EVENT
Missional Entrepreneurship Immersion
Cultivating the Capacity for Faithful Innovation
Ridgetop Coffee and Tea
Sterling, VA
January 27-29, 2027
THE CHURCH IS ENTERING A NEW MISSIONARY MOMENT.
Many of the assumptions that shaped ministry for generations no longer hold. Buildings sit underutilized while communities long for places of belonging. Financial models built for another era are becoming increasingly fragile. Programs that once drew people no longer connect in the same ways.
Many congregations recognize the need for change.
Far fewer know how to get there.
Launching a missional business or social enterprise isn't primarily a question of strategy. It's a question of imagination, leadership, and culture. Before a congregation can create something new, it must learn to see differently, steward differently, and relate to its neighbors differently.
That kind of transformation doesn't magically happen during a brainstorming session. It requires leadership that can disrupt familiar patterns without destroying trust, congregations willing to trust God into the possibilities, and perseverance to move faithfully through uncertainty while bringing others along.
That's the conversation for this year’s Missional Entrepreneurship Immersion.
What You'll Experience
Hear from leaders who have led their congregations into significant missional initiatives throughout the last 2 years. So, the lessons are fresh and the stories are real.
Get coaching that will take you from thinking about what you’ve heard to activating the concepts based on your congregation’s starting point.
Explore practical skills and key questions that will be necessary for your congregation’s entrepreneurial turn.
Encounter vulnerable stories of pivot points and holy surprises.
Find talking partners to spur ideas, wrestle with questions, and infuse you with hope.
At this event, you can expect to explore these kinds of questions:
- How do we stop thinking like landlords and start thinking like missionaries?
- How do we honor our congregation while disrupting its instincts?
- How do we leverage assets we've been given for the sake of God's mission?
- How do we create new revenue without losing our soul?
- How do we lead people into a future they can't yet imagine?
who is this event for?
- Church teams in the early stages or the messy middle of a missional turn
- Pastors or church leaders curious about missional entrepreneurship and wanting to learn more
- Congregational leaders looking at how to better leverage their facility
- Denominational leaders seeking to develop missional strategies around impending church closures and underutilized real estate
Do i come alone or bring a team?
Either is welcome—and both can be powerful. Come on your own if you’re the person who is beginning to see new possibilities for your congregation and need space, perspective, and practical tools to explore what might be possible. Or bring a team and use the experience to build shared imagination and broader buy-in for an entrepreneurial or missional vision. Experiencing the gathering together gives your team a common language, exposes you to the same stories and practices, and creates space to begin discerning what a missional turn could look like in your own setting. Teams of three or more receive an additional two-hour deep coaching session focused specifically on your congregation or context (and lunch is provided) at the conclusion of the gathering.
Location: Ridgetop Coffee and Tea (Riverside Presbyterian Church)
Ridgetop Coffee and Tea is a bustling missional coffeeshop at the intersection of daily life in suburban Virginia, just outside Washington, DC. Not only do they have great coffee, you will get a real time experience of what it looks like when the mission and the marketplace intersect.
While there are several airports that service the Washington DC area, Washington-Dulles (IAD) is the closest airport to the venue, only a 15 minute drive from IAD to Sterling, VA.
Hotel rooms are available at the Hyatt Place/Dulles-North (21481 Ridgetop Cir, Sterling, VA) a short walk from Ridgetop Coffee and Tea with an airport shuttle and plenty of parking available.
(Please note that lodging and transportation are not part of the registration fee. Participants will make their own travel arrangements.)
LEADERS AND PANELISTS
Edwin Andrade
Edwin serves as lead pastor of Riverside Presbyterian Church in Sterling, VA, and has been one of the key visionaries helping to shape the entrepreneurial landscape of the church’s missional facility. He was the organizing pastor of Nueva Rivera (now part of Riverside Church) and has started several innovative missional initiatives, including Lunch for the Soul, a fresh expression of church with day laborers.
Carlin Beekman
Carlin serves as a Vice President for Foundry’s Brokerage Services team. She specializes in serving churches, denominations and non-profit entities. Carlin focuses on assisting our mission-minded partners in making informed decisions around the properties they have been entrusted with. She is passionate about helping organizations leverage their real estate for Kingdom purposes and helping them develop creative strategies around property utilization.
Amy Carlson
Amy serves as Pastor of Mount Hebron Presbyterian Church in Ellicott City, Maryland. Through the Missional Incubator process, Amy and the congregation have been exploring new ways to share their ten-acre property and serve as the church in and alongside their neighborhood. Along the way, there have been plenty of pivots—including the emerging vision for The Neighborhood Table, a welcoming space where neighbors can gather, enjoy the grounds, and share a slice of pizza. Amy has learned that changing course does not mean losing sight of the mission, and she is excited to reflect on what unexpected turns can teach us about faithful leadership.
Brian Clark
Brian serves as Director of the Missional Incubator for National Capital Presbytery, after a long tenure as organizing pastor and co-pastor of Riverside Presbyterian Church. Brian was a key visionary for a missional facility that would serve the community, not just the congregation. Brian helped the Riverside congregation to enter into a business partnership, resulting in Ridgetop Coffee and Tea and a leasing space that provides ongoing income to the church’s mission budget.
Jesse Colon
Jesse is a highly gifted worship leader, as well as high school ministry director, at Riverside Presbyterian Church. His portfolio has also included, in different seasons, leadership in the coffee shop, and he is a familiar face to the patrons and staff. Jesse is a natural connector, whether through the coffee shop, local mission and partnerships, or volunteering in the wider community.
Cristin Cooper
Cristin is the founder of Coop’s Soups, a soup business and community-driven initiative that uses the simple act of making soup to build connections, fight loneliness, and express compassion. What began with a humble bowl of soup has become a creative way of bringing people together, creating space for meaningful connection, and meeting a deeply human need to be seen, welcomed, and cared for. Through Coop’s Soups, Cristin is exploring how something as ordinary as sharing food can become a catalyst for belonging and a tangible expression of love for neighbor.
DeEtte Decker
DeEtte Decker serves as Coordinator for the Office of Innovation, Futuring and Discernment in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), helping congregations and ministry leaders navigate change with imagination, curiosity, and courage. With more than 20 years of ministry experience, DeEtte creates spaces where leaders question assumptions, notice what is emerging, and turn promising possibilities into small, learnable experiments. A certified strategic foresight practitioner, she brings the practices of innovation and futures thinking into conversation with the church’s deeper practices of discernment, imagination, and hope. She is passionate about helping communities of faith move beyond maintaining what has been and discover what God might be inviting them to experiment into next.
Daniel Eagan
Daniel is the Manager of Ridgetop Coffee and Tea, and is deeply passionate about the mission and ministry that can happen in the midst of hospitality. As the former director of student ministry at Riverside, Daniel leans into his gifts of mentorship and mission engagement to foster an environment where staff can grow and patrons experience radical hospitality.
Josh Hayden
Josh finds great joy in empowering organizations to live on mission in order to live out their mission. Josh has over 20 years in organizational leadership and has worked and led in non-profit, church plant, and established church settings. Josh is the author of Sacred Hope and Remissioning Church: A Field Guide for Bringing a Congregation Back to Life and the co-founder of Iwa Collaborative. Alongside the writing and teaching, Josh continues to serve a long tenure as Senior Pastor of First Baptist Church, Ashland VA. Josh has a unique focus on helping remission established churches and organizations so that they can navigate change with purpose.
Diane Hendricks
Diane is pastor of Clifton Presbyterian Church, where she is helping the congregation imagine new possibilities for its property and its presence in the community. Under Diane’s leadership, the church is transforming its former pastor housing into A Landing Place, a day community serving adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The initiative emerged through a robust process of congregational discernment, inviting the church to listen deeply, ask courageous questions, and discover together how its resources might serve a greater purpose. Diane’s leadership has helped cultivate genuine ownership and enthusiasm for this emerging missional initiative.
Christopher Holland
Chris is the Co-founder and COO of Connexus Technology, a technology consulting firm, where he has delivered innovative solutions and strategic insights to businesses across industries. As the Executive Director of The Common Place, Chris leads a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering children and families in Southwest Philadelphia. He also serves as the Executive Pastor of Salt and Light blending spiritual leadership with practical solutions for community transformation.
Jeff Hulett
Jeff is the Founder and President of Personal Finance Reimagined, a decision-making and financial education platform. PFR specializes in start-up business incubation. Jeff is a faculty member at James Madison University, teaching Behavioral Personal Finance. Jeff’s background includes a 30-year career in banking and behavioral economics. He has held leadership roles at Citibank, Wells Fargo, KPMG, and IBM.
Shannon Kiser
Shannon serves as Senior Director of Fresh Expressions North America. She leads a team of mission strategists and trainers to equip leaders and develop strategies for mission innovation and new forms of Christian community. She is on the pastoral staff of Riverside Presbyterian Church in Sterling, VA, and is the author of “Opening Space: A Vision for Fresh Expressions of Church and Creative Mission.”
John Molina-Moore
John has served as General Presbyter of National Capital Presbytery since May 2019. Before stepping into this role, he pastored congregations in Washington, D.C., and Wilmington, Delaware. John earned his bachelor’s degree in Communications from Sterling College and a Master of Divinity from Princeton Theological Seminary. In 2017, he completed a Certificate in Advanced Executive Leadership for Ministers at Howard University. John is passionate about innovative ministry and helping the church connect with new people and communities.
Casey Thompson
Casey is the pastor of two small congregations, Idylwood Presbyterian Church and Knox Presbyterian Church, where he is helping congregations reimagine how they can serve and bless their communities. At Idylwood, Casey has helped cultivate Idylwood Studios, a creative space where artists make and exhibit their work while bringing people together through experiences centered around art. At Knox, he is leading a vision to expand the congregation’s preschool so it can serve families across a broader socio-economic spectrum. Casey’s gift for casting a hope-filled vision and inviting others to invest in that vision has helped generate significant support for this initiative. Previously, Casey served as pastor of Wayne Presbyterian Church, a large suburban congregation, where he led the church in founding The Common Place, a nonprofit educational outreach center serving Southwest Philadelphia. Across both large and small congregational contexts, Casey exhibits a passion for binging congregations and donors together to foster places of connection, compassion, and human flourishing.
Casey Wait
Casey is an artist and pastor, serving John Calvin Presbyterian Church while also exploring the world through painting and other creative practices. For Casey, art and ministry are not separate callings. Her work as an artist deepens the questions she brings to pastoral ministry, while her life as a pastor continually shapes the way she sees, creates, and engages the world. Through her painting, she invites viewers into deeper conversation about the world around us, the beauty and complexity of ordinary life, and what it means to share this human experience. Casey is currently in the “messy middle” of developing The Community Studio at John Calvin Presbyterian—a new initiative exploring what can happen when a church creates space for artists, creativity, and community to flourish together.
Location
Ridgetop Coffee and Tea
21631 Ridgetop Cir
Ste 100
Sterling, VA 20166
Meals
Meals will be catered by Ridgetop Coffee and Tea. Menu plans take into consideration a variety of dietary restrictions.
Agenda
JANUARY 27-29, 2027
January 27
3:00 PM Registration and Light Snacks, Optional Tour of the Missional Facility
4:00 PM Why This Conversation and Why Now? Recognizing the Moment We're In (Brian Clark, Shannon Kiser and John Molina-Moore)
The landscape around the church is changing and many of the assumptions that once made church facilities effective ministry center-points are shifting. In this opening conversation, we’ll name the cultural, financial, and congregational realities creating both urgency and opportunity. Together, we’llconsider why this may be a moment for bold imagination, faithful disruption, and new ways of stewarding what God has entrusted to us.
4:30 PM Coaching Group: Start with What You Have
What is your starting place? What do you have? What do you notice? What stirs your curiosity?
5:00 PM Worship and Keynote (Jesse Colon)
It’s All About Relationships: Reorienting ourselves before we reimagine our ministry (Josh Hayden)
Before we change what we do, we may need to change how we see. Missional innovation begins with relationships—with God, with our neighbors, and with the people God may be putting in our path for this next season. This keynote explores the postures that can help us move from managing a one day a week facility to inhabiting a web of relational connection.
5:45 PM Reflection Time: Reflecting, Writing, Praying
6:00 PM Dinner
6:50 PM Panel: Pivots (Daniel Eagan, Amy Carlson, Chris Holland)
Every meaningful missional initiative has moments when the original idea no longer fits reality. Hear from leaders who have learned to recognize those moments, respond to what they discovered, and change course without losing sight of the mission. This honest conversation will explore what makes a pivot possible and what leaders learn when things don't go according to plan.
7:20 PM Coaching Group and Dessert
7:35 PM Stories: "A Pivotal Moment" (Campbell Hackett, Casey Thompson)
8:00 PM Wrap Up The Day (Brian Clark, Shannon Kiser and John Molina-Moore)
January 28
9:00 AM Worship and Keynote (Jesse Colon)
Reorienting Our Churches: Characteristics of Congregational Readiness (Christopher Holland)
A good idea is not enough. Congregations have patterns, histories, assets, fears, and deeply held assumptions that shape what they are able, and willing, to do. This keynote explores the characteristics that help a church become ready for faithful innovation.
9:45 AM Interactive Table Discussion: Three States of Readiness
10:15 AM Coffee and Tea Break
10:30 AM Panel: The Messy Middle (Cristin Cooper, Casey Wait, Josh Hayden, Edwin Andrade)
There is the exciting moment when a new possibility emerges—and then there is everything that comes after. The messy middle is where vision meets resistance, resources get stretched, experiments don'twork, and leaders wonder whether they should keep going. Practitioners who have lived through it will share what they discovered about persistence, adaptation, failure, and faith along the way.
11:00 AM Stories: "The Messy Middle" (Amanda Brady-Vella, J C Cadwalladar)
11:30 AM Coaching Groups
12:15 PM Lunch
1:00 PM Breakouts: The Practical Middle
Choosing the Right Model: Profit vs. Non-Profit (Jeff Huelett)
All healthy organizations must bring in more money than they spend. If an organization operates at a net-zero or a loss year after year, it dies. It doesn't matter if it sells software or feeds the homeless. The true difference between the two models isn't whether they make a profit; it’s what they are legally required to do with it and how it is taxed. How does your organization need to structure to best fulfill the mission before you?
Making the Money Work: Finances and funding (Casey Thompson)
God provides, but sometimes we need to ask. God provides, but sometimes we need to get into the boat and fish. This breakout will explore ways to establish a sustainable ministry by engaging donors, partners, clients, or investors in ways that are full of integrity, honesty, and transparency.
Missional Entrepreneurship 101: Toolkit for Getting Started (Brian Clark)
The thought of starting a missional compelling business or social enterprise can be overwhelming and paralyzing. This breakout will look at the small steps needed to get started on the journey. We will embrace that every journey starts off with a first step. What are some first steps that might begin your missional journey?
Building the Team: Finding the people who can help carry the vision (Diane Walton Hendricks)
There is a huge difference between being an entrepreneur with a great idea and an entrepreneur with a great idea who can bring others along to make that idea a reality. How do you build a team, especially in a traditional church? How do you find, recruit, engage people within your organization and outside of your organization who you need for your team?
Intentional Conversations: Discerning Possibilities Through People (Casey Wait)
We will explore the power and impact of intentional conversation to form and inform missional enterprises. God is already at work in your community; how do you develop the eyes to see the people God has already placed in your community and ears to hear what the community desires.
Repurposing Property: Leveraging Buildings and Property for Mission (Carlin Beekman)
Explore the practical, financial, and theological dimensions of real estate decisions in missional ventures. Whether you’re stewarding inherited property, seeking new space, or reimagining use for your community, this session offers expert insight on zoning, valuation, risk, partnership, and strategic redevelopment.
Possibility to Practice: Imagine. Experiment. Discover. (DeEtte Decker)
Imagination isn’t frivolous, it’s faithful and the first step toward innovation. In this interactive workshop, we’ll look beyond familiar ministry models through playful exercises, meaningful conversation, and practical tools. Together, we’ll explore how imagination opens new possibilities and how small experiments help us test, learn, and discover what might emerge. When imagination and experimentation work together, they help us take faithful steps toward what could be.
2:00 PM Break
2:30 PM Breakouts: The Practical Middle (repeated)
3:30 PM Break and Conversations
5:30 PM Dinner
6:30 PM Worship and Stories: "Holy Interruptions" (Storytellers TBD)
Missional entrepreneurship is fueled by what God can do in and through us—but we rarely know exactly how God will move. As we pray, trust, and pay attention, we begin to notice divine appointments and unexpected moments that interrupt our plans and open us to something more than we could have imagined. This time of worship invites us to slow down, listen for God’s leading, and cultivate the courage to embrace holy interruptions as part of the way God brings a dream to life.
January 29
9:00 AM Worship and Keynote (Jesse Colon)
Leading Through the Pivots: The leadership needed for faithful innovation (Josh Hayden)
Missional innovation requires more than entrepreneurial ideas; it requires a different kind of leadership.This keynote explores the capacity to lead when the path is uncertain, the congregation is anxious, and the next step is discovered through experimentation. We’ll consider how leaders can create enough trust to disrupt familiar patterns while remaining rooted in the mission and purpose of the church.
10:00 AM Coaching Groups: Insight and Action
What have you seen differently? What has become clearer? What is calling for your attention?
10:30 AM Break
10:45 AM Wrap Up and Next Steps (Brian Clark, Shannon Kiser and John Molina-Moore)
The gathering ends where the real work begins. We’ll reflect on what we’ve learned, name the possibilities that have emerged, and identify the next steps that can carry the conversation home. You’llleave with a clearer sense of what might be possible, what needs to happen next, and who you need alongside you to move forward.
11:15 AM Optional Team Debrief and Deep Coaching—Spots Reserved At Registration
Churches who brought teams of 3 or more are invited to stay for lunch and coaching, providing dedicated time to work directly on your congregation’s unique context with a coach. We will identify your pressing questions, challenges, and opportunities and shape a path forward that fits your particular setting and situation.