Lessons learned at Our Partners Learning Community in March 2025.
Last week, we gathered for our FX Denominational Partners Learning Community under the theme ‘The Courage to…’. It was a rich and inspiring time together as we explored the conversations that could unlock the courageous future God is calling us to.
Day One
We began on Wednesday morning with arrivals and coffee, setting a welcoming and reflective tone. Tim framed our time together, acknowledging the more intimate number of participants and introducing Emily Bradbury, who would help guide us through the sessions.
The first session, ‘The Courage to… Arrive and Be Present,’ invited us into reflection with Psalm 84. We listened to “And the Swallow” by Caroline Shaw as we considered where we needed courage in our own lives. Each of us brought an object representing that need and placed it at the centre of our gathering space, symbolising our collective journey.
From there, we engaged with the Ecocycle framework, walking it as an act of worship. This visual and embodied practice helped us reflect on where we find ourselves in different seasons of growth, transition, and letting go. It reminded us that courage is not only about stepping forward but also about releasing what no longer serves us.
After lunch, we moved into our Curious Bible Study, the session themed ‘The Courage to… Trust the Outsider God.’ Through the stories of two pregnancies and a song, featuring Mary, Elizabeth and Zechariah, we reflected on themes of power, agency, and God’s movement beyond institutional boundaries. We asked: How do we approach scripture with fresh curiosity? How do we see God at work in unexpected places? These questions led us into a deep and thought-provoking discussion.
In the afternoon, we explored the Three Horizons framework in a session themed ‘The Courage to… Choose Where I Stand.’ This helped us map out where we are, where we might be heading, and how we navigate the tensions between the present and the future. We discussed what shifts we need to make, both personally and collectively, to move towards the future God is calling us into.
We ended the day by gathering in teams to reflect on what was stirring within us.
Day Two
Thursday began with a time of quiet reflection. Josh started by remembering the day before and calling us back to worship, challenging us to have the brave conversations. We listened to “What If?” by Cody Fry, allowing us to reorient ourselves before diving into ‘The Courage to… Have Brave Conversations.’ We used an Open Space format, creating an agenda in real time based on the pressing conversations emerging from the previous day. With two rounds of discussions, participants engaged in topics they were most passionate about, leading to some truly transformative conversations.
Following a reflective coffee break, we turned our attention to ‘The Courage to… Be Still and Distil.’ This session invited us into deep reflection on what we had learned and how it might shape our next steps. What would be different moving forward? What actions were we called to take? We considered what it means to be radically courageous in our current context—considering the tensions between playing it safe, stepping out boldly, and finding a middle ground.
As we approached our closing session, ‘The Courage to… Return,’ we first took time for worship by exploring how the Psalms can be used to express our feelings to God. Reflecting on all that we had experienced over the past 24 hours, we took a few moments to write our own psalms, allowing us to process our emotions and encounters in a deeply personal way.
We then paired up to pray for one another and reflect on how we would carry what we had received back into our communities. The teams shared key insights from our time together, and we took one final moment to pray for each other and acknowledge where God had been at work.
Looking Ahead
Our time together was both challenging and encouraging. We were reminded that courageous conversations are not just about speaking boldly but also about listening deeply, stepping into discomfort, and allowing God to move in new and unexpected ways.
As we return to our various contexts, we hold onto the question: What conversation would you like to have now that could help unlock the courageous future God is calling you to?
