Watch The Dive: Missional Leaders Conference

It is popular these days to describe yourself as a missional leader. But, what does this really mean? Ultimately, this is a conversation about the Kingdom of God, which Jesus prioritized in His teaching. Jesus challenged all believers to always be engaged in His Father’s Kingdom work. At the 2010 Missional Leaders Conference, held on November 11-12 at Vanguard Church in Colorado Springs, Eric Swanson led Colorado leaders to see themselves in terms of God’s kingdom. Swanson, a missional thinker who travels the world observing and engaging missional trends, described our task as joining God in His Kingdom priorities.

 

This year’s theme, “The Dive”, described the progression of emotions attached to any adventure seeking enthusiast, be it a cliff diver, skier, skydiver, etc. Emotions, like fear, determination, action, adrenaline, and the sense of WOW, come with “the dive”. In the same way, courageous missional activity carries a similar string of emotions. Every church leader must consider the emotional progression they go through when diving into difficult areas of ministry in their communities.  This year’s conference looked hard at the daring moves a leader must make in the process of leading a church towards missional activity in the local community setting.

 

 

 

With 74 in attendance and 40 participants accessing this event via online live-stream video, this year’s conference was both terrific and productive. Seasoned researchers and practitioners led sessions in both pre-conference and conference sessions. In addition to Eric Swanson’s main session content, Allan Karr, David Garrison, and Kelly Williams all led discussions related to different aspects of missional leadership. The greatest part of this year’s conference came in the collaboration of all participants. There was a high degree of networking and idea sharing as leaders huddled together in discussions related to specific missional practices.