Forma 2021 Conference Schedule


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Tuesday, January 26, 2021
Times listed in Eastern Time Zone
Title	Description	Presenter(s)	Track
2:00 pm - 2:15 pm
Welcome and Opening Meditation
2:15 pm - 3:45 pm
Opening Plenary
4:15 pm - 5:00 pm
Small Group Response #1a	Small Group Response time is offered later in the day for our friends closer to the west coast (a), and earlier the next day for our friends closer to the east coast (b). These times are available for local gatherings to meet in small groups or for individuals to join small groups via Zoom for discussion. Question for discussion are provided but by no means, required.
Wednesday, January 27, 2021
Times listed in Eastern Time Zone
10:00 am - 10:45 am
Small Group Response #1b	Small Group Response time is offered later in the day for our friends closer to the west coast (a), and earlier the next day for our friends closer to the east coast (b). These times are available for local gatherings to meet in small groups or for individuals to join small groups via Zoom for discussion. Question for discussion are provided but by no means, required.
11:00 am - 12:00 pm
The Path of Discipleship for Episcopalians	What is a path of discipleship and why have one? This session will present the process by which the Diocese of Washington created a path of discipleship for its congregations that identifies key practices that deepen faith and attends to the needs of people along a lifelong journey of faith. Participants will leave with tools to build a path for their community.	Jenifer Gamber	Turn
The Power of Practice: Cultivating an Authentic and Dynamic Experience of God's Love and Presence	We are immersed in divine love and presence. As the apostle Paul said to the philosophers in Athens, in God, “we live, and move and have our being.” This is the language of saturation and immersion! But if God is truly within us, why do we often feel alone? Why do we struggle to experience God’s love for us and God’s compassionate presence among us? When the Bible talks about “Sin” (capital S), it's describing a consciousness of separation where we are blinded to our already existing connection with God, one another and all of creation. But Jesus rescues us from the delusion of separation and reveals that we are intimately and radically connected. But an intellectual or mere doctrinal understanding of this truth not transform us. Through Spiritual Practice we create space for the Holy Spirit to allow the reality of our already existing connection to shift from an intellectual concept to a transformational inner experience of God's love and presence. The more we metabolize and embody this connection through spiritual practice, the more we are transformed, and the power of the Gospel ripples out from our lives to heal the world.	Greg Farrand	Turn
Fasting on the Word: Exploring Our Least Favorite Spiritual Discipline	How can we make use of fasting and other ascetic spiritual disciplines without causing or perpetuating harmful narratives? Can fasting be life-giving instead of soul-crushing? And how has our understanding of fasting been affected by the pandemic and the ways it has forced us to go without things we enjoy?	Ian Lasch	Turn
When the Church Cracked Open		Stephanie Spellers	Turn
12:15 pm - 12:45 pm
Worship Opportunity
12:45 pm - 1:15 pm
Break
1:15 pm - 2:15 pm
Engaging Faith through the Imagination	Join StoryMakers Founder and discover how deeper formation can happen at home by capturing the imaginations of children and grown-ups. The session will cover how to foster deeper spiritual connections when grown-ups make the shift from instructor to guide. We will cover how to use visual language, play, and art to spark meaningful understanding of the big stories in the Bible. If you are seeking practical ways to encourage formation at home, equip volunteers, and enjoy the process along the way join Mel to discover how faith can come alive through the imagination.	Melina Smith	Learn
Faith in Film: Spirituality Through Culture and Media	In this presentation, we will look at clips and examples (movies, TV shows, commercials, songs and more) to help faith leaders and formation educators engage with the unexpected - modern forms of entertainment and pop culture, which can be windows into deeper belief and reflection in our own lives.	Ayana Grady; Greg Millikin	Learn
Teaching Cultural Compassion: Using Secular Children's Books for Better Representation in Christian Education	Children of color are still grossly underrepresented in children’s picture books. So how do we show kids that God loves them--that God loves ALL of them? In this workshop, Rev. Tura Foster Gillespie, Founder of TeachingCulturalCompassion.com will outline ways to connect secular picture books with good representation to the faith formation of our youngest disciples.	Tura Foster Gillespie	Learn
Evangelism Through Ministry	This session will focus on how ministry work can evangelize for you. When church becomes the center of the community the work of the ministry will become the evangelistic voice to spread the good news.	Barry Randolph	Learn
2:15 pm - 2:45 pm
Break
2:45 pm - 3:45 pm
Learning and Telling Bible Stories as a Spiritual Discipline	Storytelling the Word: A Practice for the Spiritual Journey - Includes a series of exercises for Getting Deeper into the Word/Scripture and Getting the Word/Scripture Deeper into Us	Kathy Culmer	Pray
Building Your Trellis: Ancient Practices for a Better Life	Introduction to building a personalized “Rule of Life” based on Benedictine Spiritual Practices of Prayer, Scripture, Service, Wonder and Virtue. A practical guide for traveling deeper into the heart of God and one’s own essence in ways that are life-giving rather than overwhelming. Sessions adaptable for older youth and adults.	Sarah Hollar	Pray
Living the Spiritual Practices of The Beauty Way	The Sacred Hozhó is to live in harmony with God and creation and to walk the Beauty Way. Together, we will develop new ways to know God in Jesus through the tapestries of the sacred spiritual life of the Diné.	Cornelia Eaton	Pray
4:00 pm - 5:00 pm
How Rediscovering God in the Wild is Essential to the Future of the Church	Have we often wondered why watching the wildlife in our backyards or tending our gardens is not more encouraged as a form of spiritual practice? Are we curious enough about the connection between the extreme climate shifts in nature and the lack of young people in our pews? By reawakening our senses to the wonder and awe of the natural world, we begin to fall back in love with all that God created. By reconnecting ourselves to the soil, our watersheds, the oak trees, the caterpillars, we live into our original vocation of living in right relationship with God. We will learn more about how UP Wild aims to foster this connection as we take a virtual nature walk through the snowy wilderness of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.	Lanni Lantto	Worship
Curating Sacred Space: Creating Experiential Worship both On Line and In Person	How do we worship if we cannot sing together? How do we move from “sit and watch” to actually participating and engaging God? Experiential worship is interactive, multi-sensory, and engaging for all ages. We will learn together the basics of experiential worship and actually participate in it.	Lilly Lewin	Worship
Choosing Community: Stories from Episcopal Service Corps Communities	Building community in your context, be it family, neighborhood, small group, or institution, is part of answering the call to love one another. Drawing from the Desert Mothers and Fathers, modern practitioners of intentional Christian community, and the experiences of the Beloved in the Desert Episcopal Service Corps Program, this workshop will offer practices that invite commitment to the work of community that range from prayer practices to pitfalls.	Taylor Devine; Wendy Johnson	Worship
Godly Play in New Ways			Worship
5:15 pm - 6:00 pm
Small Group Response #2a	Small Group Response time is offered later in the day for our friends closer to the west coast (a), and earlier the next day for our friends closer to the east coast (b). These times are available for local gatherings to meet in small groups or for individuals to join small groups via Zoom for discussion. Question for discussion are provided but by no means, required.
Thursday, January 28, 2021
Times listed in Eastern Time Zone
10:00 am - 10:45 am
Small Group Response #2b	Small Group Response time is offered later in the day for our friends closer to the west coast (a), and earlier the next day for our friends closer to the east coast (b). These times are available for local gatherings to meet in small groups or for individuals to join small groups via Zoom for discussion. Question for discussion are provided but by no means, required.
11:00 am - 12:30 pm
Plenary
12:30 pm - 1:15 pm
Meditation Opportunity
1:15 pm - 2:15 pm
#BLESSED? Transforming culture and changing lives by building a culture of blessing	Practices of blessing-giving can heal individuals and transform congregations. We’ll explore practices for doing progressive Christian theology in order to develop a life-giving culture of blessing. We’ll look at real-life examples of transforming rituals and deepen an understanding of what it means to be blessed and to be a blessing.	Amelia Richardson Dress	Bless
Faith Expression: Jesus + Young People + Social Media	Faith expression and social media go hand in hand. In a world where young people express themselves through digital social mediums, how do we equip them to use these medians as a tool for faith expression and evangelism? It may even lead to a vital spiritual practice. In this workshop, we talk about this question and some practical how-to in the social media landscape.	Easton Davis	Bless
Leveraging Music Programs for Formation	There are some straightforward and easy techniques for engaging new or pre-existing music programs to move beyond preparing music for worship into the work of forming disciples of Jesus, and calling others to that work. This session will explore philosophies and techniques of music programs that practice this work, as well as how to effectively engage musicians in partnership.	Michael Smith	Bless
2:15 pm - 2:45 pm
Break
2:45 pm - 3:45 pm
A Hybrid Camino: Making Pilgrimage in a Time of Pandemic	Pilgrimage provides a way to cultivate our prayer life, process life experiences, give thanks to God, and much more. Learn how a six-week time of guided, group preparation and two-weeks of pilgrimage, walking from home, progressing virtually along the Camino de Santiago helps us find thin places in our own back yards.	Elizabeth Cervasio	Go
Called Together for Action: Community Organizing as a Spiritual Practice	As we move into this time of multiple pandemics, racism, COVID-19, economic injustice, ecological devastation, and gender inequities, what is the role of God’s people? We know intellectually that we have been called to Do Justice, Love Mercy and Walk Humbly with our God, but how that is lived on the ground varies given our context. Our panel will explore the various ways that congregations can engage around issues of justice and spiritual formation/practice. We will also converse about the ways community organizing universals can help guide our ministries so that we can be active participants in helping to create the world as God has envisioned.	Glenna Huber; Fancisco Garcia	Go
Working for Justice While Being in the Tragic Gap	We will share and develop spiritual practices to allow us to sustain the work that goes with our mandate to “Do Justice”. Some of the guiding questions for our time together will include: How do we live into the call to do justice and the demands that such makes on our heads, our hearts, and our souls? How do we do this hard and necessary work? What spiritual practices help us to live a life that is called to do justice?	Morgan Lee	Go
Go Big and Go Home: From Performance to Practice of Evangelism	In the Episcopal Church, there is a sad phenomenon of 'performance evangelism,’ which is a spiritual shallowness that practices or invites people to practice 'evangelism' that is merely or mostly emotionalism or extroversion. Tragically, 'performance evangelism,' though often sincere or passionate, suffers from all the frailties that come with lack of formation: exhaustion, confusion, tribalism, conceit, colonialism, lack of vocation or hopelessness. This workshop aims to lay out a framework for leaders to move their faith communities from performances of evangelism to practices of evangelism. We will GO BIG by connecting our imaginations with epic examples of sacramental living and mission (in Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Narnia, Harry Potter) and we will GO HOME as we dig deep into our ancient, monastic, medieval, modern and post-colonial Anglican theologies of mission.	Tricia Lyons	Go
4:00 pm - 5:00 pm
The Blessing of Wonder	Abraham Heschel says “Awareness of the divine begins with wonder” He grasped a reality few of us acknowledge: the wonder of God’s presence is everywhere. Here we will explore its power to inspire and bless us bringing joy, peace, stress relief and healing. We will discuss the impact expressions of wonder, like walks, laughter, and play, have in renewing and transforming us. Bring your journal and colored pencils. Be prepared to stir your imagination and begin to create your own wonder pathway.	Christine Sine	Rest
Neuroscience: The Holy Spirit Moving Within	For anyone interested in neuroscience resources for teaching, preaching, or personal devotion, this session will explore the divinely designed relationship between neuroscience and the fruit of the Spirit. The session will include small group time to connect you with the Holy Spirit's work in and through you and will direct you to influential Christian neuroscience authors, videos, and websites.	Bryan Spoon	Rest
Sabbathkeeping: Playing and Resting as Discipleship	Imagine a God who invites us to cease to work and delights when we rest and play. The Prophets tell us that keeping Sabbath is a sign of the Messiah's presence and how Jesus kept Sabbath got him into trouble with the religious authorities. As followers of The Messiah, we will have a conversation about how we can play and rest--with God's blessing.	Beth Fain	Rest
Baking Bread as a Spiritual Practice	Bread is simple, made up of just flour, water, salt, and yeast. And yet, much like the spiritual life, even a lifetime of baking allows continued revelation of its complexities. In this workshop, Kendall Vanderslice—founder of Edible Theology and Companion Bread Share—will teach a basic bread recipe while probing the layers of spiritual metaphors woven into the process of making bread.	Kendall Vanderslice	Rest
5:30 pm - 6:00 pm
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