Grounding your community in core beliefs, branching out into the unknown
This post is intended to share resources with those who participated in our workshop on February 5, 2021 at the ELCA Youth Ministry Network’s Extravaganza. In this post you will find:
- Notes taken during our workshop on 02/05/2021
- The video played at the beginning of our workshop
- A lesson plan to use in your home congregation
- The videos containing our partner congregations’ stories
Workshop Description
Core theological convictions should not be walls that prevent engagement with our neighbors. Instead, they can provide a blueprint for change and engagement across differences. This workshop helps participants identify core theological convictions and imagine they can be held loosely to allow for creative change in a shifting context. Case studies from congregations involved in Â̲èÖ±²¥’s Riverside Innovation Hub will help us see how this can be done.
It is important to acknowledge the title of this workshop is inspired by a document that has become very important to our work. lays out a vision for the ELCA colleges and universities as institutions rooted in the Lutheran tradition and boldly open to a changing world. We think it’s worth the read and can serve as another case study of how to hold tradition loosely in a way that generates innovation for the sake of the world.
Key Take-away
Clarity on what your core theological convictions are and ideas for how these convictions can help them think theologically about ministry and creative change in a shifting context.