We are trying to experience the presence of the living God. We do this by intentionally focusing our minds and by minimizing distractions.
...magnify the LORD with me and let us exalt his name together... Psalm 34:3
We are also trying to deepen the sense of belonging within our community. We do this by sharing our hearts and conferring one with another.
...by this shall all know that you are my disciples, if you have love one for another... John 13:35
We focus on a theme. Then we look at God, the Bible, and our lives through the lens of this theme. Over the years we have focused on deliverance, following, holding, hope, sincerity, humility, perseverance, joy, holiness, encouragement, waiting, thankfulness, laying aside weights, forgiveness, self-control, faith, forbearance, reviving, and comfort. We find that lots of new ideas come into focus whenever we pay close attention to the many facets of one main theme.
...set your minds on the things that are above... Colossians 3:2
We read a lot of scripture before each talk. This lets the theme really sink in. We don't read for context. We assume you know the context. We even end some passages mid-thought in order to emphasize the theme.
...give attention to the public reading of scripture... 1 Timothy 4:13
We take the focus off the speaker. How do we do this? We have multiple speakers. The talks are short. We don’t advertise who is speaking. We don’t even list names in the program. We find that down-playing the speaker helps to shape the tone of the whole conference.
We give you space to think, pause, contemplate, and reflect. Moments of silence are built into the program. These moments of meditation create a different sort of atmosphere that is hard to describe in words.
...in quietness and trust is your strength... Isaiah 30:15
We let the program lead us. We find heavy-handed presiding to be distracting. Follow along in your program to find out what is happening next.
We ask you to participate. Many different people will be serving by reading, praying, playing instruments, speaking, helping with the kids, discussing, and listening. This is not about sharing the workload. This is about creating community. When we notice the people around us -- when we actually pay attention to their voices, viewpoints, interests, struggles, talents, life stories, experience, strength, and hope -- we begin to sense that we are part of something much greater than ourselves.
...we, who are many, are one body in Christ... Romans 12:5
We give you the space and time to connect. Sometimes this is structured, like when we put you in mixed-age discussion groups for almost two hours and ask you to be honest. Other times this is completely unstructured, like when we give you lots of free time to catch up with old friends or to get to know new people.
...having so fond an affection for you,
we were well-pleased to share with you
not only the gospel of God
but also our own lives,
because you had become very dear to us...
1Thessalonians 2:8