The Courage Workshop

I encourage you with all my heart to attend this workshop. I believe it will change your life!

As a spiritual practice, pause, close your eyes and visualize intently those people who are most important to you; your children, siblings and friends. Many of these valued people perhaps also have rich spirituality within their own lives. Imagine you opening the door that allows you to share together with one another in deeper ways, to experience faith together in making a difference in the lives of others. For many, the hurdle has been our “in the box” thinking that what we are doing as church is the only way it can be done. This workshop will be an adventure in creating, discovering, inventing new ways of being the church in the common everyday activities you and those close to you are familiar and comfortable with locally and in the time and place that fits the availability of your lives. So envision you and these friends at Tim Horton’s or the Good Life gym or hiking or playing euchre and within that fun and comfortable setting you share “moments of meaning” together that opens a whole new "you and them experience" of being together. OK, now you can open your eyes.

This can happen, it does happen. The Courage workshop has a leadership team that will guide us through changing our paradigm of church to connect comfortably with those on the outside looking in with pre-conceptions, suspicion, distrust, hurt, busy lives…. And now we have a way and means, learned tools and resources to blend our lives together in new ways. Sure there is still an element of courage needed for 10 seconds to open the door, but the view through the open door is so natural and familiar that the words you will learn to introduce friends will be comfortable.

D&C 163:3 urges us to be “culturally incarnate”. Jesus was the incarnation of God which means “God being with us” where we are in our lives. We are replicating that same notion in the places and life of people. Following the model of Jesus who did not invite folks to the synagogue but to a hillside or lakeside or home or anywhere at all, we need to be “with people” offering today’s parable like stories, videos, questions that relate to the heart of life. These relationships must be mutually authentic but the beauty of a new creation is we, “you and them” creating the model together. You choose the way you make a difference in the lives of others together, you are the church in a new way. You are not alone. There will be many other groups, like yours, that cluster together in the places of your choosing, perhaps even within C of C churches, as often as works, to share ideas, successes, needs and celebrate through music and other expressions of your own creation. We will experience God in us and in each other. These will become expressions of Community of Christ in a new look, feel and richness.

The Courage Workshop brings you and each participant into focus to touch specifically the people in your circle of life. Your life will be blessed as never envisioned before. Your confidence and competence to be a living culturally incarnate disciple will become a comfortable and life changing expression of what you always wanted it to be. You will become surrounded with those who matter most to you in the life adventure that matters most to you. Through engaging in Mission to pursue peace, abolish poverty and end suffering with those who mean the most to you; joy, hope, love and peace will fill your soul and sacred communities of Spirit empowered friends of faith will celebrate one with another.

Come to the Courage Workshop. Decide right now to set Jan 23-25th aside as the wknd that will change your life. Bring those who with you will be your fellow disciples to affirm, encourage and create together. Orangeville is 20 min north of Brampton. The Retreat Centre is where we held the New Hymnal Retreat last March. It is a wonderful facility with classrooms, fireside lounge, chapel, recreation area, shared rooms, dorms, clean washrooms and a dining hall all contained in one building in a beautiful retreat setting. The max numbers are about 80, so get your name reserved now. Cost is $140 + HST = $158 for the wknd.

Contact me with questions, or ideas of music, resources etc you can think of.  

This is a time of creativity, incarnation and joyful celebration ! Be Courageous !  

submitted by Kerry Richards  416-917-9377   kerry@communityofchrist.ca