Aho, the thought leader for the Creation and Destruction theme reflected, “It was SO good for my soul to be away thinking big thoughts and having such fascinating conversations with the other 21 people who are together going to be writing a book that will help the church listen to its youngest leaders.Ěý Young adults haven’t left the faith, but the church has abandoned the public spaces where young people are actively living out their faith. This book will help the rest of the church follow their lead and find meaningful involvement in the issues that actually matter to our young leaders.”Ěý

The writers were sent off to work on a chapter outline, theme summary statements, and a first draft of their chapters. In a follow-up letter to the writing team, Kristina FrugĂ© shared, “I think this book is one way folks will be invited into curiosity about the new thing God is doing in our time. Curiosity not just for the sake of curiosity, but because curiosity unlocks room for transformation, for liberation into a better way to be and be together. And don’t we all need that? I am eager to listen for the Holy Spirit’s guidance in this endeavor we are on together – in through and with the many voices gathered at our table.”

Stay tuned to this blog and the Riverside Innovation Hub social media to learn more about the writing team!

The post The Writer’s Have Met! A Recap of the Writer’s Retreat in Montreat appeared first on Riverside Innovation Hub.

Saturday, June 3rd, 2023Ěý9:00am – 3:00pm at Augsburg UniversityĚý

Co-hosted by Riverside Innovation Hub and MAS Faith Practices & Neighboring Practices

Over the past two years Minneapolis Area Synod’s and Augsburg University’s Riverside Innovation Hub have shared a commitment to accompanying congregations as they discern their call to BE neighbor, rooted in their faith and open to the neighborhood. As the first learning cycle comes to an end and a new one begins, we are coming together to celebrate and learn from this groundswell of people engaged in what it means to be neighbor in the world. We’ll be joined by both congregations and individuals who are doing the work in neighborhoods all over Minnesota.Ěý

On June 3rd, we will gather for a day to hear stories from near and far in a variety of mediums, participate in skill-centered interactive workshops for all types of leaders, and practice deep community building. We will be gathering folks that have a growing heart for their neighbor, are curious about who God is and what God is doing in the world and find themselves around people who are shedding some of their fears about taking risks and not afraid to fail.Ěý

We invite you to join us as we continue to support and learn from each other on how we are called to be the public church in our neighborhoods!Ěý

will open on March 24th and will close on May 5th.

Childcare and Interpretation will be available upon request if indicated on registration form.Ěý

Community Stories

In preparation for our learning summit, we have been gathering stories about this experience from our learning congregations. Below you will hear from two of our learning partners.Ěý

RIH Reflections from Yvette Hewitt at Church of the Epiphany:Ěý

What is something you want to be sure to carry forward when the learning community wraps up?Ěý I want to continue being in dialogue with our neighbors and excited for engaging in future relationships utilizing the four public church art forms. The phase “Trust the process” will be very valuable as we begin to implement our learning experience with the greater congregation.Ěý

Discernment was a new concept for me. I plan to implement it more in my decision-making. I cherish the new friendships developed within our team, cohort group, RIH leadership, and other congregations during this learning opportunity.

Why does it matter that you are a part of this learning and experimentation?

Personally, professionally, and as a follower of Christ, this learning experience has changed the way I view and understand who is my neighbor. I want to be more awake and present in my daily interactions.

Where have you seen God at work over the learning community’s time together?

Our team has faced tremendous obstacles but God had another plan for us. The text from Ezekiel 47:1-12 imagines a river full of vitality and fruitfulness. God is replenishing our team with resilience, energy and vision to complete this work.Ěý I have seen areas of desolation beginning to emerge into places of new birth and opportunities to develop authentic relationships within our community.

RIH Reflections by Felecia Schmidt at Diamond Lake Lutheran ChurchĚý

In our fast-paced, goal-oriented culture it’s difficult, sometimes nearing impossible, to slow down. To see past our own bubble. To not get caught up in our daily grid and bogged down by the big picture.Ěý The experience with Riverside Innovation Hub (RIH) and this learning community has offered an opportunity to step off that path, pick our heads up and look around at the neighbors around us in a way we hadn’t fully realized. To feel the warmth of empathy and the refreshment of listening without an agenda.Ěý

In the beginning, the artforms felt abstract. At times it was a challenge to understand them and how they fit into our lives, our church and the connection with our neighbors. Throughout the learning experience with RIH the artforms were not only understood, but they also became essential tools for deeper understanding of ourselves, our church and its role in our neighborhood. One of the greatest and most surprising outcomes for me was the weaving of the artforms into my personal life. Imagine the ripple effects when it is nurtured and blossoms within our own hearts.Ěý

From this experience I want to carry forth the artforms.Ěý It’s the place I’ve felt God at work the most. Concepts that have always been present but this learning experience has brought clarity and intentionality to them.Ěý Understanding them has meant operating with grace and patience. It has meant taking the time to discern, even when there is a sense of urgency. It’s meant honoring every person’s story. It has meant being humbled and facing hard truths and faithful responses.Ěý

With stirred spirits, renewed curiosity and a deeply-realized need to be connected to our neighbors, we step out into our neighborhood with fresh eyes and God’s grace.Ěý

We can’t wait to share more stories with you all at the Groundswell! We hope to see you there! If you have any questions, please reach out to Ellen Weber at weber3@augsburg.edu or Kristina FrugĂ© at frugek@augsburg.edu.

FPNP Reflections by Rachel Carmichael of Salem Evangelical:Ěý

What is something you want to be sure to carry forward when the learning community wraps up?

I want to continue to check in with what we’re doing as a congregation and faith community. I want to be intentional about the work that we’re doing and at the same time I also want to remember the flexibility and openness that the learning community embodied, especially through the leaders of the learning community. I want to continue to check in with other faith communities because I think that support, connection and environment is key.

Why does it matter that you are a part of this learning and experimentation?

This is really important work. Part of my time with this learning community has been spent remembering this. Our work is changing, always, but it is still relevant and vital. Sometimes its hard to name that, amidst the busy-ness, but it’s important to remember the value in work that we’re all doing at whatever level you’re involved. It matters to me to be apart of a big movements of growth. What an incredible program! I’m truly sad it’s coming to an end but hope that this can provide a momentum towards other incredible learning communities. Thank you for allowing me to be apart of this wholesome goodness!

Where have you seen God at work over the learning community’s time together?

This is going to sound really general- but God has been apart of this process the entire time which is how I feel life works. Even in the hardest, most challenging spaces – God is there! God is pushing me to my limits and continually encouraging me to leap towards growth- mostly uncomfortable but absolutely necessary. And that has been happening during my time with this learning community, almost continually. The learning community gave me a space to be intentional about my involvement with my faith community. Selfishly, I really enjoyed finally developing a faith practice routine and I think that was an important way to begin our time together because it provided a strong foundation for the other elements we covered. It helped to remind me that God is present in my personal life- and I started there, so it opened my eyes to see other places God is working.Ěý

FPNP Reflections by Pastor Ali Tranvik of Cross of Glory:Ěý

When we began the Faith Practices & Neighboring Practices journey nearly two years ago, I remember the leaders sharing a lesser-known translation of John 1:14–the verse often cited as “the Word became flesh and dwelled among us.” This translation put it in slightly different terms: “the Word became flesh and blood and moved into the neighborhood” (MSG). It was shared as a reminder of a truth we’ve had the gift of witnessing more and more deeply over the course of these two years together: Jesus is already alive and at work in our neighborhoods (in Brooklyn Center, in south Minneapolis, in East Bethel, in Crystal, etc.), and is present in the physical, flesh-and-blood bodies of those who live within them. And with that confession came a question: what would it look like for the churches located in these neighborhoods to take part in the work that Jesus is already up to there?Ěý

That question has compelled the FPNP faith communities into a variety of practices (both faith and neighboring–which turns out, are one in the same) these past two years. For us at Cross of Glory, our practices included a new rhythm of shared meals with neighbors old and new, where God has shown up in bread broken and in conversation shared. We look forward to continuing to gather with neighbors at tables–and to encounter the Jesus who lives in our neighborhood at them.Ěý

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In early February, some of the Riverside Innovation Hub staff attended and presented at the ELCA Youth Ministry Network’s annual convening, the Extravaganza, in Anaheim, CA. Amanda Vetsch and Kristina Fruge presented what we heard at the Threshold Event.ĚýĚý

The purpose of the workshop was to share the wisdom we, at Augsburg’s Riverside Innovation Hub, are learning from young adults about their hopes, dreams and concerns for the church. In particular the about key learnings from a recent event we hosted on campus this fall, when we gathered a diverse group of young adults from around the country, representing a wide variety of ecumenical backgrounds and other lived experiences.Ěý

Before we dove into the presentation portion of our conversation, we used Mentimeter to poll the in-person and virtual attendees. This helped us get a sense of who was attending and practice using a new tech tool. Both groups were from across the country, with a strong portion in the Midwest. We were fairly caffeinated, and the majority of both workshop groups believe that the person in the middle seat on the plane does NOT get both armrests. After the icebreaker and Menti practice, we dove into presenting about who we are, what we did, and what we heard.

Who are we?Ěý

In 2017, the Christensen Center for Vocation got a Young Adult Initiative grant from the Lilly Endowment to create an Innovation Hub that equips congregations to explore questions around the intersections of young adults and church. One of our guiding convictions was that young adults don’t want to be attracted or drawn back to church, but would rather see the church move out into the public where young adults are actively living out our faith. The Riverside Innovation Hub spent five years working alongside congregations to be and become public churches and learn how to be led by young adults in that endeavor.Ěý

In 2022, We got a second grant to help expand that work, and one of the ways we’re doing that is through a book project. We’re committed to practicing what we preach and teach, so the book is super collaborative and envisioned and written by young adults. To distill the themes of the book, we hosted an Envisioning Event in November, selected two authors per theme, a young adult and a thought leader, and have built a writing process that includes two retreats, lots of drafts and revision.Ěý

What did we do?Ěý

For the Threshold Book Envisioning event, Ěýwe gathered 50 young adults from across the US to share what they wish the church would know and help identify the themes of the book. This group of young adults had varying experiences with church and came from a wide variety of traditions and denominations

The gathering was designed for them to share their hopes, heartaches and dreams for the church.Ěý Jeremy Myers and Rozella HaydĂ©e White facilitated the space. Five keynote listeners joined us to listen with deep intention to what was emerging in the space. You can read more about how the event was shaped in this blog: Threshold Recap Blog

What did we hear?ĚýĚý

We heard stories full of grief, love, celebration, loss and more. It was an absolute gift and honor to have those shared with us. After two days full of reflection, conversation, and sticky notes, we generated a list of the themes:

• Grief and Healing
• Marginalization, Inclusivity and Liberation
• Abundance and Scarcity
• Community
• Sex/Intimacy and Shame
• Power and Abuse of Power
• Beyond the Walls
• Courageous Curiosity
• Creation and Destruction
• Mental Health
• Tokenism of Young Adults

Audience Participation:Ěý

Just as the young adults used the lens of desolation and consolation to think about their experiences within the church, we did as similar thing at our workshop.ĚýĚý

First ,everyone was invited to pick one theme from our YA’s list that resonates with themselves or a reality in their ministry context.Ěý

Between both workshops, the theme Tokenism of Young Adult was chosen the most. Followed by Community, then Abundance and Scarcity, and Marginalization, Inclusivity and Liberation tied for third.Ěý

Desolation:Ěý

We then spent time individually reflecting on that theme and how we’ve experienced it as desolation.

ĚýSome of the answered shared included:Ěý

• One of the challenges I have encountered as a young person is having a lot of my community around me who is atheist/non-religious. Having spaces in my church community that my non-religious loved ones can participate and not feel alienated
• Existential dread re: the warming planet and the effects on vulnerable people
• Scarcity: Constant focus on too little time, too few people, too little money, always just trying not to die
• Post COVID “skill desert” of how to connect
• Not being fed but asking to feed others
• Courageous Curiosity – doubt/wonder/questions being interpreted to mean that you just don’t believe or aren’t faithful enough
• The rejection of queer voices. I can name more than a handful of individuals in my last congregation that were harmed for their identity
• “Why aren’t the YAs coming?” It feels like it sends the message that our young adults are not enough as they are unless they meet the church’s expectations.

Consolation:Ěý

After reflection and sharing about desolation, we reflected on the chosen theme and how we’ve experienced it as consolation.Ěý

Some of the answers shared included:Ěý

• Creating a Pride Cafe,Ěý art camp to explore identity issues, creating a community center in unused space. Ěý Invited folks to dinner and asked what they need spiritually
• Participation in new and ongoing hunger ministries (but desolation in the fact we still need them)
• Spaces where my non-religious loved ones can participate without feeling alienated
• Hiring a mental health specialist on staff
• Curiosity – when you open up space for vulnerable and genuine conversation about life, faith, church, you feel more connected to what church can be.
• scripture and church history/tradition provide a rich source for dialogue and makes space for mystery/hard questions
• exploring creation of an LGBTQ+ Christian group in a neighboring county where there are no affirming congregations

See the full mentimeter responses here: , .

Now What?Ěý

We concluded our time together by thinking through our next steps for our own contexts. What is something attainable we can do next, a low hanging fruit? What is something that is big and audacious we want to do, a moon shot? And who do we need to connect with, or coffee?Ěý

Find the workshop handout here:

To learn more about the book project and receive updates, join our

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In early November, a community of fifty young adults gathered at Augsburg University in Minneapolis, MN to identify our deepest held concerns, hopes, and dreams for God’s church at The Threshold Envisioning event. From those conversations, we distilled key themes that Young Adults want the church to know as it moves from the present moment, into the future. Each of those themes will be a chapter of the book.

Our time together on Friday began with gratitude practices, dinner, and conversation. We finished the evening with a reception.ĚýOur morning and afternoon on Saturday were shaped by the framework of an The examen invites you to reflect on moments of Consolation or hope, joy, freedom, and life and moments of Desolation or fear, brokenness, heartache and anxiety.

We then spent time reflecting on our life experiences with the church, noticing times, places, or experiences of desolation. Each person shared snippets of those experiences by writing them on a post-it note and sticking it to the wall.ĚýWe followed the same process for reflecting on consolation and our experiences of church. As we listened to each other, and read what was on the walls, themes began emerging. Those were shared in small groups conversation and through a Mentimeter Poll, you can read those reflections here:Ěý

In small groups, we worked on creating a Table of Contents where each chapter is a theme of what has emerged.ĚýEach group shared theirs and then everyone got to vote on their favorite chapters and book styles. At the end of the evening, the facilitators added up the votes and synthesized the chapters into key reoccurring themes. The keynote listeners started off our final day together by sharing what they had heard over the weekend. Then we had time to reflect in conversation and writing on our theme of choice. There were eleven themes that emerged from the weekend. Check them out below!

Themes:

Grief and Healing

Communities of faith don’t engage grief, lament, and suffering nearly enough. There is much to grieve, and yet the desire for comfort often enables us into denial and distraction. Often, when we practice grief in church, it’s on an individual level, when we also need to grieve and lament on the communal level.What do we need to grieve? What could it look like if faith communities leaned into their rituals and practices we have and lead ourselves and our neighbors through grief into healing? What else could be impacted by deepening our capacity to grieve collectively?Ěý

Marginalization, Inclusivity and Liberation

The inclusion and liberation of marginalized identities (BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, people living with disabilities, etc) is an absolute priority for young adults.Ěý

IfĚý everyone was able to show up in the wholeness of who they are, we’d have a bigger, brighter, more diverse representation of who God is and what God desires for our communities.Ěý

Inclusion is just the beginning. Doing the work of reckoning with our role in marginalization will reveal that all of our liberation is wrapped up together and lead to overall liberation.Ěý

Abundance and Scarcity

The stories of God’s people and God’s promises have an overwhelming theme of abundance. There is enough. We are enough. God is enough. Yet we often find ourselves and our faith communities, wrestling with or defaulting back to a narrative of scarcity. We see a mindset of scarcity show up in our economics and budgeting, in our understanding of membership and church vitality, and when we find ourselves thinking that there’s a limit to who God loves and what God’s love looks like.Ěý

Community

One of the most resounding themes of what young adults have loved most about our experiences with church is community. Church done well includes authentic belonging, vulnerability, showing up, sharing each other’s burdens, and bearing witness to God’s faithfulness. Churches can sometimes make people feel like an outsider, or prioritize the comfort of the existing community over the invitation to be part of God’s ever expanding vision.

Sex/Intimacy and Shame

The church has often cause harmed through sexual shame, purity culture, sexual abuse, and a lack of understanding of the expansiveness of sexuality and sexual intimacy (Asexuality to Polyamory and everything in between). What would it look like to be a faith community that dismantles purity culture, and engages in open and honest conversations about sex, and sexuality?Ěý

Power and Abuse of Power

Abuse of power includes: spiritual abuse, sexual, abuse, emotional abuse, scriptural abuse, financial abuse. It’s an injustice that goes from generation to generation because there is often no accountability. The church must reckon with its complicity in and manifestation of abuse.Ěý What could a healthy and constructive understanding of power mean for the church?Ěý

Beyond the Walls

The implications of loving our neighbor are vast and expansive. It requires us to center our neighbor, and in turn decenter ourselves, our buildings, and our agendas. Loving neighbors creates mutual flourishing and relationships.Ěý

What are the ways in which the church has tried to do justice work beyond the walls and harmed people? How have mission work and charity work centered the people inside the walls of the church and caused more harm than good?Ěý

Courageous Curiosity

Curiosity can open us up to experiencing and receiving more of what’s going on around us. While fear often closes us off, separates, or divides. Young adults both model and invite us into courageous curiosity. What would our faith communities look like if we turned toward wonder and mystery? What would we gain if we bravely moved through fear?Ěý

Creation and Destruction

Death of creation is the death of created beings—all exploitation is tied up with each other. We get to know our human and other than human neighbors as places where God shows up and is continually creating.Ěý

Mental Health

Young Adults are keenly aware of the importance of mental health and desire even more education, destigmatization, and authenticity. We wish the church would be better equipped to engage in conversations, resourcing, and resiliency around mental health.Ěý

Tokenism of Young Adults

Churches can be anxious about dying, and sometimes that anxiety comes out sideways and becomes directed at young adults. We are often sought after as the “solution,” rarely without sharing any power or authority to create change or be part of any solution. Churches often tokenize us by wanting to know about young adults, wanting to know about what will get us “back to church” so then the church can be perceived as safe from death and decline. This tokenism ends up alienating young adults from the church and from real relationships that could be life giving.

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