Gathering - Thursday, May 10
Thursday
The last day of the Gathering was a joyful day for participants as they took their last shots together and took down each other’s contact details.
The emphasis of the day was friendships and networks and an encouragement to continue the conversation after the Gathering among the friends made this week and to network with others and so be relevant to the community and the world.
After the worship session, participants were informed that the money collected from the call for jubilee had been distributed to those who had expressed a need to cover expenses accrued from attending the Gathering. The participants were also given a 1,000 Uganda Shilling note to remind them of the challenge they had received at this conference.
Brian McLauren then spoke on friendship, partnership and mission together. He emphasized that Jesus embedded his life in community and his gospel sends us into the world. He reminded participants of the attitudes that bring us together basing on Matthew 5 – humility, meekness etc.
Brian observed that people are brought together around problems and questions and that leads to conversation to be able to face the problems. Friendships are born out of the conversation and once they become friends people can dream together and experiment. There are different reactions to these experiments and we need friends to encourage and appreciate and even criticize us or understand us when others criticize us.
Brian encouraged participants to build friendships from this conversation and continue to network after the Gathering.
After Brian’s exhortation, Claude invited participants from different parts to share their experiences and how they become involved in the conversation. Participants from United States of America, Australia, Costa Rica, Uganda, Kenya, Burundi, Rwanda and South Africa shared. They had all gone through a period of time where they questioned their faith and practice and desired to go to a deeper level in their Christian walk by being relevant to their community.
This was followed by Group sessions in which participants discussed what they had learned during the conversation, what they had to offer to their community and what steps they would take next.
Brian returned and explained some scientific theories and characteristics of networks to guide participants in the understanding of networks. He concluded with a story about the tortoise and the baby hippo, which after being made to share a space in the zoo developed a relationship despite their differences and began to enjoy each other’s company.
The afternoon sessions were dedicated to workshops one on fund raising and another on African Philantrophy. They were able to discuss networking at that level and find out how to form partnerships for ministry.
In the evening session, groups of participants from the same countries discussed the way forward. All the countries decided they were going to meet again when they got home and fellowship together and also strategize on ways to expand the network. The conversation continues.
Friends closed the evening with a time of singing and dancing together.
The last day of the Gathering was a joyful day for participants as they took their last shots together and took down each other’s contact details.
The emphasis of the day was friendships and networks and an encouragement to continue the conversation after the Gathering among the friends made this week and to network with others and so be relevant to the community and the world.
After the worship session, participants were informed that the money collected from the call for jubilee had been distributed to those who had expressed a need to cover expenses accrued from attending the Gathering. The participants were also given a 1,000 Uganda Shilling note to remind them of the challenge they had received at this conference.
Brian McLauren then spoke on friendship, partnership and mission together. He emphasized that Jesus embedded his life in community and his gospel sends us into the world. He reminded participants of the attitudes that bring us together basing on Matthew 5 – humility, meekness etc.
Brian observed that people are brought together around problems and questions and that leads to conversation to be able to face the problems. Friendships are born out of the conversation and once they become friends people can dream together and experiment. There are different reactions to these experiments and we need friends to encourage and appreciate and even criticize us or understand us when others criticize us.
Brian encouraged participants to build friendships from this conversation and continue to network after the Gathering.
After Brian’s exhortation, Claude invited participants from different parts to share their experiences and how they become involved in the conversation. Participants from United States of America, Australia, Costa Rica, Uganda, Kenya, Burundi, Rwanda and South Africa shared. They had all gone through a period of time where they questioned their faith and practice and desired to go to a deeper level in their Christian walk by being relevant to their community.
This was followed by Group sessions in which participants discussed what they had learned during the conversation, what they had to offer to their community and what steps they would take next.
Brian returned and explained some scientific theories and characteristics of networks to guide participants in the understanding of networks. He concluded with a story about the tortoise and the baby hippo, which after being made to share a space in the zoo developed a relationship despite their differences and began to enjoy each other’s company.
The afternoon sessions were dedicated to workshops one on fund raising and another on African Philantrophy. They were able to discuss networking at that level and find out how to form partnerships for ministry.
In the evening session, groups of participants from the same countries discussed the way forward. All the countries decided they were going to meet again when they got home and fellowship together and also strategize on ways to expand the network. The conversation continues.
Friends closed the evening with a time of singing and dancing together.
posted by LukeMiller at 3:15 PM
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