Part 4 - Collaborative Communities
(Read the summaries and debrief posts I wrote after Lausanne 3 in 2010 here.)
When the wave of Lausanne 4 washed over Incheon, South Korea, it left countless small pools of water. Those little pools were the communities of people who came together at the congress and are now Kingdom collaborators.
I was a part of 7 different communities at the congress. Each impacted me in unique ways and allowed me to make my best contribution to the event. These 7 communities were the highlight of my Lausanne experience. I reconnected with old friends, sat with online friends who I had never met in person and made new friends as we came together around our shared passion for Kingdom work.
L4 Innovation Community
The most significant community was a very informal one that I gathered around Kingdom innovation. In the lead-up to Laussane, I built up a small WhatsApp group of innovators who were going to be attending and invited them to have breakfast every morning at a local Illy Coffee Shop. We also engaged throughout the event on innovation lessons and insights. As a fun activity we had an L4 Innovation Bingo Card to help innovators look for examples of innovation discussions at the congress. The morning sessions were "come if you can" and so each morning we had a different subset of the WhatsApp group attend. That made for distinct conversations each time.
One of the fun side events that emerged from that community was a tour of Incheon's Startup Part; which "happened" to be situated right behind the Illy Coffee Shop! Our tour was highlighted by the Day 6 Summary Video for the whole congress! On that tour we learned how South Korea approaches innovation and supports new startups. There were some great insights and lessons that we took away. I was amazed by the level of intentionality to bring innovators together, give them access to funding, partners and opportunities to implement their innovations. They modeled "disciplined innovation" in some exciting ways that I am still thinking through how to apply to nonprofit innovation efforts.
K13 Community
Attending an event this big is infinitely richer when you have a small group to think with as you drift through the sea of people. I will be forever grateful to my group for being authentic, challenging, encouraging and present.
Digital Discipleship Collaborative Action Community
As I have shared in other posts, the afternoons gave time to gather in Collaborative Action Groups to talk about how to address the 25 gaps identified by the State of the Great Commission Report. I attended the gap on digital discipleship and had an amazing group to work with. We spent 4 days hashing through the the opportunities and challenges surrounding digital discipleship. I was so grateful to the group for their insights. We talked about the human contribution to discipleship and the role we felt technology should play. In the end we developed a helpful framework of standards, products and education that we thought would be needed to do digital discipleship well. One of the ideas that I thought was very exciting was developing a Digital Creed to guide spiritual engagement work. We also talked about digital literacy in congregations and how to help people discern how to use technology well in the Church. We discussed the appropriate handoffs between people and technology and how to help humans manage those well. It was a rich time of thinking together. I am deeply grateful to my collaborative action group for their friendship and co-creating!
Lessons About Community
The congress would not have meant nearly as much without these and other communities I participated in. I will be forever grateful for each of the people that these pictures represent. As I reflect on the power of community in Kingdom work, here are a few insights that are important for me to share:
- Everyone has a unique perspective; even when attending the same event. Attending together gives you a much richer experience as you hear how others understood the various topics discussed.
- People's experiences make your participation so much richer. By listening to the stories of people in these communities, I had dozens of new examples from which to gain insight.
- By exploring the congress themes together, I was able to process my thinking in a much deeper way. Instead of all my insights staying in my head, I could share them and refine them.
- Communities at the event provided opportunities for ministry. I was able to pray with people, receive prayer, hear about sorrows and joys, and stand alongside my brothers and sisters in Christ as they experienced this once-in-a-lifetime event.
I need to say thank you to each person in these communities. I received so much from each of their contributions. What communities can you form as you attend events? How can these communities help strengthen your thinking and advance your Kingdom work?
Next time you see the puddles of water on a rocky beach, think of the communities that can come together around a formative experience; like the Lausanne Congress. And notice that each of those puddles is a small representation of the big ocean only feet away. Don't miss the opportunity to be blessed by the puddles!
Comments