Micah Group Facilitator Training — First Cohort Commissioned
Nov 19, 2020
Congratulations to our first online training cohort with eleven new Commissioned Micah Groups Facilitators!
At the beginning of the summer, I was invited to join a newly formed training team to begin imagining how we might offer an online version of Micah Group Facilitator preparation. What began as a far away vision slowly became a reality and was launched with great anxiety and anticipation in late October. The smiling faces you see above are the final result—eleven newly commissioned Micah Group Facilitators.
As hard it has been to find true enjoyment and great hope in the bleakness of 2020, our recent completion of the first Ogilvie Institute online Micah Group Facilitator Training has brought me great joy and much hope! Despite the restrictions of social distancing and sheltering in place, our training team gathered with eleven faith leaders from nine different states for five weeks of intense training. We engaged in courageous conversations and sampled the First Things curriculum. We were led in worship by a number of different Micah alums and sat at the feet of Dr. Mark Labberton. What a pleasure it has been to be part of real time innovation. My hope is to continue to be a part of building and restructuring great moments such as this at the intersection of justice and worship.
Rev. Dr. Joy Johnson
Micah Mobilizer
Facilitator Trainer
In hindsight, I realize there were two things that helped us with the daunting task of distilling the transformative experiences of the in-person Micah training retreats into an online version. First, leaning into the greater “Micah community” allowed us to tap into the great network of wisdom that was already present. Our former leaders Michael Stafford and Gina Casey led us in worship, while Dr. Labberton himself and Bret Widman led us in insightful, overflowing conversations. It was another reminder that we don’t have to have all the answers, but it sure helps when we have friends to whom we can ask questions! As our diverse training cohort began to engage one another in meaningful conversations, it was encouraging to see this community grow.
Second, as our country becomes—sigh!—even more divided than anyone could have imagined, it is apparent that courageous “Micah” conversations are some of the few hopeful spaces that can disrupt the circularity of our conversational silos. The core convictions of the Micah Groups approach—to not shy away from the difference and the discomfort—are counter to so much of what we are taught in the church, but is clearly needed in our churches and our country right now. As the training cohort began to catch this vision, it was truly inspiring to witness them “hear” their calling into such courageous spaces.
Rev. Dr. Jin Cho
Micah Mobilizer
Facilitator Trainer
Would you like to become a Micah Group Facilitator?
Email micahgroups@fuller.edu for information about our next training cohort that will launch in early 2021.
Already a Micah Group Facilitator and interested
in finding a co-facilitator to start a new group?
We will always encourage in-person, local Micah Groups who are working together for the transformation of their community. However, adjusting to our pandemic world has shown online groups can also be very effective, and have their own unique benefits. One of those benefits is the possibility of developing new ministry partnerships with diverse leaders in other parts of the country, or even the world. If you’d like to consider a partnership such as this, email micahgroups@fuller.edu to start the conversation.