Here are the summaries and bios of the three presenters on Missional Discipleship:
Cyd Holsclaw: Discipleship in Disguise
Summary: In our missional lives, many of us don’t have a standard or recognizable role as leaders or teachers or mentors. Some of us might shy away from embracing a discipleship role in the lives of those we meet, yet there are people around us every day who are hungry for mentoring and discipleship. With a few frames through which to view our relationships, we can move past just ‘hanging out’ with people into sharing a journey toward the cross and into new life.
Bio: Cyd is part of the leadership team at Life on the Vine in northwest Chicagoland. She and her husband, Geoff, also homeschool their two sons, Soren and Tennyson.
Michael Novelli: The intersection of Biblical Narrative, Dialogue and Spiritual Formation
Summary: Michael will share about his experiences with Bible storying, a dialogical approach rooted in the Hebrew tradition. Through years of experimentation, Michael has found approaches like storying stretch across generations, helping guide faith communities to be rooted and formed by the biblical narrative. In this process, the community is birthed “on the way” in Mission.
Bio: Michael Novelli is a writer and workshop facilitator helping church leaders to explore learner-center approaches to teaching. Michael, his wife Michele, and children Angelo and Abrielle live in Elgin, Illinois.
Mark Van Steenwyk: Missional Discipleship in the Shadow of Empire
Summary: Discipleship as commonly practiced in the North American church has become a disembodied, abstracted “thing.” Missional discipleship–embodying a way of life that is “Jesus shaped” in our local contexts–requires an experimental approach to new practices. How can we cultivate deep Gospel practices that counter an imperial way of life?
Bio: Mark Van Steenwyk is a co-founder of Missio Dei–a Mennonite intentional community in Minneapolis. He works part time (with the support of the Central Plains Mennonite Conference) to network and nurture fledgling radical communities around the country. Mark is an adjunct instructor at Bethel Seminary and experiments in grassroots radical education and organizing. He is a contributing editor at JesusRadicals.com and a regular co-host of the Iconocast. Mark lives with his wife (Amy) and son (Jonas) in Missio Dei’s Sattler House.
