Liminal 2026
Unhurried space to breathe, discern, and discover.
There’s a space between where you are and where you want to be. It’s disorienting. It’s also where everything worth knowing tends to show up.
A spiritual formation retreat for ministry leaders — held at Eagle Eyrie in Lynchburg, VA, October 26–30, 2026. Limited to 15 participants.
WHAT IS LIMINAL?
Liminal is a small, curated gathering built around one conviction: the most important work you’ll do this season might not be more work at all.
It’s not a conference. Not a workshop. Not a packed agenda. It’s five days of unhurried time — to breathe, to be honest, to lead from something deeper than momentum.
Five days. Fifteen people. One threshold to cross together.
IS THIS FOR YOU?
Liminal is for ministry leaders in the in-between — whether that’s a season of transition, the slow work of staying present, a growing sense that something needs to shift, or simply the desire for rhythms that hold.
- You’re ready to reconnect with what drew you to this work in the first place — and bring all of yourself back to it
- You’re ready for space that isn’t organized around your output
- You want honest community — not performance, not pretending
- You’re open to what surfaces when things quiet down
WHAT YOU’LL EXPERIENCE
Rest & Reflect
Unplug from the daily current long enough to hear what God has been trying to say. Stillness has something for you.
Honest Conversation
Find your people. Leaders who carry what you carry, who won’t ask you to pretend otherwise. Community that actually goes somewhere.
Framework for Awareness
Learn from leaders who have been in the hard middle and found their way through — not with easy answers, but with hard-won perspective.
Fresh Imagination
Whether you’re staying with renewed energy or discerning something new, you won’t leave the same way you arrived. Clarity has a way of finding you when you finally stop outrunning it.
Room to Play
Each afternoon is yours. Eagle Eyrie sits in the foothills of the Blue Ridge — there’s water, trails, and open sky. Some participants hike. Some sit outside and read. Some do nothing at all. Unstructured time turns out to be one of the more formative parts of the retreat.
A NOTE ON SIZE
Fifteen participants. That’s not a limitation — it’s the whole point. A room where everyone can be known, without judgment, without having to manage how they’re perceived. We keep it small because that’s what makes it work.
From a past participant:
“Missio Alliance has thoughtfully created a rich and unique opportunity that provides both the rest and challenge needed for leaving refreshed and reorientated for ministry”
Retreat Speakers & Leaders
Lisa Rodriguez-Watson desires to see all people reconciled to God and to each other. Investing in this passionate call for more than two decades has led Lisa to urban church planting, international missions and community development, immigration advocacy, collegiate ministry, and seminary teaching. She now serves as the national director of Missio Alliance, a generative, expansive, and intercultural network of Christian leaders committed to cultivating a holistic theology and practice while tackling some of the most pressing issues facing the church. In addition to her work with Missio Alliance, Lisa serves as associate pastor of discipleship and equipping at Christ City Church. A proud Cuban-American, Lisa writes, speaks and leads at the intersection of formation, justice and mission. She is a contributing author to Voices of Lament: Reflections on Brokenness and Hope in a World Longing for Justice, Red Skies: 10 Essential Conversations Exploring Our Future as the Church, and The Least of These: Practicing a Faith without Margins. She lives in Washington, DC with her husband and three kids.
Justin P. Heap partners with the National Director in honing the overall vision and strategy with a specific focus on leading innovation and growth within the content & resource development dimensions of our ministry; he’s passionate about helping provide creative strategy and direction for all Missio’s platforms, channels, and gatherings.
Justin also serves as Teaching Pastor at Real Life Fellowship and is the Founder of Nine Spaces where he helps support leaders, artists, and spiritual directors through integrated listening sessions at the intersection of creativity, enneagram, and professional development.He also runs an Independent Creative Agency, justinpheap.co, and is the Co-Founder and Creative Director of Pax Coworking Studio, where he enjoys helping shape the future of work, community, and technology.Justin is a passionate and lifelong learner, with degrees and certifications in psychology, photography, systems thinking, and the enneagram. His writing has been featured with Relevant Magazine, Fatherly, Church Leadership Center, Sunday U, and is the author of a book of poetry, By & By & Never. He loves all the adventures of family life and currently lives in Holland, MI.
Sarah Schepens loves to create spaces where people can connect, grow and learn about the world and themselves. She is a third-culture individual who was raised overseas, which also instilled a deep love for the study of people and culture. A graduate of Alliance Theological Seminary with a MA in Intercultural Studies, she has traveled to over 30 countries, and has lived on four continents, calling France, the Middle East, Ecuador and Thailand her home for different amounts of time.Sarah is a certified Cultural Intelligence and Unconscious Bias Trainer from the Cultural Intelligence Center. She currently lives in the beautiful state of Colorado, manages operations for another small non-profit and is enjoying all the hiking and outside opportunities the state has to offer.
Register Now – Limited to 15 Participants
**Ticket includes all meals and single room lodging for 4 nights/5 days. Transportation to and from location not included.