Hang'n with my NewThing buds

I'm up in Naperville, Ill. with one of Encounter's elders, Rob Dubois, @ the NewThing lead pastor gathering. This pic is of Dave Fergusen, Lead Pastor of Community Christian Church, welcoming us and setting the tone for our gathering. We get together twice a year to connect relationally, re-align ourselves with the mission of multiplying churches and to meet in our smaller networks for friendship and accountability. There are six other churches in my network. They are as far away as California and as close as Cleveland. Monthly we have a conference call to celebrate ministry wins and to pray for struggles we're going through.
It was Rob's first time to be around these folks and I think it was a really great experience for him. The only elder left to get up here is Luke Fields. Watchout Luke, I'm coming after you:-)