Have you ever been so focused on the thing you were waiting to say that you didn't hear the important words someone else was sharing?
It's happened to all of us.
In fact, if we're honest, we kind of think the entire church has been caught up in talking more than we've listened over past few generations...and we're seeing it in declining commitment to faith, involvement in church communities, and lackluster Christian spirituality in western cultures.
We understand that faithful innovation begins when we adopt a posture of openness and connectedness—toward God, toward each other, toward our neighbors.
The Learning Lab creates the space necessary for sitting with questions, ideas, and new ways of living.
It's how we allow the Holy Spirit to breathe new life into our churches and communities.
While the beakers and microscopes may be missing, we're called a "lab" for a reason.
What good is a laboratory if we can't experiment, collaborate, and reflect—all in one place?
We focus on real issues inside the Learning Lab, not hypotheticals. We get to the grassroots, real-world gifts, challenges, and discoveries of anyone involved in ministry in the 21st century.
We try stuff out. Some of it works. Some of it doesn't. But together, we find space and grace to grow.
No one has all the answers.
But you have some...and a congregation across the country has another...and a lay leader two states over has another.
We want to be a hub where Christian leaders come to get ideas, share what's working, and help each other through what's not.
We need one another.
Frequently it's our painful lessons and personal struggles that—when shared—allow us to learn, grow, and connect more deeply with one another.
The Learning Lab is a community where knowledge expands as relationships form.
One of the first things people wonder about the Learning Lab is Do I need to be an ordained minister to join?
To be clear: no, not at all.
The Learning Lab is for lay and ordained leaders from across the Christian landscape, including:
The Learning Lab is an intentionally ecumenical space because we know the work of the Holy Spirit isn't confined to any single tradition.
We're so glad you asked! Learning Lab members can count on conversations, courses, and resources geared around five key practices—what we call "the core work" of faithful innovation:
We believe that the Triune God is actively creating, reconciling, healing, and restoring the world, and that we're being invited to join in.
If you want companions in discerning when, where, and how God is calling us to innovate faithfully, the Learning Lab is for you.