We are beginning to focus on recruiting participants for the next class that will begin the program in June 2027 (the Alma Kick-off conference is June 10-14). To that end, we are hosting a CGPI Pop-up event or Mini-Conference this October (16-17) in Marquette, MI. Our aim is to give attendees a taste of the full CGPI program by offering some of our conference workshops, a mock cohort meeting, a worship service, and more. If anyone reading this is interested in attending, please contact me...

We have been given significant time focusing on new recruitment strategies for the 2027-2028 round of CGPI participants. One thing that we have discovered over the last few months is that there are still many congregations and individuals in the Synod who are unaware that the CGPI program even exists, in particular smaller rural and urban congregations. In order to get the word out we are planning a handful of CGPI “pop-up” events around the Synod. These “pop-up” events are designed to give...

Many who are reading this have likely had a retreat or a camp experience that they would describe as a spiritual “mountain top” event. An event wherein your faith is enlivened and deepened, or even – to use a word we Presbyterians are sometimes a bit afraid of – you have a mystical encounter with God that leaves your faith, your relationship with God, forever changed and enriched. Words often fail us here. Not because they cannot describe the experience, but because they can only describe...