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With Jack Fortin’s departure from Centered Life last
month many things changed, but many more did not. For starters, Jack
will continue to speak at congregations, synod assemblies, and other
gatherings. (If you’re interested, please contact Terry Erickson at
terickso@luthersem.edu or 651-641-3444.) But beyond Jack, Centered
Life the organization and movement, still exists and still desires to
help individuals and congregations connect Sunday to Monday. To that
end, we are especially excited about three new innovations:
New Resource:
Down & Out: Where Grace Takes You,
a small group DVD study that connects the Reformation inheritance, the
twin pillars of justification and vocation, to the concrete concerns
of congregation, home, work, and community.
Improved Process: continually refining our vocationally aware
congregational renewal process, we will roll out a simplified
assessment tool as well as a more visual, action oriented results
report. Available January 2008.
Seminary Integration: internally, we are working to enhance the
long-term sustainability of the Centered Life Initiative by exploring
the integration of our process into Luther Seminary’s internship and
contextual education programs.
Additionally, we will host a variety of training conferences next
Spring. Here's the lineup:
Thank you for your partnership; we’d love to hear from you! If you
have any questions or concerns, or would just like to pass along an
idea for connecting Sunday to Monday, please don’t hesitate to
call or
write.
Update: Jack Fortin
(10/2/07)
 We are saddened to announce the departure of Jack
Fortin, the Executive Director of Luther Seminary's Centered Life
initiative. Jack developed Centered Life after serving as Senior Vice
President for World Vision USA and Divisional Vice President for Young
Life.
We will look forward to Jack's
continued teaching and speaking on behalf of Luther Seminary. But for now we look back
with gratitude for his memorable tales, tireless energy, and visionary
leadership. Indeed, we thank him for calling the church to a new
future:
"I envision congregations as places
where people gather, are cared for, equipped and validated for their
everyday mission and ministry and then set free to serve God in their
many vocational settings. Our needs for a place to belong and to make
a difference in the world can come together in the congregation."
And we thank him for naming the
'balanced life' as myth, a new legalism, and for pointing to a better
way: "It is a life faithful, moment by moment, to the God in
whom we live and move and have our being. It is a centered life."
To share your thanks, please send a
note to
centered@luthersem.edu and we'll see that it gets to him.
Please find Luther Seminary's
official announcement
here. |
