cultivating sent communities: missional spiritual formation
The Sixth Annual Consultation on the Missional Church
Nov. 12-13, 2010
Presenters
Richard Osmer
Thomas W. Synnott Professor of Christian Education, Princeton Theological Seminary
Richard Osmer holds an M.Div. from Yale University and a Ph.D. from Emory University. His interests include the teaching ministry of congregations, practical theology and interdisciplinary thinking. His courses cover educational psychology and practical theology, children’s literature in Christian moral education, confirmation and catechism, and the social functions of religion, ethics and education in theories of modernity and postmodernity. An ordained Presbyterian minister, he chairs the Committee to Write New Catechisms for the Presbyterian Church (USA).
Christian Scharen
Assistant Professor of Worship
Christian Scharen joined the Luther Seminary faculty as assistant professor of worship and theology in 2008. He spent the four years prior as director of the Faith as a Way of Life Program at the Yale Center for Faith & Culture and assistant professor of Congregational Studies and Practical Theology (Adjunct) at Yale Divinity School, New Haven, Conn. He holds an M.A. in religion from Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, Calif. (1995); a M.Div. from Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary, Berkeley (1996); and a Ph.D. from Emory University (2001). Scharen has published a number of books, including "Faith as a Way of Life: A Vision for Pastoral Leadership" (Eerdmans) and "One Step Closer: Why U2 Matters to Those Seeking God" (Brazos) as well as a variety of popular and scholarly articles.
Karen Ward
Vicar and Abbess, Church of the Apostles, Seattle
Karen Ward is an Episcopal priest serving as abbess and vicar of Church of the Apostles, Seattle, an intentional, sacramental community in the way of Jesus Christ. As part of her monastic, 'priest-worker' support, Ward speaks at events for mainline denominations and does mission consulting with Episcopal diocese. Her areas of speaking and work are emerging church in the mainline, new monasticism, emerging Anglicanism, emerging missiology, emerging liturgy, culture shifts, trends and their implications for church mission, connecting with emerging generations, emerging church planting, and fresh expressions and new forms of church. She is the director of episcopalvillage.org, a grassroots emerging mission grants board, support and training initiative for the Episcopal Church.
Dwight Zscheile
Assistant Professor of Congregational Mission and Leadership, Luther Seminary
Prior to his current role at Luther Seminary, Dwight Zscheile served as adjunct instructor in church leadership (2007-2008). Zscheile holds a M.Div. from Yale Divinity School, New Haven, Conn. (1998), and a Ph.D. with a focus on congregational mission and leadership from Luther Seminary (2008). Zscheile was ordained in The Episcopal Church in 2005 and has served on mission and leadership task forces in the dioceses of Minnesota and Virginia. Before coming to Luther, Zscheile served as executive pastor at St. David's Episcopal Church, Ashburn, Va. He currently serves part-time as associate priest at St. Matthew's Episcopal Church in St. Paul, Minn. Zscheile is co-author, with Craig Van Gelder, of “The Missional Church in Perspective” (forthcoming, Baker Academic). He is the editor of the forthcoming book Cultivating Sent Communities: Missional Spiritual Formation (Eerdmans, 2012).He has contributed essays and articles to “The Missional Church and Denominations” (Eerdmans, 2008), The Journal of Religious Leadership 6, No. 2 (Fall 2007)), Journal of Anglican Studies 8, No. 1 (2010), and Word and World (Summer 2010). He has also contributed to WorkingPreacher.org and “Leading Ideas,” an online publication of Wesley Theological Seminary.
Moderator
Craig Van Gelder
Professor of Congregational Mission, Luther Seminary
Prior to his work at Luther Seminary, Craig Van Gelder spent 10 years as professor of domestic missiology at Calvin Theological Seminary in Grand Rapids, Mich. He was ordained as a minister in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in 1984 and the Christian Reformed Church in 1990. He is a member of the American Society of Missiology, the Gospel and Our Culture Network, the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, and the Urban Affairs Association. He holds a M.Div. from Reformed Theological Seminary, Jackson, Miss. (1978); a Ph.D. in missions from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Fort Worth, Texas (1982); and a Ph.D. in administration in urban affairs from the University of Texas at Arlington (1985). He is author of “The Essence of the Church: A Community Created by the Spirit” (2000), is editor of “Confident Witness-Changing World: Rediscovering the Gospel in North America” (1999), is a contributing author of “Missional Church: A Vision for the Sending of the Church in North America” (1988), and is co-editor of “The Church Between Gospel and Culture: The Emerging Mission in North America” (1996).
Workshops
Spiritual Formation in the World’s Fastest-Growing Lutheran Church
The Rev. Dinku Bato, Luther Seminary
Missional Formation in the First Third of Life: Human Development or Spiritual Journey?
Dr. Nancy Going, Children Youth and Family Program, Luther Seminary
Missional Formation through Service and Short-Term Experiences
Dr. Scott Hagley, Luther Seminary
Congregational Discernment as Practicing the Presence of a Missional God
The Rev. David Hahn, Luther Seminary
Living into the Story: The Missional Trajectory of Scripture in Congregational Life
Dr. Allen Hilton, Wayzata Community Church, Wayzata, Minn.
Eric Iverson, YouthWorks, Inc.
Communal Prayer as Disruptive Witness: Insights from Taizé
Dr. Dirk Lange, Luther Seminary
