The Learning Forte team makes a regular practice of naming and celebrating the wins we experience and observe in our work with each other and our clients. We decided to focus our final conference wrap-up post on celebrating the wins we saw and admired among our Forma colleagues this week.
From Jenn Baker (Consultant, Integrated Learning):
Day 3 of Forma provided more reminders that such good work is being done in the Church right now. In presentations and through the chats, there was honesty about the challenges that the pandemic has brought and the feelings of exhaustion that can come with pivoting. There was also a welcoming of the creativity and new opportunities that these pivots bring, even when forced. Rebecca Roberts offered us these reminders (I’m paraphrasing): Hybridization is not about doing it all. It’s about choosing what’s right for these people in this moment. The Church will find a way.
In her workshop, Simone Monique Barnes offered a powerful example of finding a way. When the pandemic prevented a true Camino experience in Spain for youth, she shared a multimedia presentation that involved a Camino-like experience around her church’s property, complete with photography, music in several languages with lyrics printed on the screen, relevant prayers at “prayer stops,” and exploration of the neighbors and neighborhood around the church that even yielded some surprises. It’s a good reminder of what we pass by in our own daily lives that we don’t truly see.
From Matt O’Rear (Consultant, Organizational Development & Innovation):
The Forma closing worship was powerful. This worship took a high point with the sermon from Mr. Casey Jones, the Chair of Youth and Young Adult Committee for the Union of Black Episcopalian. It is always powerful to hear a young adult dig into scripture. He opened my eyes about the Spirit. Mr. Jones made me take a new look at the Spirit, who is wisdom and knowledge. Does the Spirit struggle? Where is the Spirit present? How do we encounter the dance with the Spirit? These questions will sit with me. What a fitting close to the 2022 Forma Conference, leaving me with more questions than when I started on Tuesday. That is the sign of a good conference and a good sermon! Thank you, Forma, for sparking questions and my imagination for where the Spirit is calling us to this holy work. As Mr. Jones said, keep dancing and letting Spirit find form in you.
As an ELCA Lutheran with years of formation experience but a first timer to Forma, I give thanks to God for this resource. The depth of knowledge offered this week was inspiring and the commitment to formation for the good of the whole church was evident. I look forward to my next encounter with Forma.
From Kyle Oliver (Chief Product Officer):
From my vantage point a decade into a relationship with Forma, I have to say I was deeply inspired by the wins I saw unfolding despite the challenging backdrop to this event:
• I give thanks for the chance to tell, hear, and claim our interwoven stories of 25 years as an organization, including at Tuesday’s plenary panel. As my friend Missy Morain said, we sometimes forget this sharing and reflecting aspect of our work as the calendar grinds on toward whatever comes next.
• I give thanks for the contemplative leadership of the Second Breath Center, whose app is frequently a source of daily spiritual nurture in my life and whose session on mini-sabbaths was exactly what I needed today (and probably every day).
• I give thanks for the perseverance and mutual support I saw in every chat session as we apprenticed each other in still another tech tool and still another pattern of engagement for an online event.
• And most especially, I give thanks for the truly herculean planning and production work by the teams at Forma, ECF, and Membership Vision. I served on the workshop planning team for several years, and I remember well how challenging it is to put together an engaging slate. Well done, y’all!
Looking for training that will help you embrace hybrid ministry with confidence? Check out our signature facilitated courses Faith Formation in a Hybrid World (starts Jan. 28) and Design + Deliver: Intensive on Teaching Online & Hybrid Courses (starts Feb. 7).
Want to know more about Learning Forte? Start with our Work page to learn more about our clients and offerings.
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