There is a tectonic shift happening under the surface of the church in North America. Parishioners are returning to the parish. The greater our individual mobility extends, the greater the world’s longing and need for a faith that can be lived out collectively – where we can be present… where there is an embodied practice… where the gospel becomes tangible in a particular place. This emerging pattern of local practice, presence, and place is the theme of Inhabit.
This premiere gathering will bring together innovative missional practitioners from across the West Coast to empower, encourage, and engage each other around practicing the way of Jesus in place. Combining the resources of grassroots networks for missional exploration (Parish Collective) with a dynamic relational/incarnational pedagogy (The Seattle School of Theology & Psychology), Inhabit promises to be a very unique and transformative gathering indeed.
For an end to Consumer Church.
The day of passively attending church events for individual self-help and entertainment must stop. It’s time for faith communities that actively participate together in weaving a robust fabric of care in real places.
For an end to Colonial Mission.
The results of arrogant decisions that church leaders have made – decisions that affect communities where they are not members – have frightened us to inaction. It’s time to reimagine mission through faithful presence and everyday friendship.
For an end to Information-based Formation.
We have imagined that instructing the right ideas and doctrines is the primary mode of discipleship. We have underestimated the transformative power of a full-bodied practice of the ways of Jesus. Action is primary to reflection.
For the beginning of a New Parish Awakening.
Something wonderful is rumbling under the surface. Join practitioners from all over North America who are moving toward more local and embodied forms of being the church in everyday life.
For the beginning of Rooted Collaboration.
When links form between small pockets of local care something BIG happens. Connect with hundreds who are discerning how to follow the Spirit into particular places and link across cities and around the world for collaborative support.
