Sandi Rogers, pastor of faith formation at Columbia Baptist Church in Falls Church, was among 12 spiritual formation leaders who met Nov. 18-19 in Atlanta to discern the future of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship's new Spiritual Formation Network.
The SFN was announced at last June's CBF general assembly but had not yet taken shape. “We had an idea, but we didn't have substance,” said Rick Bennett, the Fellowship's associate coordinator for faith formation.
Through times of prayer and worship, summit participants began discerning the SFN's direction, including a definition for spiritual formation, Bennett said. The definition reads, “Spiritual formation is the process of being shaped in the image of Christ by the gracious working of God's Spirit, for the transformation of the world.”
Summit participants also drafted a conceptual structure for the SFN, which includes leadership by a 12-person steering team, which has yet to be selected. With a priority of achieving spiritual formation through gatherings, print media, partnerships and a virtual Internet presence, the network's two-fold purpose will be relating and resourcing.
The 12 spiritual formation leaders were selected on the basis of experience and involvement in spiritual formation,.
For more information about spiritual formation, contact Rick Bennett at (770) 220-1605 or [email protected].
Special to the Herald