Learning Party

“Cultivate Gathering” is a learning party that takes place twice a year (Spring & Fall) and is for anyone who is interested in creating and developing new and evolving forms of mission-shaped church in Canada. The next edition of the learning party is happening on Saturday, April 2, 2011 from 10:00am – 5:00pm in London, Ontario.

The learning party is an event that started in 2005 because of numerous conversations between different people, organizations, networks and churches in Canada that long to see new forms of church thrive and relational networking happen. We simply want to be friends, inspire each other, and swap stories, ideas, and encouragement.

What exactly is a learning party?

Well, basically it’s designed to be everything good about a conference without the usual rigamarole… and much more fun and interactive.

• Instead of charging in the hundreds of dollars for one ticket, it’s only $25… and that includes a delicious lunch ($40 per couple).
• Instead of maxing out our capacity, we limit our numbers to give everyone there the best possible environment for conversations and networking.
• Instead of you listening to message after message by “gurus” and being filled with information, we want you to be part of great conversations with people in similar shoes and learn and grow within that relationship.
• Instead of some fancy shmancy hotel or convention centre, the learning party takes place at a local church in London, Ontario.

You can register by sending us an e-mail (pernellgoodyear@gmail.com) with all your contact information and we’ll respond and let you know what it will take to hold your spot for you.

How does it work?

The learning party is divided into five segments:

Segment one and five (the first and last) are for “experience” segments, and they involve various forms of worship together (ie. music, communion, lectio divina, prayer, etc.)

Segment two, three, and four are learning segments on three different themes. In each of these segments we have 3 or 4 practitioners speak for 10 minutes each and tell a story related to the theme of the segment, then there is time to interact with them on their ideas/stories, then we break into “party pods” and interact on various topics related to the theme. These “party pods” are free-flowing and people can enter and exit the conversations they so choose. There are no facilitators for these, they are very informal and organic.

Segment two is for “listening” and the stories we will hear and the topics we will discuss are about listening to the Spirit, the culture, others, etc.

Segment three is for “forming” and the stories we will hear and the topics we will discuss are about forming: community, teams, neighbourhoods, spiritual practices, etc.

Segment four is for “innovating” and the stories we will hear and the topics we will discuss are about new ideas, creativity, the arts, etc.

Schedule

Doors Open / Registration – 9:00 am
Segment One: Experience – 10:00 am
Segment Two: Listening – 10:30 am
Lunch Break – 12:00 pm
Segment Three: Forming – 1:00 pm
Segment Four: Innovating – 2:30 pm
Segment Five: Experience – 4:00 pm

Supper following the gathering is up to you. But we strongly encourage you to go out to one of our local restaurants, with other people from the gathering and get to know them more and continue learning about their experiences in creating new and evolving forms of church. We will provide you with a map of local restaurants you can check out.