Before the conference unfolds with its rich conversations and impactful learning, what might it look like to begin by settling your soul in God’s presence? In this interactive intensive, Alan and Gem Fadling will guide you in creating space to slow down, listen to God, and arrive fully present before the conference begins. Through thoughtful teaching, guided reflection, scripture, and conversation with others, you will have the opportunity to notice what God may already be stirring in your heart and life. Together we will begin the conference in a grounded and attentive posture, open to the work God may want to do in us during our time at TAG.

What if the Christian life was never meant to be a single moment of decision — but an entire journey of transformation? Many of us pray, serve, and show up with sincerity, yet still feel stuck, weary, or uncertain whether real change is possible. Through teaching, reflection, and practice, Jonathan R. Bailey — author of Dwelling in Christ: Discover the Threefold Path of Spiritual Transformation — retrieves the Threefold Way, the ancient path of purgation, illumination, and union, as a framework for understanding how God actually changes us over time. Not a transaction at an altar, but a lifetime of learning, slowly and truthfully, to dwell in God.

Two things stand out here. First, Willard had a lot to say about the letters of Paul, enough that one can put together his views on most Pauline themes (law, righteousness, grace, sin, gospel, spirit, flesh, cross, resurrection, life, etc.). Second, Willard’s interpretation has stayed under the radar and out of the fray of scholarly research on Paul. He seems to be doing his own thing that presents Paul as a master of spiritual formation and theology.

This intensive will look at the many places where Willard is interpreting Paul’s letters and putting together his own views of the central themes of Christian teaching. Is there a unique Willardian perspective on Paul? Maybe. If there is, it is one that finds an easy fit with Protestant spiritual formation in the 21st century.

There are many factors that play a role in Christian spiritual formation, but one that exerts outsized influence is desire, or the human capacity to want. There is a profound lack of honest discussion about desire; as a result, we often find ourselves scrambling alone to figure out what to do with our wants. But just because desire is out of sight and out of mind doesn’t mean it isn’t influencing our life, work, and faith in profound ways. This pre-conference intensive will introduce René Girard’s mimetic theory of desire. We will explore how the desires between us press on us more than we could know or say, and how working with these desires could be one of the most important keys to being formed in Christ’s likeness. You will be equipped with exercises and a biblical framework for navigating the pitfalls of desire, giving you access to tools for your own formation and for partnering with others in their formation, too

Do you long to connect with others who share the sacred ministry of companioning? Do you desire space held for you—when you are so often the one who holds it for others? Are you seeking renewal and ongoing nourishment for your ministry of spiritual direction?
Join us for a contemplative mini-retreat designed to foster connection, restoration, and gentle cultivation. Together, we will enter a spacious time to listen, reflect, and be companioned. This mini-retreat invites you to receive—personally and vocationally—so that your ministry may continue to flow from rootedness in the love of the Triune God.

What if the Christian life was never meant to be a single moment of decision — but an entire journey of transformation? Many of us pray, serve, and show up with sincerity, yet still feel stuck, weary, or uncertain whether real change is possible. Through teaching, reflection, and practice, Jonathan R. Bailey — author of Dwelling in Christ: Discover the Threefold Path of Spiritual Transformation — retrieves the Threefold Way, the ancient path of purgation, illumination, and union, as a framework for understanding how God actually changes us over time. Not a transaction at an altar, but a lifetime of learning, slowly and truthfully, to dwell in God.

Two things stand out here. First, Willard had a lot to say about the letters of Paul, enough that one can put together his views on most Pauline themes (law, righteousness, grace, sin, gospel, spirit, flesh, cross, resurrection, life, etc.). Second, Willard’s interpretation has stayed under the radar and out of the fray of scholarly research on Paul. He seems to be doing his own thing that presents Paul as a master of spiritual formation and theology.

This intensive will look at the many places where Willard is interpreting Paul’s letters and putting together his own views of the central themes of Christian teaching. Is there a unique Willardian perspective on Paul? Maybe. If there is, it is one that finds an easy fit with Protestant spiritual formation in the 21st century.

This session explores how churches can move from a program-centered model to a culture centered on discipleship and spiritual growth. We will examine the practical roles, decisions, and responsibilities of pastors and lay leaders in shaping ministries that intentionally form believers into Christlikeness.

Jesus’s teaching on the Good Shepherd presents several models of leadership to avoid and to embrace. Learn how to spot the characteristics of a wolf, thief, and hired hand as well as differentiate what aspects of his leadership he fulfills and which he asks his followers to embrace.

What do we do with doubt in the Christian life? Is it something to embrace or resist? And, when we do experience doubt, what practices do we need to respond to doubt in honest, authentic, and faithful ways? What can we learn from Christians who have encountered and written on doubt in centuries past? What can we learn from the earliest Christian Monks about doubt? What is helpful and not so helpful about “deconstruction?” And how do we harness doubt as a time of spiritual and personal growth?

Jesus did not leave behind a book. He left behind a community. The purpose of the church has always been to produce people who resemble Jesus in character and lifestyle, and whose shared life embodies and announces the good news of God’s kingdom. Many churches today struggle to connect spiritual formation with the actual life of the church and its mission in the world. What might it look like to recover the church as a school of life that forms us in the way of Jesus?

In this workshop, we will explore formational ecclesiology: the church as a people shaped together in Christlikeness for participation in God’s mission. Drawing on themes that will appear in a forthcoming book, we will consider the metaphor of the church as a “pirate island,” a distinct community with its own rhythms and practices that forms disciples and sends them into the world to spread the holy mischief of God’s kingdom.

Kelly explores how Jesus, the Messiah, is not merely the object of our worship but also the chief worshiper. Drawing on sources from both scripture and historical theology, the lecture demonstrates that Christ, in his full incarnate life, loves the Father for us, weaving our fragmented prayers and imperfect praise into his own perfect faithfulness, thus providing a steady foundation for our uneven faith and life. We will have time for discussion as we consider how these matters affect our corporate and personal lives. [Drawing from Christian Life]

Distracted by doubts, societal pressures and taunting internal dialogues, it has become more challenging than ever to lean confidently into our God-given identity. We are more apt to let the critics, influencers and life’s disappointments mold our personality and our values. But are we so informed by the world that we forget we were first formed by the Creator of the world?

Dr. Amy Bragg Carey and her daughter Anna Marie Carey, authors of the newly released book Claimed by God, will detail the roundabout journeys that led them to step joyfully into their identities as daughters of the King. Together they will lead you through some powerful Scriptures and coinciding declarative statements to help you build life-giving, faith-strengthening disciplines into your day. Come be refreshed and reminded of who God has distinctly created you to be!

In this highly experiential workshop, we will explore how engaging the imagination and the body can deepen our awareness of God’s presence and nurture more holistic formation. In Participants will be gently guided into practices that move beyond thinking about God to encountering God.
Together we will practice visio divina (praying with sacred images), imaginative prayer (entering the Gospel story), and simple embodied prayer rhythms that integrate movement, breath, and attention.

Whether you are new to contemplative practices or longing to deepen your spiritual journey, this session offers spacious, guided time to quiet the mind, awaken the heart, and cultivate a lived sense of God’s nearness.
Come ready to slow down, engage your senses, and encounter God with your whole self.

In this seminar, we will take time to explore these differences and consider their impact on our spiritual lives and formation.

Childhood is a stage of rapid spiritual growth. Narratives about God and his kingdom emerge from early relationships and experiences, a child’s sense of identity takes shape, habits for or against the kingdom are cultivated and hardened, and a host of other spiritual capacities form or fail to form. Unfortunately, life today moves so fast that these foundations are hastily constructed, if at all. Hurried schedules, instant gratification, rapid consumerism, accelerated achievement, and fast media get in the way of time-tested cornerstones like Scripture and Stories, Sabbath, Time in nature, Opportunities to contribute to family and community life. Speeding kids past these and many other essentials is a primary contributing factor to the present crisis in spiritual maturity. In this workshop, we’ll overview some common gaps and cracks in modern childhood foundations and explore practical steps to slow the pace and reclaim the good. Drawing on the teaching of Dallas Willard, we’ll zoom in on the final bullet point—”Opportunities to contribute”—as one of the most essential cornerstones for shaping a child’s identity as a creative will and not just a consumer, as an indispensable member of Christ’s Body, and as a Kingdom-collaborator for all eternity.

Most of us want a deeper prayer life but don’t know where to start — or we’ve started and stalled. In this hands-on workshop, Jonathan R. Bailey introduces three accessible, ancient practices that can become lifelong companions: Little Lectio (a five-minute way of letting Scripture read you), Prompt Repentance (a practice of real-time honesty before God), and the Jesus Prayer (a breath-length prayer that has sustained Christians for centuries). You won’t just learn about these prayers — you’ll pray them.

Instead of ministry “to,” “for,” or even “with” children, the theological turn calls for ministry “beside” children. The posture of “mutuality” emphasizes a move away from pushing and downloading content into children’s developing minds, and instead focuses on sharing life together and the mutual experience of encountering a living God in Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ came to us as a helpless baby who had to be carried by Mary and Joseph. Jesus grows up, declares we are all “children of God” and calls us to embrace the humility of a child. We need a new imagination for Children’s Ministry, prayer, and worship through embracing the ontological reality that we are all God’s children and the children we minister beside have much to say to us. The posture of a church community embracing that we are all children of God who need to carry each other in mutual interdependence is at the core of a flourishing community of Christian practice. When we interact with children in a posture of mutuality they minister to us, perhaps, even more than we minister to them. Mike will share information gleaned from a Youthfront project funded by Lilly Endowment involving thousands of children, hundreds of churches and a hundred Children’s and Family Pastors.

All sincere Christians want to “become more like Jesus,” more the person whom God wants us to be. But how does this actually happen? Practicing spiritual disciplines? Getting good therapy? Simply living life and getting more mature as we age? Dr. Adrian van Kaam spent a life-time living in intimacy with Jesus. He dedicated his long life as a WWII survivor, priest, psychologist, and scholar to observing and researching the ways that Christians across times and cultures found themselves growing in intimacy with God and being formed into the image of Christ. He summarized and shared his findings through the field of study he founded, formative spirituality. In this workshop, we will explore some of the most significant patterns van Kaam observed, what he identified as formative events and the spiritual dynamics surrounding them. We will explore formative events through scripture, stories from our shared Christian heritage, and reflection on our own lives. We will learn together how to identify everyday formative events in our own lives, and proven ways to cooperate “in real time” with God’s grace offered to us in such events to grow in intimacy with God. If you want to learn biblically grounded, experiential, integrative ways to become more like Jesus in daily life, “come and see.”

Whether crafting a stained-glass window or crafting the human soul, art requires theoretical and practical knowledge. Unfortunately, both types of knowledge—knowledge about the process and knowledge of how to proceed—can be lost. This workshop explores the recurring tendency of the Christian church, broadly construed, to mislay the understanding and informed practice required to make substantial progress in becoming like Christ. While not an extinct craft, the art of being conformed to Christ’s likeness has been on the endangered craft list for some time. After canvassing some of the conditions that have recently obscured the art of becoming Christlike, we turn to what it would take to reclaim the necessary understanding and know-how of Christian spiritual and moral formation

This workshop explores the many challenges to discipleship and unity within multicultural congregations. We will examine how discipleship can and ought to heal hurts that have been experienced by people of color, and identify pastoral and formational practices that help churches nurture healing, dignity, and Christ-centered unity.

Jesus made it clear to his followers that they should lead very differently than the authority figures around them. Hence, servant leadership is the distinctive of Christian Leaders, whose vocation is defined by gentleness rather than force. On the other hand, leaders need strength to protect the people in their care. Join us to learn how Scripture holds on to both these aspects as it directs leaders to be the kind of people who guide others to Jesus.

Jesus did not leave behind a book. He left behind a community. The purpose of the church has always been to produce people who resemble Jesus in character and lifestyle, and whose shared life embodies and announces the good news of God’s kingdom.
Many churches today struggle to connect spiritual formation with the actual life of the church and its mission in the world. What might it look like to recover the church as a school of life that forms us in the way of Jesus?

In this workshop, we will explore formational ecclesiology: the church as a people shaped together in Christlikeness for participation in God’s mission. Drawing on themes that will appear in a forthcoming book, we will consider the metaphor of the church as a “pirate island,” a distinct community with its own rhythms and practices that forms disciples and sends them into the world to spread the holy mischief of God’s kingdom.

In this highly experiential workshop, we will explore how engaging the imagination and the body can deepen our awareness of God’s presence and nurture more holistic formation. In Participants will be gently guided into practices that move beyond thinking about God to encountering God.
Together we will practice visio divina (praying with sacred images), imaginative prayer (entering the Gospel story), and simple embodied prayer rhythms that integrate movement, breath, and attention.

Whether you are new to contemplative practices or longing to deepen your spiritual journey, this session offers spacious, guided time to quiet the mind, awaken the heart, and cultivate a lived sense of God’s nearness.
Come ready to slow down, engage your senses, and encounter God with your whole self.

In this seminar, we will take time to explore these differences and consider their impact on our spiritual lives and formation.

There is a hunger for connection today. People are searching for faithful guides to help them find connection not just with others, but also with God and with themselves. However, walking alongside others in the journey of faith is not only important and challenging, but it is often shrouded in mystery. How do I walk alongside someone else well in their faith journey? What does it mean to be the kind of person who can hold others well, especially in seasons of challenge, wandering, or liminal spaces? This workshop, hosted by the lead mentors of The Companion: Apprenticeship in Spiritual Direction, will introduce you to core competencies for walking alongside others and give you a key skill to help you do that work.

A Rule of Life sounds rigid — but in the Christian tradition, it’s anything but. In this workshop, Jonathan R. Bailey explores the Rule of Life as a spiritual itinerary for your transformational journey toward God. Drawing on the riches of the monastic past, he provides practical insights into cultivating a personalized Rule — a living document that evolves with you, offering a structured yet flexible framework for spiritual transformation. Participants will explore the historical and spiritual origins of the Rule of Life and break down its essential ingredients, leaving with a framework they can actually begin to live.

A popular view of spirituality holds that the very best place for spiritual growth and well-being is somewhere remote and isolated, in cloisters, on mountain tops, in the woods or at least a house with lots of land and few neighbors. But Jesus’ spiritual movement, seen in the communities around the Mediterranean, thrived in social centers, both small and large cities, where his disciples did not withdraw from the surrounding social and economic life but remained connected. Since most people seeking a robust spiritual life today are similarly limited to living most of life in cities and towns, formation-minded leaders must develop models of spiritual growth suited to everyday life, a rigorously “non-contemplative” spirituality, especially in a day when Eastern spirituality is in vogue. In this session, we’ll explore the vast resources that Jesus’ spirituality (Western spirituality!) provides for this.

Whether crafting a stained-glass window or crafting the human soul, art requires theoretical and practical knowledge. Unfortunately, both types of knowledge—knowledge about the process and knowledge of how to proceed—can be lost. This workshop explores the recurring tendency of the Christian church, broadly construed, to mislay the understanding and informed practice required to make substantial progress in becoming like Christ. While not an extinct craft, the art of being conformed to Christ’s likeness has been on the endangered craft list for some time. After canvassing some of the conditions that have recently obscured the art of becoming Christlike, we turn to what it would take to reclaim the necessary understanding and know-how of Christian spiritual and moral formation