Cohort Learning Experience

The current cultural moment has raised awareness that a superficial faith cannot deal with the realities we face. Many congregations are eager to renew a deep and true faith grounded in the gospel’s invitation to live in God’s kingdom. We want to support churches who desire this deeper understanding of how to follow Jesus and conform our lives to his and who are open to learning from Christians in other times, places, and church traditions.

Renovaré forms cohorts in selected regions through an application and selection process aimed at creating a cross-section of denominations, socio-economic groups, ethnic and cultural backgrounds, and congregation sizes. 

A cohort will have between 30 – 50 people representing 6 – 10 area churches.

The Cohort will be comprised of church teams, each with at least one senior-level pastoral staff person and two or more lay leaders. 

Church leadership can include various formal and informal roles — people who are passionate for change and able to mentor and inspire members of the church community. If your community tends to lean toward a majority age, gender, or racial demographic, consider including a different perspective in your team. 

Each church will need to identify a church leadership point person who will select the 3 – 5 participants and provide basic demographic information about your church on the application. 

Churches who choose to participate in this cohort will be fully funded by the program. All cohort activities and supplies are free of charge. Ticket costs are covered for each church to send a pastor to the Renovaré Pastors Retreat.

Learning centers upon Six Core Questions (module one) and Six Invitations (module two) adapted from the proven curriculum of the Renovaré Institute for Spiritual Formation, which is now in its fourteenth cohort. 

Part One explores Six Core Questions such as What is my picture of God? and How do I follow Jesus? Module One breaks down the ​“how to” of learning from Jesus how to live fully in the Kingdom of God. Church teams will gain clarity on their mission as they learn about and prayerfully discern ways to create or strengthen formational discipleship within their congregations. 

Part Two engages cohort participants in Six Invitations from Richard Foster’s book Streams of Living Water which explores the wisdom and practices of Jesus, stewarded through six great ​“Streams” of historic Christianity (contemplative, holiness, charismatic, social justice, evangelical, and incarnational). ​“Streams” help form a balanced vision and practical strategy for becoming more like Jesus. The Cohort learning process helps participants identify and experience practices from their own tradition and thoughtfully incorporate practices of other branches of the Church. 

The application process for the next cohort typically runs from early April to late June. Click the green ​“Express Interest” button in the section below to let us know you are interested in a future cohort.

If a church team senses that their congregation would benefit from ongoing formational experiences with other congregations, they may decide to join Renovaré’s Formational Church Network where churches can find partners and resources for spiritual renewal.

Email [email protected].