Activities...The Feast offers more than just fantastic worship services. There are also amazing seminars and a wide range of recreational activities for families to enjoy together.

Seminars...

Whether you are just discovering who God is or desire to go deeper with Jesus, The Feast has a strong line up of seminars which will offer a variety of ways to explore and grow in your prayer and spiritual life.

Marriage map

Neil & Sharol Josephson - Neil - Pastor of Married Life Ministries; Sharol - Director of Married Life Ministries, Bayside Covenant Church, Roseville, CA

This workshop is for every married couple. Married Life facilitators Neil and Sharol Josephson will guide you through an exercise that allows you to go deeper with God and deeper with each other. With a little teaching and a lot of conversation - just between you and your spouse - this workshop will give you a new framework and some new tools for an even richer life together.

Operation Lo Debar

Darrell Griffin – Pastor, Oakdale Covenant Church, Chicago IL

Who will help the men and women of Lo Debar? (2 Samuel 9:1-13). Mephibosheth was invited to sit at the king's table. However, he had trouble accepting the invitation because he was crippled in both feet and lived in a place called Lo Debar. King David had to send Ziba to bring Mephibosheth to the king's table. There are millions of Mephibosheths who are crippled and trapped in a place called Lo Debar. And it is our mission to go to Lo Debar and assist them so that they can sit at the King's Table. My workshop will focus on how to reach the Mephibosheths in Lo Debar (Operation Lo Debar: Who will help the men and women of Lo Debar?).

A rule of life: life on purpose

Rick Mylander – Associate Superintendent, Midwest Conference, Castle Rock, CO

Many have heard of the Rule of St. Benedict or similar documents that guide life in monastic communities, but one does not have to be Roman Catholic to consider the ordered life! This seminar, utilizing a module from the Covenant’s “Habits of the Heart” School of Prayer, will consider the benefits of focused, purposeful living, and provide opportunity for guided, personal reflection on this needed spiritual discipline.

The dark side of girl world

Ginny Olson – Co-Director of Center for Youth Ministry Studies and Assistant Professor of Youth Ministry, North Park University & Seminary, Chicago, IL and the author of Teenage Girls: Exploring Issues Adolescent Girls Face and Strategies to Help Them.

What do you do if you or a girl friend of yours is struggling with an issue that seems overwhelming? We’ll look what adolescent girls are facing and strategies to help them. Some of the topics we’ll investigate include: sexuality and dating, self-injury, depression and relational aggression. This seminar is designed for youth.

When help isn't helpful: establishing healthy boundaries with those around you.

John Martz – Pastor, Arvada Covenant Church, Arvada, CO 

Many Christians struggle to discern the call of Christ in providing help to those around them, whether those people are family members, fellow believers, or total strangers. How do we remain present to people without taking undo responsibility for them? How do we provide assistance without becoming swallowed by the very needs we are seeking to address? No one ministered more effectively than Jesus, yet as we will see in this workshop, he also had an incredible ability to maintain healthy boundaries in a variety of ways with those in the world around Him. The establishment of these boundaries will not only help us avoid burnout, it will prevent unhealthy and counterproductive patterns in those we are seeking to assist.

A theology of oneness

Ed Lee – Pastor, Mosaic Community Covenant Church, Missouri City, TX

What is the motivation for doing multi-ethnic ministry, to reach all people? There are some who say the church should do this because it is politically correct. On the other hand, there are some who say that reaching out to all people is not an effective strategy compared to targeting a specific group of people. Surely, our evangelistic mandate motivates us to reach out to all people but is there another compelling reason for being more inclusive as we reach out to all people? I believe that a theology of oneness is a key motivation. There are many New Testament passages that speak about the importance of our oneness in the Body of Christ and the impact this has on the Church's witness. Let's study these passages together and form a conviction in our pursuit of oneness while we intentionally reach and include all people for Christ in our local churches and thus, be a greater and more effective witness of the power of God's love to the lost who are watching his Church.

How to mobilize the church to reach the people in need in our community

Daniel Anabolon – Pastor, El Encino Covenant Church, Downey, CA

We will explore basic tools on how to motivate the church to get out of the box to do the work.

Creative prayer experiences: tools and tips for designing prayer experiences that engage the whole person.

Amy Mark – Covenant Pastor and Feast Steering Committee Member, Berkeley, CA

This is a how-to workshop, using the FEAST's House of Prayer as a model, designed to help equip you in planning creative ways for individuals and groups in your congregation engage with God and with each other in prayer. The workshop will include a tour through the House of Prayer, as well as giving concrete time to begin the creative process for your own congregation. This is a good workshop to come to with a small team, as collaborative efforts are most helpful in this kind of endeavor. You will need your Bible..

Journaling/timeline workshop

Linda Williams – MDiv Candidate, Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary; Emmanuel Covenant Church, Nashua, NH

Do you ever find your mind racing so fast that it is just a jumble of thoughts? Do you wish you could sort things out or find some rhyme or reason to why you respond the way you do to situations? Perhaps journaling is the answer for you! Join us for a time of learning different styles of exploring and putting down your thoughts, dreams, questions, opinions, and feelings. Discover something new about God, yourself and how events have impacted and influenced who you are today through creating your own time/life line. We will share ideas for how to make journaling a pleasure rather than a chore.

Signs and witness: the new birth in lost people

John Teter – Pastor of Fountain of Life Covenant Church, Long Beach, CA and author of the book “Getting the Word Out”

This seminar will focus on God's role in leading us to partner with him, as he graciously brings about the new birth in the life of sinners. We will focus on John's Gospel, chapters 1-4, highlighting John's evangelism theology of a sinner needing signs and witness to truly believe in Jesus.

Recovering sabbath in a culture of hurry

Ted Nordlund – Covenant Pastor, Director of “A Shepherd’s Counsel”, Minneapolis, MN

Sabbath enables us to recover perspective in our life. When we restore the big picture of a loving and purposeful God who stands behind and interacts with creation it changes the way we view life, work and our relationships. Recovering Sabbath also restores us to the sacred rhythms of life. For example: When we experience Sabbath rest and reflection we taste the fruit of our labor and life. If we are too busy, if we do not rest, we miss this rhythm.

This workshop will explore why God declared the Sabbath, holy. It will examine the theology that underlies Sabbath. It will expose what Jesus taught and did about the Sabbath. It will challenge the classic and legalistic understandings of the Sabbath that we are so familiar with. Participants will discover that Sabbath is a day of rest and delight that will tenderize our relationship with God, vitalize our personal well-being as human beings and deepen our prayer life.

Bored with prayer?

Diana Temple – Youth Pastor, Naperville Covenant Church, Naperville, IL

Come see if prayer can be more than folding your hands, and closing your eyes and falling asleep after your mind has wandered. This is designed for youth.

The Kingdom of God is growing: everywhere

Paul DeNeui – Covenant Pastor, Visiting Assistant Professor of World Mission and Director of the Center for World Christian Studies, North Park Theological Seminary

Join us in celebrating the growth of God's kingdom in strategic places around the globe where we as Covenanters are working in God's worldwide mission. Hear firsthand accounts, ask questions of our missionaries, and be challenged to see how these same principles can impact mission and ministry wherever God has called you to serve.

To feast is to know the fast: a hunger banquet for justice.

Adam Phillips – Co-Pastor, Resurrection Covenant Church, Chicago, IL

We worship and serve God who abundantly loves us. The Bible tells of a great Feast where many will come from north and south and east and west to sit together at table in the Kingdom of God. Jesus calls us to live out that Kingdom now on earth, as it is in heaven. In a nation of plenty, we may forget that our sisters and brothers around the world experience daily hunger and famine while we feast. God's will is that none would go hungry. Extreme hunger and poverty is a problem we can fix. Come to this banquet to experience and learn how you can do justice and live faithfully Christ's commandment to love one another.

Faith in motion

Sacred Steps Liturgical Dance Ministry, Fairmont Covenant Church, Fairmont, MN

To be ushered into the presence of the Lord is a Christian’s deepest desire. This is the team’s continual prayer. Sacred Steps (14 members from ages 25-79) has touched the hearts of many worshippers, as well as their own, through the renewal of a dance ministry. Men and women of all ages have reported that they were moved to tears through watching the dancing: a language of prayer, an honor to the Lord, a healing touch.

During this seminar you will review biblical passages about dance. Also, you will consider symbolism in the colors, props, and movements of liturgical dance. You will be encouraged to move worshipfully and you will reflect on the possibilities of dance in your personal devotional life and in the life of your congregation.

Home again!

Mary Miller – Covenant Pastor; Director, Making Connections Initiative, North Park Theological Seminary

Ever been lost? Even in a crowd? How hard is reconciliation with someone you hurt? What is the connection between love and keeping bitterness? Jesus' parable in Luke 15:11-32 has so many facets for personal insight and faith challenge. Using the writing of Henri Nouwen, we will use art to dig deeper into the story and deeper into ourselves.

Praying the Divine Hours

Dick Lucco – Superintendent, Great Lakes Conference, Plymouth, MI

This workshop will provide a brief introduction to the logic, history, and theology of fixed-hour prayer, variously referred to as "The Liturgy of the Hours" or "keeping the hours" or "praying the daily office". Particular attention will be given to the practice of morning and evening prayer for individuals and groups.

Grow deeper in Christ: exploring spiritual practices

Doreen Olson, Executive Minister, Department of Christian Formation

When it comes to devotional practices, one size clearly does not fit all. In this workshop, you will discover a breadth of transformative spiritual practices. Some are new; others very old. One or more may be just your size! One thing is for sure. Spiritual growth needs to be nurtured through regular spiritual practices. Join us in an exploration of growing deeper in Christ.

 

 

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