As most of you know, our second North American Gathering wrapped up this past Saturday, and it proved to be an amazing time of conversation, inspiration, and engagement on the most pressing matters facing the church in our time. Audio and video will be made available soon, so stay tuned! Also, check out the #TrulyHuman hashtag on Twitter and Facebook to see a sampling of the goodness.

One of our Presenters was Carolyn Custis James who leads an organization called Synergy. Synergy held a Sub-Gathering at the event this weekend, and Zondervan hosted a breakfast to launch Carolyn's new book Malestrom. Carolyn offers this reflection:

This event marked a leap forward for Synergy, as we officially joined forces with Missio Alliance. The conference theme was Being Truly Human: Re-imagining the Resurrectional Life. A big part of how Jesus' resurrection changes everything is how it transforms our relationships—including relationships between men and women.

We saw for ourselves that the Blessed Alliance of men and women serving God together is not a new idea to Missio. It isn't wistful thinking or all talk. Nor is it simply window dressing to give the impression of an alliance that doesn't truly exist.

Woman have been essential to Missio from the start—as leaders and participants. Everything about the conference breathed the fact that the Blessed Alliance is already in their DNA.

They want to do more.

With the addition of Synergy, Missio's intention to be a Blessed Alliance has taken on an even more deliberate form.

Twice(!) during the conference, Missio leadership held gatherings to hear ideas from women and men about how best to move forward. We were all heartened by what we experienced.

Read the rest of Carolyn's reflection here.

And look for more #TrulyHuman reflections here on the blog in the days ahead!

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[All photos via Carolyn Custis James]