Dr. James Bryan Smith is the Dallas Willard Professor of Christian Spiritual Formation at Friends University, in Wichita, Kansas.  Jim received his B.A. in Religion and Philosophy at Friends University, his M.Div. at Yale Divinity School, and his D.Min. at Fuller Theological Seminary.  Jim has taught at Friends University for over 30 years, teaching primarily in the area of Christian spiritual formation.  He is also the Executive Director of The Apprentice Institute for Christian Spiritual Formation. In addition, Jim is an ordained elder in the United Methodist Church, and co-founding pastor of Chapel Hill UMC, in Wichita, Kansas, and is currently a teaching pastor at that church.  He is also a best-selling author of twelve books, most notably The Apprentice Series (InterVarsity Press), which includes The Good and Beautiful God.  He is also one of the original founders, alongside Richard J. Foster and Dallas Willard, of the spiritual renewal ministry, Renovare.

In 2023, longtime Spiritual Formation writer and teacher, James Bryan Smith, and Matthew Johnson, a seasoned spiritual director and teacher, embarked on a research project. It involved having dozens of “learning conversations” with people who had experienced significant growth in their life with Christ. What Matt and Jim wanted to discover were the common denominators that led to a deepening life with God and an increasing ability to love God, themselves and others. This workshop will seek to provide a clear understanding of, and means toward experiencing what must happen if we are to move from “believers” to “apprentices of Jesus.”

Emily P. Freeman is the New York Times bestselling author of six books, including The Next Right Thing and How to Walk into a Room. As a spiritual director and workshop leader, her most important work is to help create soul space and offer spiritual companionship and discernment for anyone struggling with decision fatigue.

With over 26 million downloads, her short-form narrative podcast, The Next Right Thing, ranks as one of the top 50 Religion and Spirituality podcasts in the country, offering clarity and direction for anyone who wants to move beyond the pro/con list.

Emily holds a master’s degree in Christian spiritual formation and leadership from Friends University, where she also serves as a residency lecturer. She lives in North Carolina and, together with her family, finds her current spiritual home among a local group of friendly Quakers. You can learn more about Emily on her website at emilypfreeman.com or join The Soul Minimalist community on substack.

Whether you’re 25 or 85, there’s at least one thing you’ll never grow out of or retire from: the necessity and responsibility for making decisions. So what does it mean to listen to God in decision-making and how can we know the difference between God’s voice and our own? We need to learn the art of discernment that integrates our personality and our friendship with Jesus. In this workshop, author and spiritual director Emily P. Freeman will guide you through the PRAY framework: four simple movements to practice while standing at the threshold of a decision. This is a framework you can bring with you into your own life with God or while leading a group or community toward their collective next right thing.

A theopoetic and kaleidoscopic approach to the cross.

A radically Christian perspective on the pursuit of political power.

Heather is an Associate Professor of Communication at Andrews University. She is passionate about supporting women, and runs an online community called I’m That Wife which has over 270k followers.
Heather’s writing has been featured on outlets like the Today Show, and the National Communication Association. She has been interviewed by BBC Radio Live and The Wall Street Journal.

She believes her calling is to stand in the gaps of our churches for young people. She is the author of 8 books; including It’s Not Your Turn, and I’ll See You Tomorrow. She resides in Michigan, with her husband, Seth Day, and their three children, London, Hudson, and Sawyer Day.

In a world of conflict, division, and controversy, this talk will invite you to remember your identity in Jesus Christ.

Gen Z is the loneliest generation in U.S. history and yet, human beings are wired to want to exist in relationship with other people. This is not just a Christian teaching. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs places “belonging” as the third most important need for human beings only following food, water, and safety. So, what happens to our ability to pursue dreams and goals, what happens to our focus, in a generation of increased isolation?

In this presentation, Communication Professor Dr. Heather Thompson Day will focus on who is Generation Z, what challenges are facing them, and how can we build relationship with them as a church.

Give Me Your Hand, will refocus all of us on what matters; healthy, positive relationships with each other.

The barrier to Enter the Marketplace has never been lower due to social media. Anyone, even a 10-year-old kid, can now log into social media, the online marketplace of ideas, and position themselves beside adults in the economic exchange of words.

For over 15 years Dr. Heather Thompson Day has studied how we use language to exchange ideas, and for six years she has been teaching a course in social media, designed to help churches and creators better navigate digital discipleship.

In this talk, Heather will provide you with basic tools that will help you understand what social media is, why building relationship and community through online platforms is the goal, and why she believes it is so important for Christians to not give up their seat in the online marketplace.

Our message matters. And Heather believes we should use every available tool to reach audiences with it.

This workshop will explore how meditation awakens us to a fresh encounter with God’s presence and helps us experience more inner peace and joy, better mental recall, and less anxiety and depression.

This workshop will explore how the Sabbath helps us realize our value does not come from what we produce but from the glorious fact that we are cherished as a child of God. We will be invited to find joy on the Sabbath as “palace in time” by delighting in God, life, the beauty of life, and the most important people in our lives.

Researchers have found three trends: First, distrust of institutions, including the church, is at an all-time high. Second, young people raised in the church are leaving at alarming rates and not returning. Third, loneliness and social isolation are at pandemic levels. What’s the connection? It appears that an entire generation is starving for the very thing the church is called to provide but has chosen to look for it elsewhere. Why is this happening? We’ll look at what the Bible really says about the church, its purpose, and the impact of its modern captivity to consumer values. Rather than an event, a building, or an institution, the New Testament calls the church to be a community living in communion with God and one another for the sake of the world.

Many Christians think about heaven as a distant place we go after death and the ultimate goal of our faith. But what if it’s a very real kingdom available to us right now, here on earth. We will explores the importance of the kingdom of heaven in Jesus’s ministry, message, and parables. In the process, we will redefine the popular understanding of heaven as a celestial home for the dearly departed and reimagines our role in God’s kingdom here on earth. We will explore what Jesus and his first followers knew about heaven that we get wrong.

Our God-given physicality is more than a “spirit taxi” or “tool” for doing God’s work: being a body is a kind of sacrament, a visible means of grace. Wisely discerning the body is a powerful key to spiritual discernment, repentance, and transformation – to becoming more like Jesus. In this experiential workshop, we will explore together ways in which being a body can serve as a gateway for God’s grace and truth in our lives. Scripture and classic spiritual practices will be coupled with practices designed from embodiment research to create experiences of discernment, paths of repentance, and prayers for transformation as we seek to “glorify God in our bodies” personally and communally.

We live in a world of increasing divisiveness and conflict. We all experience conflict in our lives – conflict with others, conflict within ourselves, and sometimes even conflict with God. In this experiential workshop, we will explore embodied practices as both strategies to discern truth and as means to cooperate with grace in becoming more like Jesus in contexts of conflict. By engaging conflict with greater freedom and in more Christlike ways, we can participate with God’s kingdom values and glorify God in the very heart of the conflicts in which we find ourselves.

Do you, like so many of us, see anxiety as an incentive to perform? Or a proof of how much you care? Or is anxiety simply an unwelcome shadow over your days, bringing with it clenched teeth and an upset stomach?

Alan and Gem will share personal stories of how anxiety has gripped them and how God’s presence and care moved them toward freedom, grace and peace.

The Fadlings will help you discern a posture from which you can rest more deeply, live more fully, and lead better. Fixing our minds on grace and peace, we can begin to see the benefit of loosening our grip and operating from a sure foundation.

• We’ll address six anxiety metaphors that can shine a light on your own inner dynamics.
• We’ll show you how three simple virtues can pave the way to a more peaceful heart.
• We’ll invite you into a life “for the birds” and that can lead to greater receptivity to God’s love.

In this workshop, we’ll take a deep dive into how we can integrate our life and work with God. How can our work become more a collaboration with the God in whom we live and move and have our being? How do we work at the pace of God’s empowering presence rather than trying to run ahead of God? We’ll talk about perspectives and practices that help us grow in this kind of integration.

We are living in wearying times. Too often, we pursue activities we believe will be restful when they merely numb us. False rest is more like a dose of novacaine. Learn to engage true rest that is refreshing and renewing. Why do we find it so hard to rest well? We’ll engage this question and more in this workshop.

An increasing number of Christians today express an inability to perceive the presence of God in their lives. When probed, they describe a God who is distant and unresponsive. Sometimes, they even label their experience a “dark night.” As spiritual directors, we’ve heard many “variations on a theme” of the dark night comparable to the experience initially described by St. John of the Cross. In this seminar, we will explore a few of these themes that mimic a “dark night,” seeking to clarify their distinctive qualities and causes and introduce spiritual practices that can help you and those you companion restore a sense of God’s presence and nearness.

Epiphany is a “season of illumination” in the Christian calendar, most often represented by the story of the Magi. To become people of epiphany is to possess the open, curious, earnest questing of these travelers from the East. This workshop will be an experiential and conversational engagement with the story of the Magi through an archetypal reading of Matthew 2. We will invite participants to recognize your “inner Herod” and your “inner Magi” as an illuminating way to explore the relationship between your true self, your false self, and the indwelling Christ.

At various points in our spiritual journeys we hit a wall of spiritual dryness, burnout, deconstruction, or another crisis. At these times our faith doesn’t work like it did before and God feels distant. Many people try to keep trudging on for years, feeling like that’s all there is to the Christian life. But God has so much more for us! In their book Journey of the Soul Bill and Kristi unpack their research-based and field-tested model of six CHRIST stages of emotional and spiritual growth, interrupted by The Wall. In this intensive they go deeper into what happens when you hit a wall and how it can become a soul pivot into spiritual renewal through emotional honesty and cultivating intimacy with Jesus. They explain how the Inner Journey (I Stage in the CHRIST stages) prepares us for Spirit-Led Ministry (S Stage) which features a fresh anointing and increasing joy through serving God as a Wounded Healer. You will be encouraged in your personal growth and equipped to better care for and guide others. You can get started now by taking their free Spiritual Growth Path Assessment here.

Hidden hurts are a primary reason for overeating, drinking too much alcohol, using pornography, codependency, and over-working. If we don’t address these compulsive patterns than our spiritual growth will be sabotaged. Bill and Kristi cast new light on addictions, emotional health, and spiritual formation in Christ. They explain the “Cycle of Addiction” which fosters unhealthy emotional attachments and contrast this with the “Cycle of Loving Relationships” which fosters healthy emotional attachments to God and others. Then they draw on their Enneagram & Emotions model from their book Healthy Feelings, Thriving Faith to show you how each of the nine Enneagram types has its own vulnerability to compulsive behavior (unhealthy attachment) through its root sin. They teach you how each type can use it’s emotional alarm and soul care practice to grow in healthy attachment and nurture the positive emotion their type especially needs. This intensive will help you in your personal growth and equip you to better care for and guide others. You can get started now by taking their free Enneagram & Emotions Assessment at SoulShepherding.org/enneagram.

It almost seems normal to Christian life and ministry to overextend ourselves as we care for others, do our best work, and serve God in ministry. You can only do that for so long. Unhealthy boundaries are a cause of stress reactions, anxiety, depression, dysfunctional relationships, flagging faith, and burnout. But setting limits is easier said than done. Bill and Kristi draw on their Jesus-centered psychology to help you asses the current health of your boundaries through their “Self-Differentiation Test” and learn from Jesus’ healthy boundaries in the Gospels. Then they teach you distinctive boundary strengthening practices that help you accept your needs and limits and flourish in God’s love. This workshop will help you in your personal growth and equip you to better care for and guide others.

Hurrying, people-pleasing, denying emotions, and over-working are unconscious attempts to control the outcomes of situations or what people think of us. Outwardly, over-functioning can generate better results. But inwardly it’s generating anxiety and derailing the abundant life God created us to enjoy and share with others. In this workshop Bill and Kristi help you understand and overcome the anxiety that drains your soul. They provide fresh insights and applications on Jesus’ invitation to live in the easy yoke of the Father and Son intimacies and knowledge (Matthew 11:25-30). Psychologically, this is the secure attachment relationship we all long for and need. As a practical takeaway, Bill and Kristi will share their unique rhythm of life that features seven soul care practices they do together or alone. Each practice is done either periodically, weekly, daily, event-to-event, or in moments. This rhythm of life with Jesus can help you overcome anxiety and savor your life.

Michael John Cusick is a Licensed Professional Counselor, spiritual director, speaker, and author of two books including Surfing for God: Discovering the Divine Desire Beneath Sexual Struggle and Somebody’s Daughter: An Experiential Guide. Having experienced the restoring touch of God in a deeply broken life and marriage, Michael’s passion is to help people cultivate deeper connections with themselves, God, and others. In addition to serving as Founder and CEO of Restoring the Soul, Michael has equipped and cared for Christian organizations around the world. He formerly served as Assistant Professor of Counseling at Colorado Christian University and an adjunct professor at Denver Seminary. He holds an MA in Biblical Counseling from Colorado Christian University and an MA in Counseling Psychology from the College of Education at the University of Denver. Michael lives with his wife Julianne in the foothills of Colorado where he enjoys the Rocky Mountains, yoga, rucking, and a host of other outdoor activities with friends and family.

Brian Boecker holds a Masters degree from Denver Seminary and is a Licensed Professional Counselor. He is trained in Eye Movement and Desensitization and Reprocessing Therapy (EMDR), Internal Family Systems, and a number of temperament personality assessments. He brings extensive missionary experience and past intensive counseling experience working with individuals, couples, pastors, missionaries, and other Christian leaders. Brian served with CRU (Campus Crusade for Christ) for 27 years in a variety of leadership capacities primarily throughout East Asia where he oversaw 800+ staff from 10+ sending countries in 10 different regions. Since leaving staff with CRU, Brian has served with multiple ministries and partnered with many churches and organizations. He is also a clinical supervisor at Denver Seminary. He has a deep love of entering the stories of people in ways that move them toward restoration, healing, and wholeness. Brian enjoys a good time with friends, being outdoors, and finding empty nest adventures with his beloved wife Crystal. They enjoy living in Colorado and have two adopted adult daughters.

This intensive workshop will explore Dan Siegel’s definition of the mind and how it is visualized as “the river of integration” with corresponding banks of rigidity and chaos. We will bookend the workshop with experiential practice, while didactic material will be presented in the middle of our session. We explore the vital practice of attending to our embodied and relational mind in order to more deeply connect with self, God, and others. Experiential portion will focus on attunement with self and others while utilizing scripture based imaginative prayer and other embodied spiritual practices.

Holiness and wholeness are two sides of the same coin. Truly holy people are whole people, and truly whole people are holy. We will explore classic scriptures around holiness and see how the modern church in the west has been left with a “legal” understanding of holiness. In contrast, we will consider a “relational” understanding of holiness, as modeled and exemplified by Jesus with his emphasis on outpouring, inclusion, and embrace.

Casey Tygrett (D.Min.) is a pastor and spiritual director who has lived in the spiritual formation conversation for the last two decades. He is the author of The Practice of Remembering: Uncovering the Place of Memory in Our Spiritual Life and The Gift of Restlessness: A Spirituality for Unsettled Seasons. He is passionate about the soul health of leaders and the recovery of the transformational way of Jesus that is spiritual formation. He, his wife Holley, and daughter Bailey live in Chicago, IL. www.caseytygrett.com @caseytygrett

What do we do when we lose something that is dear to us? Is there any goodness in loss, grieving, and the pain of what can no longer be the same? In this intensive, we will explore how the stages of Jesus’ crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension can be a path into and through our grief for the sake of our formation and the formation of others. We’ll talk about the various characters in the crucifixion story, the stages of grief, and the practices that help us deeply embrace the way of formation through our losses.

On any given day, we live out of the stories and scripts created by our memories. In fact, we’d have no idea who God is or who we are without our memories. So how do we engage the value of our memories – even the difficult ones – for the sake of our formation into Christlikeness? In this workshop we’ll talk about how Scripture, Christian tradition, and neuroscience show us how we live with our memories, redeem the dark stories, and learn to move forward with the Spirit based on the road that lies behind us.

What if the way Jesus intended to rescue humanity wasn’t in an act, but through an invitation to a particular kind of life? What if it is that life that will save the world? The radical vision of Jesus is an upside down world where we are becoming more like him – but how does that world come to be? In this workshop, we’ll get into the weeds of creating a personal formation vision statement along with making some specific commitments to the ways we will embrace the formational way of Jesus for ourselves, our families, and our churches. This workshop will be highly practical and you will walk away with a helpful tool for your journey of formation into Christlikeness.

It’s counterintuitive to our Western worldview to invite suffering and pain as a gift of
transformation. In our culture, when we think about growth, we tend to use terms like “harvest”
and “fruitfulness” to measure ministry growth. But- what is the process that leads up to that
harvest? How does a plant, a ministry, a person, get to a place of fruitfulness and harvest?
Where does that journey begin?

In anticipation of his death, he said, “very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the
ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.”- John
12:24 According to Jesus, the process of growth begins at the Cross; in hiddenness, darkness,
and death in the soil of suffering. In this mini-retreat, we will engage in spiritual practices that
help us move through Cross-like moments of loss, grief, and waiting in our lives in ways that
bring transformation. This session will also have space for individual reflection with the spiritual
practice of lament and communal sharing.

In the last 15 years, neuroscientists have discovered that our character, who we are becoming,
is formed through our embodied experiences, relational connections, emotions, imagination,
and creativity on the right side of the brain. However, in the West, we have largely discipled
people through practices on the left side of the brain (Scripture study, theology, belief, etc.). In
this workshop, we will explore two creative spiritual practices that engage the right side of the
brain: visio divina, (“divine seeing,” a practice of praying with art) and imaginative prayer
designed to facilitate a relational connection with God that leads to transformation.

In our post-industrial and digital age, we often live like “brains on a stick” or “disembodied
souls.” Our bodies are often disconnected from our spiritual practice. In this session, we will
discuss the importance of body-mind-soul integration in our spiritual life and have the
opportunity to learn three embodied spiritual practices. These practices are designed to
intentionally engage our bodies in connection with God and are easy to take with you and
incorporate into your regular rhythms! If you are seeking fresh ways to cultivate your relationship
with God, this workshop is for you!

It is easy to be pessimistic about the future of the faith of our children, grandchildren, or any of the young people within our sphere of influence. Our current culture often feels overwhelming, and we can live in despair. We need to be reminded that the early church was born during a time when the culture seemed impossible to overcome, and yet the church thrived!

In a chaotic world, what if the church, God’s people, you and me, were the ones that pointed them to something better? What if we had ways to invite the present and coming generations into a transformational community that would give each young person purpose and true identity in Christ? Let’s journey together in practices, prayers, relationships, actions, and words that will transform our own lives and the lives of the young people we encounter each day.

We will look at teen culture and discuss practical ways to engage with it with wisdom and positive discernment. We will also look at spiritual practices that could help guide us on this journey. Finally, we will examine how scripture provides a roadmap to guide us in passing faith to the next generations.

But take courage! All who shoulder the yoke of Jesus are learning to follow his rhythms and move at his speed, and we can help the children in our care experience the world at a gentler pace. Grace Pouch, Renovaré Content Manager and author of Slow Childhood (coming in 2025 with IVP), will host this 3-hour intensive exploring ways we can push back against a fast-paced, always-on way of life to carve out conditions where a child’s friendship with God can flourish.

Who is it for? Parents, grandparents, pastors, teachers, and church family… Anyone who wants to steward Christian wisdom about life with God to the next generation.

What will we do? Together we’ll look at false narratives about time that infiltrate family and church life. Then, we will workshop simple but powerful steps we can take to help ourselves and our children slow down and experience greater freedom, connection, and depth.

Debbie received her training in Spiritual Formation and Soul Care from Talbot’s Institute for Spiritual Formation at Biola University, completing her degree in 2007. She currently serves as the spiritual formation pastor at Journey Community Church.

The global events of the last four years have set the stage for a major shift in the metrics and
practices within the local church setting in America. Combined with the intensity of stimulation
and entertainment at every moment in our day, we have become a culture of weary, numb, and
distrusting people. This is a great opening for those who believe that a deeper focus on spiritual
formation is the answer to these needs. But given the opportunity, do we know what changes
need to be made to offer our church family experiences that are truly effective toward the
formation God is calling us to?

This intensive will invite participants to listen, reflect and engage in group discussions
around what we have found to be the core elements of effective formation experiences:
1. How do you define success for the formational experience in your local church setting?
What is your end goal?
2. What does it look like to normalize the time required for a formational experience in a
world hooked on speed and efficiency?
3. Is dismantling (disruption, destabilization) a required step leading to self-knowledge
when experienced within a healthy community?
4. What values and practices make an effective small group community?
5. How do we encourage and propagate effective practices, the creation of new habits, as a
new normal in our church experience?

Often our attempts at discipleship fall short because it requires more from us than we are
willing to give. Bonhoeffer had it right decades ago in his honest work, The Cost of Discipleship.
True spiritual formation is personally, and communally costly. It requires the loss of life as we
know it for us to embrace the better life that Jesus invites. But it seems that honesty about what
formation really takes is not in vogue. What drives us as leaders to water down the process,
simplify it until it is ineffective, or reduce it to a week-, or month-long program rather than a
lifetime pursuit? Our models for life change have left us woefully inept at creating an
environment of real change. How can we foster an environment that supports the Holy
Spirit’s work in a person’s life?

When you think of spiritual disciplines, what pops into your mind? You might say solitude, silence, fasting, worship, service, prayer, and confession. Those are all great answers. Dallas Willard found that working with a range of disciplines is beneficial for our life with God. So why don’t we include play as a means of grace? Perhaps that’s because work is prioritized – even celebrated – by our world. Consequently, play is viewed as devoid of meaning and simply a waste of time.

If authentic play is to regain its joyfulness, it must be separated from earthly powers and refocused on the Kingdom of God. In this workshop, we’re going to take a serious look at the discipline of play by exploring the theology of play, the Imago Dei found in playing, and its meaningfulness for the Christian life. This will be fun!

Lori Shoults:
Lori is the curator/designer of The Ignatian Journey: A Contemporary Approach to the Spiritual Exercises. She leads groups through The Ignatian Journey and is one of the retreat hosts for the Pastors, Priests, and Guides Retreat. She served for several years on The Practice team at Willow Creek Community Church and for three years was the Program Coordinator for the Spiritual Formation Certificate Program through Moody Distance Learning. She is passionate about spiritual formation, spiritual direction, and inviting others into a deeper intimacy with Christ.

Sibyl Towner:
Sibyl is the co-author of Listen to My Life, a resource dedicated to helping people review their life stories for the purpose of recognizing and responding to God. Her joy is believing in God for another; by listening to another or facilitating a group experience of listening to one another. She has served the pastoral staff at College Hill Presbyterian Church and Willow Creek Community. For the past 14 years, Sibyl and her husband Dick co-direct The Springs Retreat Center in Oldenburg, Indiana. She offers Spiritual Direction and trains Spiritual Directors through Sustainable Faith.
Sibyl enjoys listening to people’s stories, reading, walking in all seasons, opening their home, and facilitating retreats.

Drawing from the wisdom of The Critical Journey and The Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius of Loyola, we will explore the role that attachment love and suffering play in the cumulative, cyclical, and transformative journey of knowing who God is and who we are before God.

We invite you to come and learn the values and ways of Three-Way Listening and the importance it plays in the journey of formation through a loving and grace-filled connection to God, yourself, and others.

Mike King serves as President/CEO of Youthfront. Youthfront provides youth ministry programs, services, resources and training. Mike is an adjunct Professor at Nazarene Theological Seminary in Kansas City where he earned a Doctorate in Spiritual Formation. Mike’s book Presence Centered Youth Ministry: Guiding Students into Spiritual Formation (InterVarsity Press) has received widespread critical acclaim. Mike and his wife Vicki live in Kansas City. They have two sons and a daughter, all married, and eleven grandchildren.
Website – www.youthfront.com

Of the 36 Christians who have been declared “Doctor” of the Church, only 4 are woman. These extraordinary women, St. Hildegard of Bingen, St. Teresa of Avila, St. Thérèse of Lisieux, and St. Catherine of Siena, have much to say to us today. Most of these women were deeply concerned about the state of the church during their lifetimes and the spirituality of the people. These women lived out a passionate pursuit of the Lord Jesus Christ and called out the hypocrisy of the church and its leaders. In this session we will survey the beauty, depth, and mystery of their spiritualities and explore how they can help us recover a vibrant spiritual life with God in our day and age. NOTE: Due to the overwhelmingly positive response from TAG ’23 participants, Mike has agreed to repeat this session.

A statue of Dietrich Bonhoeffer is one of ten statues in Westminster Abbey recognizing the great martyrs of the 20th century. Bonhoeffer’s international stature and respect continue to grow fueled by new discoveries of letters and testimonies that have emerged decades after his murder at the hands of the Nazi’s in the final days of World War II. His classic works like The Cost of Discipleship, Life Together, Ethics, and Letters and Papers from Prison age like fine wine and have much to say about the current state of Christianity and the church in our country and around the world. Mike has spent time in Bonhoeffer’s home and in the national archives at Berlin University with Bonhoeffer source documents the last two summers and will share the relevancy and importance of Bonhoeffer’s work, theology and spirituality for us today at this unique time in history.

Michelle T. Sanchez (M.Div., Th.M.) has served in various discipleship and evangelism leadership roles for more than a decade, including campus ministry, local church pastoring, national denominational leadership, and nonprofit executive leadership. She is drawn towards opportunities to provide a Christ-centered discipleship foundation in areas where discipleship and culture collide. Michelle currently serves as Executive Director of Revoice. Prior to this, she served as Executive Minister of Make and Deepen Disciples for the Evangelical Covenant Church denomination. She has worked as an investment banker with Goldman Sachs and has served in various capacities with the Institute for Bible Reading, Cru, and the Lausanne Movement. Michelle earned an M.Div. and Th.M. from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, completed spiritual direction training at Boston College, and studied the life and times of Jesus at Jerusalem University College. She is the author of Color-Courageous Discipleship, Color-Courageous Discipleship Student Edition, and the picture book, God’s Beloved Community. Michelle is a frequent conference speaker whose writings have also appeared in Outreach Magazine, Faith & Leadership, Missio Alliance, The Priscilla Papers, The Message Women’s Devotional Bible (2025), and more. Find her at MichelleTSanchez.com.

Are there direct links between race and spiritual formation? Rev. Michelle Sanchez says: emphatically yes! Grounded in reflections from her book, Color-Courageous Discipleship: Follow Jesus, Dismantle Racism, and Build Beloved Community (Waterbrook 2022), this workshop will reveal how one of the most meaningful ways to get to know Jesus better in our generation is to go deeper with him into our racial challenges. Together we’ll explore our urgent need to move from a “color-blind” approach to spirituality to a “color-courageous” one; core spiritual dynamics that undergird the pursuit of ethnic diversity and racial justice; and concrete spiritual practices to facilitate holistic growth, such as reading the Bible in living color, justice-fasting, and pilgrimage. In addition, discover free resources available for your ministry now. Come join us for the spiritual formation adventure of moving from color-blind to color-courageous!

In 2023, longtime Spiritual Formation writer and teacher, James Bryan Smith, and Matthew Johnson, a seasoned spiritual director and teacher, embarked on a research project. It involved having dozens of “learning conversations” with people who had experienced significant growth in their life with Christ. What Matt and Jim wanted to discover were the common denominators that led to a deepening life with God and an increasing ability to love God, themselves and others. This workshop will seek to provide a clear understanding of, and means toward experiencing what must happen if we are to move from “believers” to “apprentices of Jesus.”