Summer Fellowship 2023: Rethinking
Summer Fellowship is a long-held Knox tradition of gathering during July for thought-provoking teaching from Christian leaders over delicious desserts. It’s an opportunity for our church to invite friends and neighbors to engage in discussion around important topics that are relevant to our lives.
This summer, we will be looking at familiar Christian practices—prayer, mission, scripture reading, ministry—but from a new angle. Join five innovative, Christ-focused leaders to rethink crucial habits of our faith and explore how God is inviting us to find new and renewed ways forward.
Summer Fellowship
Wednesdays in July
7:00pm Dessert + 7:30 Talk
In the Winchester Room
WED / JUL 5
Rethinking Kingdom Ministry: Generational Collaboration
Rev. Dr. Lisa Pak
The world is constantly changing and the rate of change is faster than any other previous generation has experienced. In this current context, what does it mean when up to 5 generations are in the workforce AND the generational experiences are so different? Generational continuity is built into the Kingdom of God, so how do we encourage generational collaboration for God’s Kingdom?
The Rev. Dr. Lisa Pak currently works alongside Rick Warren on the Finishing The Task (FTT) lead team. Her previous experience includes serving as the Regional Director for Ontario and Nunavut at the Canadian Bible Society, in addition to 14 years of pastoral ministry and church experience in the United States, South Korea, Singapore and Canada with a particular focus amongst the Korean Diaspora community. She is a second-generation Korean Canadian and Toronto native, ordained by the Korean Association of Independent Churches and Missions (KAICAM). She holds a MDiv and a MABL from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and has earned her Doctor of Ministry in Leadership at Tyndale Seminary. Lisa has traveled globally and is passionate about diaspora communities and mobilizing the next generation to share the good news of Jesus Christ with all who have yet to hear.
WED / JUL 12
Rethinking Wonder: Prayer and Imagination
Aisha Sharifa
Can our minds—specifically our ability to imagine what doesn’t yet exist—be leveraged to propel us courageously towards and within the Kingdom of God? How does prayer use our imaginations and create a sense of wonder in us?
Aisha Sharifa is a full time Prayer Missionary with 24-7 Prayer USA, which exists to inspire, equip, and mobilize people to an awakened prayer life.
WED / JUL 19
Rethinking Scripture: Violence and The God We Thought We Knew
Rev. Dr. Lissa Wray Beal
How does one reconcile major (and valid) questions about the violence seen in the Old Testament with Jesus’ way of peace in the New Testament? What role does scripture play in the life of a believer, and how, practically, should we read it?
The Rev. Dr. Lissa M. Wray Beal is Professor of Old Testament at Wycliffe College and a priest in the Anglican Church of Canada. Her teaching reveals the Old Testament’s enduring witness to God and its necessary role in New Testament faith and her publications include commentaries on Kings and Joshua, and articles on Kings, Joshua, Psalms, and Jeremiah. She is currently preparing a commentary on Jeremiah.
Find a resource list for further reading here.
WED / JUL 26
Rethinking Evangelism: Are Missions Still Good?
Khevna Dave and Sharon Patire
In light of colonialism and related injustice and oppression, is the work of missionaries (especially foreign workers moving abroad to spread the gospel) something that the church can still stand behind?
Khevna Dave serves as the Director of the Missions Hub, located right within our church on the third floor. She is deeply passionate about engaging in mobilization and enjoys building and catalyzing partnerships in missions amongst campus groups, agencies and churches.
Sharon Patire serves as the Mobilization Coordinator at the Missions Hub. She is a passionate disciple of Christ, eager to make and mobilize many more disciples for his glory, and loves meeting new friends and walking with them in their missions journey.
