enroute

There was a handful of us that gathered at our offices in St. Charles, IL yesterday to experience Enroute. Five different churches were represented — three from the area (Geneva Lutheran, Hosanna Lutheran and The Well) and two others from outside the area (Grace Reformed in Fon du Lac, WI and Chippewa Ev. Free near Pittsburgh, PA).

It was a great day — very intimate and conversational. I very much appreciated the insights of the entire group. It was especially cool because we had 20-year youth ministry veterans as well as volunteers in their first year. The range of ideas, questions, concerns, shred challenges, etc. along with the authenticity of the group made for some really helpful conversations about ministry context, Jesus as a model for life and ministry, the early church practices, etc.

It was an especially meaningful day for me as I was able to co-facilitate the experience with my long time friend, mentor and colleague — Doug Jones. Doug has been around Sonlife for years and has been with me every step of the way over the last three years of our organization’s reculturing process.

This fall Sonlife will be launching an experience called, Refresh. Doug and a team of others will be leading this four day spiritual formation retreat designed for youth workers at a great retreat facility in western PA called the Antiochian Village. Look for more details on these Refresh experiences in the coming weeks… Doug is someone you will definitely want to connect with and learn alongside of.

My new friends from Fon du Lac — I hope you made it home safely through the blizzard conditions.

Blessings,

Chris Folmsbee