Flying into the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia is special. Dropping down from 30,000 feet over the mountains, the landscape opening up below is a surprise the first time. There are limited options for an approach. I’ve always landed from the north. It’s a bit like threading a geographical needle between small mountains; Okanagan Lake off to the right. So much beauty. And possibility. And lots of VP3 friends.
My first VantagePoint3 work assignment on the road was to Kelowna in February 2013. Randy Reese wanted me to meet friends of our ministry. My task was also to celebrate and honor The Journey process alumni in the area.
The VP3 2026 Gathering at Green Bay Camp, October 5-7 on Okanagan Lake, is an opportunity to again convene our many friends in the area and to express VP3’s deep desire to both learn and encourage a more relational way of life and ministry with God and others.
“It is in close relationships with others where we begin to see how Christ is actually, specifically, beautifully active in the fabric of our everyday lives.”
Extending the Leadership Table
More than a year ago, VP3 President and my friend and colleague, Rob Loane, and I decided we wanted to extend the leadership table for this event. We invited Jim Matthias in Indianapolis and Dr. Sandy Shier in Kelowna to join the facilitating team. We also depended on Board Member Wendy Delcourt for almost every organizing decision. Garth Walker, long-time ambassador of VP3 and veteran group facilitator in the Kelowna area, provided wise consultation.
We came around virtual tables many times to craft and consider catalysts and barriers to our formation in Christ.
And you know what?
Ends up working with others is messy. It takes more time, more coordinating, more listening, more stretching, more give and take.
For Rob and me, we got to know Jim and Sandy more deeply. We got to understand much more about the demands and context of their actual lives and families. Their churches. Their schedules. Their giftedness. Their ideas and working styles. What they care about. The prayers of their day.
For me, I’m used to working with Rob. He knows me. We’ve written and led together for years. We know each other’s sweet spots and clunky ways. But “letting Jim in” was new. Would Jim still like me once he discovered that I’m not all that organized? Would he tolerate my wishy-washy discovery process for leading a session? Would he still like us?
Sharing the table of preparation evolved. Our kinship was a discovery process. Every hour was not over-the-moon satisfying, but it WAS good. Because we were doing it together. Laughing. Telling stories. Wasting time. And we can’t wait to close the virtual gap and actually be together, offering our collective best. We want to be together. We are friends.
Our experience is one we hope you will consider in your day-to-day relationships and opportunities. In community, what more could be explored, revealed, developed? How could we each be stretched and formed by others? Particularly those who are different from us? Who could we bring along?
A Laboratory for Community and Connection
At home, or away in the Okanagan Valley, our heart is to create a laboratory for community and connection. Our hope is to cultivate and model a healthy relational ecology for growth and formation. We seek to place our walking-around-life before God as an offering and invitation to the mystery and grace of God with us.
I look forward to being with many of you soon…choose a window seat!
- Where might you be sensing an invitation to include others?
- In your walking-around-life, what relationship(s) is not always over-the-moon, but it IS GOOD? And you are grateful for it…
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Pamela Edwards, PhD, serves VantagePoint3 Ministries by thinking about best practices for Adult Learning and Growth, with a particular eye on developmentally minded leaders. She co-authored A Mentoring Guide: Christ. Conversation. Companionship (VP3, 2019), as well as the recently refreshed Journey process.
Pam and her husband, Teryl, have been married 40 years. They have three adult children and 12 grandchildren, which includes two sets of identical twins! Pam loves a good long walk/hike and looks forward to having and hosting meaningful conversations.