Since Mark posted this on his blog, I thought I would throw it out here to. Here are some thoughts on what the organization we are working with is trying to build.

ReImagine and a Regional Center for Spiritual Formation
The goal of ReImagine is to create a regional center for spiritual formation. This regional center will be composed of a progression of stages or forums for engagement that will be designed to further the spiritual formation of the participants. The center will be composed of the following stages: proclamation, conversation, new vision/new habits, and a community based on the new vision.

The proclamation stage will incorporate the announcement of the Kingdom of God. "The time has come," he said. "The Kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!" (Mark 1:15). This proclamation, taking different forms, will be an invitation for the hearers to explore the Kingdom of God, explore ways in which the world has captured their imagination that God did not intend, and seek a new, holistic vision of their life as apprentices and followers of Jesus.

The next stage or forum will be a place for people seeking conversations and encouragement in their efforts to follow Jesus in a complex and diverse culture such as the San Francisco Bay area. This forum will serve as one of many regional connection points for emergent.

At the next level, the center will provide a vehicle for participants to develop a new vision, new habits, and new actions as people seeking to be formed in the way of Jesus. This stage currently referred to as the Jesus Dojo, will offer a year-long process of spiritual formation composed of six modules or exercises eight weeks long. Each module will be devoted to a stream of the teaching of Jesus. The modules will focus on the following six streams from Jesus’ ministry: generosity and abundance, healing, imagination/story telling, prayer, integrity, and community. Once a “novice” completes the year long process of spiritual formation they will be encouraged to live out their call or vocation which could included participation in the next level—the covenant community.

The final stage will be a monastic or covenant community based on a new vision and new habits and whose members will take vows pledging their commitment to living lives as apprentices of Jesus. This community of men, women, and children will devote their lives to living and teaching the six streams of Jesus ministry mentioned above. They will serve as the facilitators, guides, and stewards for the center for spiritual formation.

Tags: spirituality, monasticism, culture