Develop a Discipleship System
Report from the Festival of Wisdom and Grace 2024
By Lisa Jean Hoefner
A conference for finding purpose and renewal in the second half of life
This was my first time attending the Festival of Wisdom and Grace at Lake Junaluska, North Carolina. This four-day event held each August has a long history of gathering older adults from around the Southeastern Jurisdiction. Now that Lake Junaluska is the sponsor, attendance is widening to become a national event.
As a first-time attendee, I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I leaned into the words of the title of the event and was not disappointed. A “festival” should be joyous, and it was! The relaxing atmosphere and schedule allowed participants to pick and choose from all the offered by Lake Junaluska – walks, flowers, gardens, a labyrinth, places to sit and chat with one person or a small group, and opportunities to kayak or take a leisurely pontoon boat ride around the lake. Participants could be as active or as still as they desired. I saw such joy in adult children and their older parents, and with sisters, who were meeting there. There were groups of people from some churches along with their pastors; all were deepening their relationships by sharing experiences.
The festival offered “wisdom.” Great content was shared in every workshop – how respite care ministries deepen discipleship among volunteers; how to set up a respite-care ministry in a congregation; how United Methodist history can teach, inform, and shape our efforts today; how to write a meditation for the Upper Room.
The festival offered “grace” through worship, music, and preaching. Who can forget the one-word summary offered in Bishop Lawson Bryan’s sermon? “Stretch!” Bishop Bryan presented a fresh interpretation and grace-filled invitation and challenge from the gospel text, Luke 6: 6-11, that all of us would take home. Morning Communion and the walk to the illuminated cross in the evening were highlights of spiritual connection for many. And, oh boy, can we sing!
The “Festival of Wisdom and Grace 2025” design team meets each month to put together a significant event for attendees. As details become available, stay alert for how you and the people you love can participate in this life-giving celebration of growing older gracefully, wisely, and together!
Rev. Dr. Lisa Jean Hoefner is the Older Adult Ministries Coordinator for Discipleship Ministries. She has served as a pastor of churches and director of camping ministries in the New York, Susquehanna, Upper New York, Oregon-Idaho, and Cal-Nevada Conferences from 1975 to 2020.
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