Renovaré Online Course

Lumi­nous Lives: Twelve Shin­ing Souls Shaped by God

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Exam­ples matter.

It seems every day we learn about anoth­er pub­lic Chris­t­ian fig­ure embroiled in scan­dal, leav­ing behind wound­ed vic­tims and a host of peo­ple dis­il­lu­sioned with the Chris­t­ian faith.

“That’s why our hope is in Jesus and not peo­ple,” we may say. And this is true. But it also helps to observe those who show by exam­ple what it means to fol­low Jesus and fin­ish well. As Paul encour­aged, ​“fol­low my exam­ple as I fol­low the exam­ple of Christ.”

Who are the peo­ple who have shown you that trans­for­ma­tion in Christ is possible? 

For Dr. Miri­am Dixon (Mimi), the list includes C.S. Lewis, Lil­ias Trot­ter, Dal­las Willard, Tere­sa of Àvi­la, and a host of oth­ers who illu­mi­nat­ed her under­stand­ing of what is pos­si­ble in our life with God. 

In this online video course, Mimi will intro­duce you to twelve exem­plars of Chris­t­ian faith who deeply influ­enced her life and almost four decades of pas­toral ministry.

What’s In This Course and Who It’s For

Lumi­nous Lives con­tains twelve 10 – 15 minute lessons (plus an intro­duc­tion and con­clu­sion) and a print­able course guide (PDF) that includes reflec­tion ques­tions and resources for going deeper. 

It’s for any­one who wants to go deep­er with God by explor­ing exem­plars who show us what it means to live a God-shaped life.

The course is self-paced and can be accessed any­time. Take it indi­vid­u­al­ly, or use it with a church or small group — some­thing Mimi had in mind as she designed and taught this course.

Course Out­line

  • Intro
  • C.S. Lewis
  • Jean Pierre de Caussade
  • Basilea Schlink
  • Eugene Peter­son
  • Lar­ry Crabb
  • Paul King Jewett
  • Saint Tere­sa of Calcutta
  • Cather­ine de Hueck Doherty
  • Richard Fos­ter
  • Tere­sa of Àvila
  • Lil­ias Trotter
  • Dal­las Willard
  • Con­clu­sion

A Note About Diversity

Mimi’s list of exem­plars is not meant to be defin­i­tive nor exhaus­tive. It reflects those who most deeply shaped her with­in her par­tic­u­lar con­text, many of whom she knew per­son­al­ly. In future cours­es, we will hear from a vari­ety of diverse voic­es. Mimi’s hope is that this course will inspire par­tic­i­pants to form their own, won­der­ful­ly diverse lists of exemplars.

    Meet the Instructor

    Miriam Dixon

    Miriam (Mimi) Dixon began her ministry in 1979 serving as an associate pastor at Northminster Presbyterian Church in Seattle, Washington. From April of 1985 to May of 2019 she served as senior pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Golden, Colorado. She earned both her MDiv and DMin degrees from Fuller Theological Seminary. Mimi is on the Renovaré Board of Directors and teaches for the Renovaré Institute. She is faculty for Next Frontiers, a ministry to pastors in transition, and actively promotes Christian Spiritual Formation, crediting Richard Foster and Dallas Willard for their influence in her life and ministry. Mimi has authored a biography of Richard Foster’s bestselling Celebration of Discipline, which is projected for release through Barclay Press in the autumn of 2023.