Renov8 Congress Continues to Impress: Day 3
Day 3 of the Renov8 Congress (track the speakers blog here) and for the most part the national gathering has been a wild success, at least in my opinion. Apart from the odd boring sessional or interview, the key themes have been evident: it's time for our churches to take a risk and do basic engagement with their neighborhoods to help usher in the Kingdom of God.
The day started with Stuart and Juliet from Urban Expression UK. They offer some interesting perspectives on where Canada is heading by describing their journeys launching communities in the UK.
Wagdi Iskander started the afternoon session with a powerful testimony on his transformation from Islamic persecutor to church leader.
Finally, the afternoon concluded with more challenges within a conversation format; tables with participants sat down in dialogue. I actually skipped that because I got to sit down one on one with Cam Roxburgh (man of all things missional in Canada), and then I did a great interview with Nick Brotherwood, stay tuned for that release.
From a personal perspective the Congress has been a welcome confirmation for what we're doing in the heart of Kensington in Calgary. Rather than a church sending a team of paid clergy, buying an office, renting space, and just parachuting into a community, Calgary Church along with our partners King's Bridge, and the House Coffee Sanctuary, are engaged in the community daily because it IS OUR community. That doesn't mean Calgary Church is only focused on Kensington, but right now our attention is there and we meet there.
So from the majority of the talks we've noticed that we fall directly in line with how this missional/redeem your neighborhood conversation is pointing. It's great to have that kind of affirmation when at times you can feel as if you're doing something too outside the box.
