Renovare

Renovare was the title of the conference on “ The With God Life”. It was a conference for the Dynamics of Scripture for Christian Transformation. The event was held downtown at the Adam’s Mark Hotel and Conference Center, on June 19-22. I was invited to attend this conference by a generous donation of my tuition (thank you) and I accepted and took a few days away from work.

St. James made a sponsoring donation to the conference and was listed in the guide book that all attendees received. The list of featured speakers was quite impressive, many are authors and editors of a new study bible based on this “The With God Life”, and many have written books of their own. Richard Foster, Dallas Willard, Gayle Beebe, Glandion Carney, David DeSilva, Todd Hunter, Michelle Lee, Brenda Quinn and Virginia Stem Owens all were speakers, taught classes and answered multitudes of questions. They were quite a diverse group with a few Quakers, an Episcopalian or two and many others. Over 1700 attendees came from all around the nation and the world, to gather in fellowship and learn more about “The With God Life”.

The general sessions were full of the Spirit, the Renovare team presented drama, dance and music that was lively and enthusiastic. Sunday evening began an hour of gala entertainment style – history of the bible! There were humorists and youth as well as many talented dancers, singers and musicians. The state of the art Multi media presentations were inspiring and breathtaking; it was a feast for the senses. There were great lessons and good conversations with the fabulous presenters too.

The break out lectures on each day, morning and afternoon were very well thought out, presented, and were on interesting topics. There were so many wonderful topics to choose from it was a hard decision. The lecture breakouts I attended were excellent and gave me a new perspective on scripture, the spiritual disciplines and service to my congregation. I took tons of notes and would like to dwell on them a bit before coming up with a few new things for everyone. I attended: Habits of the mind, Habits of the soul- on integration of Faith, the life of the mind and the expression of art, Presented by Donn Thomas an excellent singer songwriter and musician; Following His Calls- on recognizing god’s life invitations in scripture and tradition, presented by Michael J. Sheeran, SJ – the president of Regis University here in Denver; My Kid Meditate? On the disciplines of Christian meditation and study for young people, presented by Valerie Hess a Music director at Trinity Lutheran Church in Boulder ; and Lastly but not leastly; How to Eat Your Bible, on God’s word as food for your soul, presented by Joel Warne an Author of a books on meditation and small group meditation.

I feel blessed by God, and the person whom made this opportunity possible for me. I had a wonderful time and learned a lot – made a few new acquaintances, got a few questions answered and opened up a whole new way of thinking and studying the word of God.