Reimagining Church
The course is for anyone eager and willing to explore Christian faith in a fresh way that is at the same time ancient and yet relevant to today’s world.
Tuesday Evenings 7-9PM EST
Are you frustrated by the decline in church attendance and ministry participation at your parish? Perhaps you’re hearing the buzz around terms like “missional church,” “discipleship,” and “fresh expressions,” but are baffled about what those mean or how they might relate to your own parish. Or perhaps you are simply curious about whether a new perspective might help you and your parish engage differently with the gospel and with parish ministry.
This course seeks to define terms like mission and discipleship and to connect them in such a way as to inspire a new vision of the church that is life-giving for us and for the world. The course is for anyone eager and willing to explore Christian faith in a fresh way that is at the same time ancient and yet relevant to today’s world. The course may not always be comfortable— changes in thinking and living are never easy—but it will be rewarding. It will also be demanding, requiring time and effort outside of the gathering times as well as inside.
What You’ll Learn
How it works
Learn together
Participate in six two-hour sessions with John and the learning community.
Practice in your context
During the course you will be encouraged to apply your learning in your context in order to deepen your understanding.
Reflect in community
Your new knowledge and experience will become even more meaningful when shared with other learning practitioners like yourself.
Instructor
John Bowen is Professor Emeritus of Evangelism at Wycliffe College in Toronto, where he taught courses on evangelism, culture, church planting, preaching, and C.S. Lewis. Before that, he worked as a campus minister and evangelist for Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship. His new book, The Unfolding Gospel: How the Good News Makes Sense of Discipleship, Church, Mission, and Everything Else (Fortress, 2021), is helpful background reading for this course, but is not required. He and his wife Deborah, a retired English professor, have four wonderful grandchildren and are long-time members of St. John the Evangelist in Hamilton.