Renovaré
Encyclopedia
Renovaré is a Christian
non-profit organization
dedicated to helping individuals and churches to grow in Christlikeness by engaging in intentional Christian spiritual formation
. Renovaré encourages people to develop a balanced vision of Christian faith and witness which draws on the experience of the whole church - across all denominations, and throughout Christian history - and to develop that into a practical strategy for spiritual growth drawing on the classical spiritual disciplines, such as prayer
, Bible reading
, worship
, meditation
, fasting
, and silence
. The ministry is international in scope (with expressions in the USA
, Britain
and Ireland
, Korea
, and Brazil
) and ecumenical in character; Renovaré's Ministry Team draws together members of a wide variety of Christian denominations, including Anglican, Baptist
, Church of God
, Lutheran, Methodist, Roman Catholic, Presbyterian, and Quaker.
theologian
Richard J. Foster in 1988. After publishing Celebration of Discipline (ISBN 0060628391) in 1978, Foster was invited to a number of churches and conferences to speak on Christian spiritual formation and spiritual disciplines. He was encouraged by people's interest in the subject, but concerned at an apparent lack of substantive teaching in the area (particularly in Evangelical
churches in the USA). In the Fall of 1986 he withdrew from public ministry to explore how a more systematic and intentional renewal movement might be formed. This led to the foundation of Renovaré in November 1988.
Over the following years, Renovaré held a number of conferences about spiritual formation around the United States. In 1994 the ministry relocated its offices from Friends University
in Wichita, Kansas
(where Richard had been teaching) to Denver, Colorado
. International expressions began to emerge in 2002, with the founding of Renovaré Britain and Ireland; this was followed in with the establishment of Renovaré Korea in 2004, and Renovaré Brazil in 2008. In the summer of 2008, Richard Foster retired as President of Renovaré (although remaining a member of the Board and Ministry Team), and Christopher Webb (an Anglican Franciscan
, and member of the Board of Renovaré Britain & Ireland) was appointed to take up the role.
A fourth International Conference is scheduled for 21-24 June, 2009, at the Municipal Auditorium in San Antonio, TX. The conference will focus on Eugene Peterson's book The Jesus Way (ISBN 080282949X).
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
non-profit organization
Non-profit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...
dedicated to helping individuals and churches to grow in Christlikeness by engaging in intentional Christian spiritual formation
Spiritual formation
Spiritual formation is the growth and development of the whole person by an intentional focus on one’s* spiritual and interior life* interactions with others in ordinary life...
. Renovaré encourages people to develop a balanced vision of Christian faith and witness which draws on the experience of the whole church - across all denominations, and throughout Christian history - and to develop that into a practical strategy for spiritual growth drawing on the classical spiritual disciplines, such as prayer
Prayer
Prayer is a form of religious practice that seeks to activate a volitional rapport to a deity through deliberate practice. Prayer may be either individual or communal and take place in public or in private. It may involve the use of words or song. When language is used, prayer may take the form of...
, Bible reading
Bible study (Christian)
In Christianity, Bible study is the study of the Bible by ordinary people as a personal religious or spiritual practice. Some denominations may call this devotion or devotional acts; however in other denominations devotion has other meanings...
, worship
Worship
Worship is an act of religious devotion usually directed towards a deity. The word is derived from the Old English worthscipe, meaning worthiness or worth-ship — to give, at its simplest, worth to something, for example, Christian worship.Evelyn Underhill defines worship thus: "The absolute...
, meditation
Meditation
Meditation is any form of a family of practices in which practitioners train their minds or self-induce a mode of consciousness to realize some benefit....
, fasting
Fasting
Fasting is primarily the act of willingly abstaining from some or all food, drink, or both, for a period of time. An absolute fast is normally defined as abstinence from all food and liquid for a defined period, usually a single day , or several days. Other fasts may be only partially restrictive,...
, and silence
Silence
Silence is the relative or total lack of audible sound. By analogy, the word silence may also refer to any absence of communication, even in media other than speech....
. The ministry is international in scope (with expressions in the USA
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
and Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
, and Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
) and ecumenical in character; Renovaré's Ministry Team draws together members of a wide variety of Christian denominations, including Anglican, Baptist
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
, Church of God
Church of God
Church of God is a name used by numerous, mostly unrelated Christian denominational bodies, most of which descend from either Pentecostal/Holiness or Adventist traditions.-Pentecostal Movement:*Church of God...
, Lutheran, Methodist, Roman Catholic, Presbyterian, and Quaker.
Purpose statement
Renovaré is a nonprofit Christian organization headquartered in Englewood, ColoradoEnglewood, ColoradoThe city of Englewood is a Home Rule Municipality located in Arapahoe County, Colorado, United States. As of 2007, the city is estimated to have a total population of 32,532. Englewood is part of the Denver-Aurora Metropolitan Area. Englewood is located in the South Platte River Valley east of the...
, and active worldwide. We seek to resource, fuel, model, and advocate more intentional living and spiritual formationSpiritual formationSpiritual formation is the growth and development of the whole person by an intentional focus on one’s* spiritual and interior life* interactions with others in ordinary life...
among Christians and those wanting a deeper connection with God. A foundational presence in the spiritual formation movement for over 20 years, Renovaré is Christian in commitment, ecumenical in breadth, and international in scope.
History
Renovaré was founded by QuakerReligious Society of Friends
The Religious Society of Friends, or Friends Church, is a Christian movement which stresses the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers. Members are known as Friends, or popularly as Quakers. It is made of independent organisations, which have split from one another due to doctrinal differences...
theologian
Christian theology
- Divisions of Christian theology :There are many methods of categorizing different approaches to Christian theology. For a historical analysis, see the main article on the History of Christian theology.- Sub-disciplines :...
Richard J. Foster in 1988. After publishing Celebration of Discipline (ISBN 0060628391) in 1978, Foster was invited to a number of churches and conferences to speak on Christian spiritual formation and spiritual disciplines. He was encouraged by people's interest in the subject, but concerned at an apparent lack of substantive teaching in the area (particularly in Evangelical
Evangelicalism
Evangelicalism is a Protestant Christian movement which began in Great Britain in the 1730s and gained popularity in the United States during the series of Great Awakenings of the 18th and 19th century.Its key commitments are:...
churches in the USA). In the Fall of 1986 he withdrew from public ministry to explore how a more systematic and intentional renewal movement might be formed. This led to the foundation of Renovaré in November 1988.
Over the following years, Renovaré held a number of conferences about spiritual formation around the United States. In 1994 the ministry relocated its offices from Friends University
Friends University
Friends University is a private non-denominational Christian university in Wichita, Kansas.Friends University was founded in 1898. The main building was originally built in 1886 for Garfield University, but was donated in 1898 to the Religious Society of Friends by James Davis, a St. Louis...
in Wichita, Kansas
Wichita, Kansas
Wichita is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas.As of the 2010 census, the city population was 382,368. Located in south-central Kansas on the Arkansas River, Wichita is the county seat of Sedgwick County and the principal city of the Wichita metropolitan area...
(where Richard had been teaching) to Denver, Colorado
Denver, Colorado
The City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...
. International expressions began to emerge in 2002, with the founding of Renovaré Britain and Ireland; this was followed in with the establishment of Renovaré Korea in 2004, and Renovaré Brazil in 2008. In the summer of 2008, Richard Foster retired as President of Renovaré (although remaining a member of the Board and Ministry Team), and Christopher Webb (an Anglican Franciscan
Franciscan
Most Franciscans are members of Roman Catholic religious orders founded by Saint Francis of Assisi. Besides Roman Catholic communities, there are also Old Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, ecumenical and Non-denominational Franciscan communities....
, and member of the Board of Renovaré Britain & Ireland) was appointed to take up the role.
International Conferences
In addition to hundreds of local and regional conferences around the USA, Renovaré has held a series of International Conferences, attended by delegates from around the world:- 1991: Lake Avenue Congregational Church, Pasadena, CA
- 1999: George Brown Convention Center, Houston, TX (focusing on Dallas WillardDallas WillardDallas Albert Willard is an American philosophy professor and author born in Buffalo, Missouri. His work in philosophy has been primarily in phenomenology, particularly the work of Edmund Husserl...
's book The Divine Conspiracy [ISBN 0060693339]) - 2005: Adams Mark Hotel, Denver, CO (focusing on the Renovaré Spiritual Formation Bible [ISBN 0060671076])
A fourth International Conference is scheduled for 21-24 June, 2009, at the Municipal Auditorium in San Antonio, TX. The conference will focus on Eugene Peterson's book The Jesus Way (ISBN 080282949X).
External links
- Renovaré USA official site
- Renovaré Britain & Ireland official site
- Renovaré Korea official site
- Renovaré Brazil official site
- Christianity Today interview with Richard Foster and Dallas Willard: Part 1 - Renovaré and Discipleship
- Christianity Today interview with Richard Foster and Dallas Willard: Part 2 - The Renovaré Study Bible
- Video presentation by Richard Foster on the spiritual disciplines
- GotQuestions.org Article, retrieved June 2011.
- Renovaré Teachings and Practices that Contradict Scripture (PDFPortable Document FormatPortable Document Format is an open standard for document exchange. This file format, created by Adobe Systems in 1993, is used for representing documents in a manner independent of application software, hardware, and operating systems....
), Davis and Davis, Feb 2010, posted at whateverispure.org, retrieved Oct 2011.