The data is disarming – Churches of Christ are in decline. But, like Doc Brown told Marty McFly, “Your future hasn’t been written yet.” Hear research from the front lines of revival and renewal among our churches and inspiring insights from the kingdom of God in a post-Christian world. Well-led congregations will help write our future.

The importance of leadership can’t be overestimated. It is not too much of a reach to speak of the “spirituality” of leadership as it works its way into and through the changes, challenges and progress of our lives and organizations. Tapping into the wealth of experience shared by this lineup of leaders, and set against the background music of the Psalms, these sessions inspire, inform, and challenge anyone involved in or aspiring to positions of leadership.

Are you curious about the faith journeys of young adults? Join us for a series of conversations featuring ministers, researchers, and students. Through this pathway, we consider factors shaping affiliation with faith, the experience of working with young adults in ministry contexts, and research into the spiritual lives of college freshmen. This pathway concludes with a collaborative look at young adults’ faith formation and race, hosted in partnership with the Songs of Sorrow, Songs of Joy pathway.

The book of Psalms has provided rich resources for Jewish and Christian worship and ethical reflection for centuries. It still does. The speakers in this pathway draw on years of work as scholars and artists to explore the book’s many dimensions as a source for study, prayer, song, and art. As the church’s first song book, Psalms provides language and images for lament and praise, storytelling and the pursuit of wisdom. In short, it helps us be more fully human in our lives before God.

This pathway explores the role of Christianity in contemporary American politics and the public policy process. It addresses questions faced by Christians who are troubled by the political polarization and coarseness of today’s American politics, and concerned about public policies that seem to conflict with religious expression. The destination of this pathway is more informed and responsible engagement in politics that is faithful to one’s Christian commitments and that ultimately fosters a healthy religious civil society.

This pathway is for people who are looking for what’s next. With more in-depth and practical information, we discuss specific growth paths for each number. This will include understanding levels of health within your type, achieving balance with your centers of intelligence (thinking, feeling, and doing), and utilizing your stress and security arrows.

Scripture tells us to go to all nations, yet the church often struggles at the intersection of different cultures. From the center city to the suburbs, cities in North America are increasingly multicultural. While international migration is transforming neighborhoods, individuals are now connected to the larger global world at the push of a button, and shifts in religious belonging are having a profound impact on outreach of the local church.

Join Jason Byassee for a mini-pathway based on his book, Faithful and Fractured: Responding the the Clergy Health Crisis. Combining the expertise of a health psychology researcher and a leading pastoral theologian, the book brings together the best in social science and medical research, examining the poor health of clergy and exploring what can be done about it. In addition to physical health, Faithful and Fractured treads deep into the territory of mental health and spiritual well-being, and suggests that increasing the presence of positive mental health may prevent future physical and mental health problems for clergy.

Churches that want to become more intentionally intergenerational typically raise two questions. The first: “How can we bring the generations back together?” The second and even more important: “Why?” What is the evidence that intergenerational approaches are beneficial? This pathway explores both questions engagingly, incisively, and experientially. The speakers briefly share biblical and theological foundations and explore empirical, sociological, and theoretical support for cross-age Christian practices. Along the way, the class addresses the “how” question, discussing (and experiencing) several successful emerging intergenerational approaches.

This pathway introduces the Enneagram, a personality typing system that helps us understand who we are and what motivates us. It identifies nine ways of seeing and experiencing the world and describes with amazing accuracy how we think, feel and act. It not only helps us understand ourselves but gives us compassion for other people in our lives. It identifies our core struggles and sins that keep us trapped and helps us get out of our own way so we can grow into the person God created us to be. The Enneagram itself doesn’t change us, but it helps us see who we truly are and gives us clear steps for transformation, to be more like Jesus.

Hearing Scripture told to us offers a vastly different encounter than reading it silently to ourselves (or even hearing it read aloud). It’s an experience that blesses both hearers and tellers, and the inherently relational experience builds community and deepens intimacy. In this pathway, we have opportunities to hear stories from Scripture, learn to tell stories ourselves, and dream about ways that our churches can experience this unique encounter with God’s Word.

W. E. B. Du Bois called the slave spirituals “Sorrow Songs,” but he found more than sorrow in their rhythm and rhyme. These songs reveal a tension between sorrow and joy, death and life, despair and hope. That same tension permeates the story of race relations and pursuit of justice, healing, and unity in American Christianity. Join us in exploring challenges and opportunities in this vital work.

There are 150 psalms in the canon of Scripture; 150 songs to the Lord. And yet, the church is a living, breathing example that our song to the Lord continues. How does a congregation live – or “sing” – in the midst of sorrow, hope, and joy? Centered on worship ministry, this pathway provides some conversations about leading in crisis, as well as practical tips on developing young leaders, leading in multicultural settings, and working with teams.

The certainty, longevity, and predictability workers once felt no longer exist as technological advances, the economy, and shifting social and economic realities contribute to an unsettling and unpredictable experience. How might Christians engage these changing dynamics? In what ways do gender, race, social location, and the American work ethic affect our career path and development? This pathway discusses ways Christians might engage the changing landscape of work with greater compassion, curiosity, and imagination.

Small churches are wonderful precisely the way they are, yet there often remains a frustrating belief that, for these churches to be what God wants, they must become larger. Certainly, growth would be nice, but it is God who makes things grow (1 Corinthians 3:7). Let us remove this pressure and simply be the church, regardless of size.

Examining Charles Taylor’s assertions about living in the 21st century provides insights about how disciples must healthily navigate this secular age. This pathway scrutinizes how our journey shouldn’t be seen as a battle. Instead, we should recognize all the persistent longings for transcendence that characterize our secular age. To proclaim the gospel in such a context is not a matter of guarding some fortress; it’s an opportunity to invite our friends and neighbors to meet the One they didn’t even realize they’d been longing for.

Eddie Sharp and Cheryl Mann Bacon lead two sessions based on their book, Comfort When the Shadow Falls: Encouraging the Dying and Those Affected by Grief, offering a reflective, compassionate, and holistic examination of how Christ calls us to minister in the shadow of death. Not only do the speakers consider the biblical foundation for life, death, and hope, but they also offer seasoned, practical advice on how to serve the dying, come alongside grieving families, lead in funeral services for expected or sudden losses, and minister to the grieving unchurched in our communities.

For more than 30 years, traditional models of youth ministry have leaned toward tendencies that fail to consistently invite young people to lifelong service in the body of Christ. Recently, the Fuller Youth Institute researched congregations that have discovered effective ways for inviting young people to enthusiastically participate in every area of church life. Their research is published in Growing Young. What are these habits and how might they also revitalize an entire congregation?

The Holy Spirit is no tame Spirit. When the people of God grow comfortable, satisfied, and sleepy, when the call of God’s mission to the whole world recedes, the tendency of the Spirit is to shake up the church and dislodge it from its ease and self-satisfaction. This shake-up is happening to many churches in the West. Many will die, and through the shaking, many will renew or discover a sense of the expansive mission of God and new openness to the Spirit of God. Today the doctrine of the Spirit remains no longer the awkward stepchild of theology but has risen to the center of attention. Why has this happened? Our answer may surprise you.