Holy Risk Taking: Nurturing Innovative Cultures in Ourselves and in the Congregations We Serve
The Church is struggling to manage its institutional weight at a time when our culture is more institutionally suspicious than ever. This is a problem for risk-averse churches heaven-bent on getting things back to normal post-pandemic. But it’s an exhilarating opportunity for leaders and congregations that are willing to embrace change, confront institutionalism, and stretch imaginations.
In this course we will explore and participate in faithful, innovative risk-taking not as a way to save the institutional church, but rather as a spiritual practice that attunes us to the Spirit's lively direction in our lives and in our culture.
Ben Johnston-Krase is an organizing pastor of Farm Church in Durham, NC, a congregation that meets on a farm and leverages the resources of that farm to address food security. He is passionate about the theological underpinnings that motivate people and congregations to move outside of their comfort zones and take risks, not for their own sake, but for the sake of those who are vulnerable and marginalized in our communities.