Gathering Hope and Vision for the Future from Across the Spiritual Landscape

Gathering Imaginations brought leaders from across the country together in Houston, Texas, to connect with, nurture, and inspire each other. The two-day conversation among spiritual thinkers, innovative leaders, and servant-hearted community members focused on the future of the church and the communities it serves.

A powerful centering theme that emerged from Gathering Imaginations is that the path toward the world God imagines is guided by compassionate purpose and a commitment to invest ourselves in each other, our neighbors, and our neighborhoods. The path calls us to participate deeply in the lives of our churches and our communities, ever willing to try new ways to innovate for love.

“We are in the middle of a thousand little experiments out of a response to God's call, and some of them are pretty rickety… and some of them are downright brilliant,” said Rev. Dr. Kenda Creasy Dean, honored at the event as a Distinguished Locke Innovative Leader. “It doesn't matter where we start. It matters that we start.”

Renewed in the work of bringing grace to the world, participants left buoyed by a spirit of possibility in the ministries and communities they serve and faith in the new thing God is doing.

Read more impact stories from Locke Innovative Leaders here.