Three new teams, Henson Chapel UMC – Gonzales, Evans Chapel UMC – Gonzales, and Trinity UMC – San Antonio will come together in February to begin their learning journey in preparing to engage their communities for transformation. The Transformational Communities of Praxis [TCOP] www.tcopraxis.org program, now beginning its’ 4th year, will convene the teams at the conference center for three intensive learning sessions in February, May, and October.

During these sessions, participants will garner community engagement skills to enhance and nuance their current connections and relationships with the communities they serve. Utilizing the skills learned, in October, the teams will host respective community convening events each inviting church members, neighbors, and community stakeholders to envision how they can work together for long-term sustainable change and community transformation. 

The overall outcomes of the TCOP program are: a team prepared to lead the church to be missional in the context served, cultivating a mindset shift from scarcity to abundance, developing new relationships with neighbors and other community stakeholders, cultivating new practices for leading and innovating, creating a plan of action for seeking the shalom of the community, and the 2020 team becoming part of a greater community making the same journey.

The TCOP class of 2020 will have opportunity to connect with regional / national community development conferences as well as cultivate a micro-project beneficial in the development of their communities. The Praxis development team will accompany each team in their developments through out the year and beyond. The teams also now become part of the growing community development network within the conference and beyond.