Participants interact with Brian McLaren

Virginia Beach, VA (Regent SLS) - Foresight 2004 was a success as Regent University's School of Leadership Studies held its second annual futures conference for Christian leaders September 23-25, 2004 at the Founders Inn & Conference Center. Forty-three attendees representing diverse professions came from across the U.S. and overseas to gain unique insights into this year's theme, "Leading from the Future."

Eighteen plenary sessions and workshops regarding strategic foresight offered participants a blend of theory and practice in assimilating biblical principles and strategic planning into an organization's future direction. In addition, each topic was examined from both church and societal viewpoints. Participants learned how to track trends, envision scenarios and reinvent organizations in light of future challenges and opportunities.

A highlight for some was the opportunity to speak individually with guest speaker Brian McLaren, author of "A New Kind of Christian" (2001). According to one Virginia Beach attendee, "The ideas of missional leadership (Brian McLaren's lecture) as well as Jay Gary's "Does Faith have a Future" presentation, showed me the necessity to think more broadly about the future and will certainly increase both the need for and level of my own leadership sophistication."

A senior-level professional from Maryland stated, "One thing I learned is that Regent seems to be on the cutting edge of thought regarding leadership and futures. It was good to be introduced to what appears to be a real movement of dedicated, committed Christian folks (not just pastors!) who want the tools and experience to be able to lead Christian bodies into new and creative futures."

Building on the success of the first two national conferences, Dr. Bruce Winston stated that plans are underway for Foresight 2005 to be held September 22-24, 2005 at the Founders Inn & Conference Center.

The keynote speaker for Foresight 2005 will be Dr. Leonard Sweet, known as "one of the church's most important and provocative thinkers." Sweet is a nationally renowned speaker and author of more than one hundred articles, 500 sermons and 20 books including his best-selling postmodern trilogy: "SoulTsunami" (1999), "AquaChurch" (1999) and "SoulSalsa" (2000) which received national awards and a Grammy nomination.

Founder and president of SpiritVenture Ministries, Sweet is also vice president of academic affairs and dean of the Theological School at Drew University. As one of the leading faith-oriented strategic thinkers in America, Sweet will make Foresight 2005 a must-attend event. For more information regarding Foresight 2005, see http://www.regent.edu/acad/sls/conferences/foresight/2005/home.htm

The School of Leadership Studies is one of nine graduate schools within Regent University located in Virginia Beach, Va. Offering fully-accredited master's and doctoral degrees in a flexible online format, SLS provides rigorous, yet innovative academic programs that can accommodate even the busiest professionals. For more information visit www.regent.edu/leadership.