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ReNew 2022 is a time for rejuvenation and discernment
A topical and relevant theme for the annual ReNew pastoral conference is nothing new. Every year, the conference, which launched in 2016, has wrestled with contemporary issues that peel away the complex layers of culture as they relate to the Church.
However, this year, the theme for ReNew 2022 seems particularly apt: Water from a Living Stream: Rejuvenation for Pastoring in a Complex World.
For the past two years, church leaders have been struggling with dwindling ministries, complex transitions into the digital world, politicizing health and safety, and so much more. While these may be issues pastors have been delicately navigating for some time, they seem to have been exacerbated alongside the rise of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Returning virtually on February 8, 2022, ReNew is an event for anyone involved in Christian ministry and leadership to gather, re-charge, and re-focus the challenges and opportunities that face their congregations.
The one-day conference will be built around three workshops, all of which grapple with the complex church context that has grown throughout the pandemic. In addition, Dr. Scot McKnight will present three distinct yet intricately analogous presentations to help pastors clarify their vocation.
McKnight, the Julius R. Mantey Chair of New Testament at Northern Seminary in Illinois, says, "Rare is the pastor who feels enlivened and stimulated these days. What can we do? It is a time for us all to turn to the Lord and to relearn gazing into the face of our Lord who can renew us through the Spirit."
"While churches have traditionally consoled the weary and healed the broken, the weariness and brokenness have both invaded the churches in ways that penetrate beyond our capacities," says McKnight.
McKnight alludes to the fact that the pandemic-induced isolation should shift the focus of many church leaders "We need one another. The discipline of being with [one another] may become the church's most needed discipline in the next decade," says the speaker.
Dr. Scot McKnight, Julius R. Mantey Chair
of New Testament at Northern Seminary
McKnight's presentations will align with his book Pastor Paul: Nurturing a Culture of Christoformity in the Church, which frames pastoral ministry in the teaching of the apostle Paul — to bring Christ into every action of leadership.
Associate Professor of Bible and Theology at Canadian Mennonite University, Pierre Gilbert, is a part of the leadership and organization committee for ReNew. Gilbert says Dr. McKnight will bring a much-needed biblical perspective on the contemporary issues facing churches and ministries.
"And that [perspective], in the end, may be exactly what we need in order for the Holy Spirit to bring healing and provide strength for our leaders to bring the message of redemption to our generation," says Gilbert.
Gilbert says the online format is not ideal, given the conference's focus on connection and community, but "after further consultation with the conference ministers, many sensed that the conference, particularly so because of its focus, would nevertheless provide a helpful framework to reflect on many of the challenges pastors encountered in the last two years and serve as a way to embrace a new vision that would energize their ministry as we go back to normal life."
More information and to register for ReNew 2022 can be found at cmu.ca/renew.
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