Each year CBF’s peer learning group staff hosts a breakfast for PLG conveners and for anyone else who supports the work of these clergy cohorts. This time of food, fellowship, learning, and encouragement is always a highlight of General Assembly for me. This year well-known author, presenter, and public theologian Brian McLaren will be keynote speaker for this event, which will be held from 7:30 – 9:00 am on June 29 in Regency Ballroom V of the Hyatt Regency Atlanta. Here are the top eight reasons I am looking forward to this gathering:

8. Filling my belly with sustenance before a day of worship and workshops. The food is always delicious and plentiful, and no one needs to attend General Assembly hangry.

7. Mingling with people who are invested in spiritual formation of those they minister alongside. PLG conveners are some of the most innovative, compassionate, tuned-in people I know.

6. Checking out this year’s peer learning group swag. I’m still using notepads, pens, cups, and cooler bags from previous years!

5. Learning about how one peer learning group has leveraged CBF’s financial literacy grant. A representative will share briefly about how that funding – available to all PLGs – helped its members plan for debt reduction, retirement, emergency savings, and clergy taxes.

4. Listening to a world-renowned church leader’s take on the value of clergy connections. I’m willing to bet Brian McLaren didn’t get where he is without a little help from his friends.

3. Having the chance to pose a question to said world-renowned church leader. An opportunity like this doesn’t roll around every day.

2. Hearing how peer learning groups are helping participants flourish in ministry. PLGs – and the staff that supports them – up their game when they exchange ideas and best practices.

1. Blessing peer learning group conveners in their important roles as leaders among colleagues. May our conveners be commissioned for another year of facilitating mutual learning and support, and in the process, clergy and church health.

This breakfast is open to any and all General Assembly attendees! Tickets are $20 for PLG conveners and $25 for others. You can sign up when you register for General Assembly.

If you are already registered, you can RSVP by modifying your existing registration. Online registration ends today (June 6)! Or, you can contact Betsy Young at CBF Global (770.220.1605) to make a reservation by phone through June 21.

If you are not familiar with Brian McLaren’s work, check out some of his books, such as A Generous Orthodoxy, which calls for a Christ-centered expression of faith that is missionally-minded; We Make the Road by Walking, a fresh overview of the biblical story broken into weekly reflections; Everything Must Change, a provocative look at Jesus’ teachings and their applications for our personal and social holiness; and The Great Spiritual Migration, an analysis of the seismic culture shift happening within the church. McLaren will be delivering the message at General Assembly worship that evening. The PLG breakfast is your opportunity not just to hear from him in a more intimate setting, but also to participate in a question and answer session with him.

Your CBF PLG staff hopes to see you in Atlanta.

Laura Stephens-Reed is Peer Learning Group Regional Director for Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina.