Fellowship Coordinator Tom Avey has announced dates and theme for five regional Focus Retreats during the coming year. Open to all pastors, elders, and leaders in Grace Brethren churches, the Focus Retreats have become a combination of learning, fellowship, and spiritual refreshment time for many.
Specific information and locations for all retreats, including registration information, is available at www.fgbc.org/focus.
The theme for this year’s retreats will be “Building Authentic Community,” and will focus on biblical definitions of the church. FGBC moderator Tim Boal, who is also pastor of the Penn Valley Grace Brethren Church in Telford, PA, has written a book by this title which will be supplementary reading for all Focus Retreats (a copy is included with registration). Building Authentic Community: Enjoying Christ’s Church in a Postmodern Age will be published in September by BMH Books. Dates for the retreats are:
Central: October 9-11, 2006
East: October 23-25, 2006
Southwest: January 29-31, 2007
South: February 26-28, 2007
Northwest: May 21-23, 2007
Anyone may attend any retreat, regardless of location. Tom Avey says, “Enjoy a fresh exploration of the process of ‘establishing’ the church through a study of the Pauline epistles. Engage a new assessment of the character necessary for our role as elders and leaders in the church of Jesus Christ. If you are in love with Jesus and His church, this year’s Focus Retreat is for you!”
