1. FORMAT

Seminar format is VERY flexible and is meant to serve your needs. Typically, we think in terms of about six hours and the most common version looks like this:

• Friday night teaching 1.5 to 2 hours
• 7:00-7:30 gather, welcome, and worship.
• 7:30-9:30 teaching time with a 15-minute cookie/coffee break
• Saturday morning teaching 2.5 hours
• 9:30-noon ‚ teaching time with a coffee/cookie break
• Lunch break

• Saturday afternoon OR evening teaching
• EITHER one session after lunch (e.g., 1:15 to 3) OR
• 7:30-9:00 p.m. evening service with some worship time (7:30-9:00)

• Sunday morning your regular length sermon

2. PREPARATION

• a. Prayer – We ask that the church put out a call to intercessors who would be interested in meeting a few times together to bathe the weekend in prayer, esp. for “hearing hearts.” We are surprised what a difference this makes.
• b. Leadership Involvement – We ask that the church leadership be on board and in unity about inviting me. We require a significant commitment by the pastoral / leadership team to personally attend the conference. I’d like them to be sure not to book over that weekend, since their presence will enable the church to sustain and nurture what’s been taught after I leave.
• c. Advertising – We ask that the church make an open invitation to the other churches in town. Significant unity comes through these conferences whenever the other churches show up. We’d like it if you could send out a bulletin insert and letter of invitation to as many as possible or reasonable. We encourage posters, bulletin inserts, etc.
• d. Books – We ask that you’d recruit a volunteer for the book table throughout the seminar. If the church would like to bulk order books at any time, there is a 25% discount.

3. EXPENSES

We do have a negotiable fee that we can discuss directly. We do ask that the church would cover the travel expenses (return flight) and promo from your own budget. Billeting is a good way to save on hotels or rental car costs. Feel free to book me for meals as you feel best. To cover conference costs, you can set registration prices and/or take love offerings. If you have me preach Sunday morning, if you choose to give a regular honorarium for that, it is welcome.

4. CONTENT

The content of the seminar is also flexible, but I am happy to cover anything from the books I’ve written, experiences I’ve had or things I’ve studied. Some common topics:

• “Listen Up” – material from Can You Hear Me? Teaching and activation in discerning God’s voice.
• “A More Christlike God” – material from A More Christlike God. 
• “Rivers from Eden” – Eden’s teachings on intimacy with God.
• “A More Christlike Way” – material from A More Christlike Way (book to be released 2019).
• “Out of the Embers” – exploring deconstruction to conserve authentic faith in a time of tumult.
• “Stricken by God?” – alternatives to penal substitutionary atonement.
• “Her Gates Will Never Be Shut” – material on “hopeful inclusion.”
• “The Meeting Place and Inner Healing” –  material from the healing sections of Can You Hear Me?
• “Releasing Burdens, Receiving Gifts” – Eden Jersak on managing the gifts and trials of burden-bearing.
• “The Seventh Fire” – a study on the Beatitudes and Sermon on the Mount as Jesus’ path to recovery of the true self.
• “Seeing Jesus in the Least of These” – based on Matthew 25
• “The Orthodox Way” – an Introduction to Eastern Orthodox beliefs and practice.