Acknowledgments

Finally, thank you to the 109 people who went through this course at Chapel Hill United Methodist Church, Wichita, who studied and practiced the concepts in these books, and allowed me to learn from your experiences and insights. Your presence is felt in the pages of these books.

The Good and Beautiful God
The Good and Beautiful Life
The Good and Beautiful Community

www.renovare.org

Just over twenty years ago Richard J. Foster, my mentor and friend, said to me, “Jim, I’m starting a ministry. It is time for the walls to come down that separate denominations. The church needs to do better at its primary job—making disciples. And people need to learn how to practice the disciplines not just as individuals, but within groups. We need to help the modern church connect to the ancient church. I’d like you to help me design it and help lead it.” I said yes. A month later we met for lunch and Richard told me he had come up with a name for this spiritual renewal ministry: Renovaré (ren-o-var-ay), a Latin word that means “to renew.” I knew right away we were in trouble: no one could pronounce it, and no one knew what it meant. But it sounded really cool, because from the very start it was already doing what nobody else dared to.

What I like about Renovaré is that it comes alongside churches, resourcing them, without pretending to do their ultimate job: namely, making disciples of Jesus Christ. Many people forget that the followers of Christ were disciples because they practiced the disciplines of Christ; yet it was those practices of prayer, morality, sharing the gospel, service, Communion and spiritual gifts that made the disciples’ lives so dynamic, and their spiritual lives so rich.

Renovaré is helping people and churches to rediscover these practices in order that we can be more like Jesus. I’ve worked with Renovaré for all these years (and partnered with them in the development of this book series) because they know that following Christ goes beyond denomination, even beyond the latest church program, and gives us tools to discover the with-God life in the very fabric of our everyday lives.

You may not immediately recognize it, but the book you have just read is very much a part of what Renovaré is all about—it has the same DNA as Renovaré, if you will. So I hope you don’t stop here, because Renovaré—both as an organization and as a community of the most Christlike people I know—continues the conversation and the journey you have begun in this book. Come and walk with us.

He’ll use you to change the world.

Churches. Through a ministry of discipleship and formation, God can radically transform the way your church community lives and works and loves.

Like-minded leaders, organizations and thinkers. Collaborate with us to archive, engage and expand the field of Christian spiritual formation.

Students. Through an undergraduate degree track and second major in Christian spiritual formation, you can begin a serious life transformation through your college experience.

Begin an “apprentice” journey today.

For more information, contact the Aprentis Institute at 316.295.5519 or email Aprentis@friends.edu.