Well, we’ve come to the end of our three days together. Another great day with many interesting conversations.

We only had one instigator today. It was John Bowen who shared with us ways in which churches and individuals have re-imagined the concept of church in a western world and stepped out in faith to try new things. Many of which may fail, but there are also great success stories. In today’s current state, the need to be bold in our faith and to step out of our comfort zones to evangelize becomes increasingly important as we seek to reach the un-churched.

Over lunch we had several discussions happening on a few topics which ranged from “what happens next?” to “reconciliation”. These were great discussions which will be tabulated and considered as we wonder what may come from this event.

For the afternoon we had short presentations from the various renewal groups in the United Church of Canada. It was an interesting discussion which helped us understand the history behind these groups and to hear a bit about their future (several of which have decided to forgo a future). It was good to hear about their own stories in person, their struggles, their wishes for a strong, united church, and we thanked them for their work as a few of them begin to wind down their organizations.

We closed with more passionate, up-lifting worship and said our “good bye’s” and our wishes to remain connected and to see each other again very soon.

Overall, the event has been a very positive experience for all. Where it leads is up to the Holy Spirit, and we look forward to what the Lord has in store for us. For one, we hope something like this will happen again!