The church is called to be nothing less than an alternative society centered on Christ, offering itself to the world as a sign, instrument and foretaste of the coming Kingdom of God. Reconciling the broken pieces of our sin-scarred world is thus one of our major tasks.
Verge will resource you to make disciples who make disciples in every sphere and domain of society, advocate for the poor and oppressed, mobilize urban and global mission leaders, and champion movements of gospel-centered missional communities
Made up of pre-conferences, post-conferences, two-days of challenging main sessions, music, workshops, networking opportunities and more, Verge 2012 is here to encourage, build up and renew all kinds of leaders engaged in the mission of God to redeem and renew.
Verge 2012 is For The Gospel \ For The City \ For The Nations.
Every Christian lives with a deep and continuing desire to share God’s love with friends and family. The Organic Outreach Conference will be an opportunity for you to receive inspiration as well as practical skills for sharing your faith naturally. We will have three speakers presenting inspiring and helpful tools to help in your personal outreach. These three days will impact the rest of your year and help you discover ways to communicate the amazing grace of God in ways that others will understand and appreciate.
Why another conference? Two reasons. First, we believe there is a need to continue to bring clarity to the missional conversation. Unfortunately, the use of missional terminology has become confusing in many circles. Some view “missional” as the latest church growth strategy, or a better way of doing church evangelism. Others see missional as a means to mobilize church members to do missions more effectively. While still others believe missional is simply the latest Christian buzz word that will soon pass when the next trendy topic comes along.
However, we would argue that those who believe missional is merely an add-on to current church activities, or perhaps even a passing fad prevalent only among church leaders, have simply not fully grasped the magnitude of the missional conversation. While it may sound like hyperbole; the move towards missional involves no less than a complete and thorough recalibration of the form and function of the church of Jesus. By bringing together some of today’s best missional thinkers; we desire to assist God’s people in thinking deeply about God’s mission in the world.
Second, we want to ensure the missional conversation moves beyond theory. We want to inspire and propel the church to engage in God’s mission in life changing ways. That is why a significant feature of the conference will focus on practical engagement; through the stories and personal examples of some of the best missional practitioners around.
This one-day event will highlight best-practice program models in Dallas and Fort Worth that have been effective at community transformation, offer seminars in the areas of fundraising, outreach and collaboration to equip and inspire attendees, and have an exhibit hall for resource sharing, collaboration, networking and product and service sales.
The keynote speaker will discuss the realities of our “new” economy and the entire group will work together to devise solutions and strategies that will help to empower participants and their organizations post-event.
For more info, visit www.fpiweb.org/ignite.asp
About FPI: Since 2001, Faith & Philanthropy Institute has equipped ministry and nonprofit leaders to achieve their organizations’ God-inspired missions with measurable impact and financial sustainability.
FPI accomplishes its mission through training, consulting and coaching by integrating Biblical principles and proven practices of effective leadership, business models, operations, and fundraising.
The Gospel turned the ancient world of the Apostles on its head. It transformed the most unlikely of people into fervent ambassadors for God, while making enemies of both the secular and religious establishments. In contrast, the Church in many places today has become a part of a dying tradition that neither challenges the culture nor attracts the skeptic. Even in movements founded on Biblical truth, a pervasive legalism and moralism has eclipsed the explosive power of what God did for the world in Christ. There is only one thing that can restore the revolutionary power of God to the Church: the Gospel. The Church is in a moment of crisis. The Gospel is our only hope!
Featuring some of the world’s most respected scholars, speakers and apologists, the Word Conference is poised to be the most important Bible conference of the new century. In addition to four main-stage sessions by speakers including Lee Strobel, Darrell Bock and Craig Evans, attendees will also be able to choose from several breakout tracks, each featuring three targeted sessions or you can pick and choose from each of the 15 available sessions. Tracks for this year’s Word Conference are: