Eden Lead: Marketplace Cohort

The majority of our retreat spots are reserved for people who are in an active leadership role in their business or organization

The cost to attend our Eden Lead Year varies depending on the location of that retreat.

The fee includes everything you need while on retreat: a private room and bath, eight meals and daily refreshments. That is in addition to the Eden Lead Year formation which is a balance of: audits, content, ongoing practices, stories, and group discussions to provide a right-brain experiential (re)training.

Throughout the Eden Lead Year you’ll experience:

• Relationally safe environments conducive for souls (which are very shy) to open up to love

• A reformation of your own emotional image of God

• Resources, retreats, and relationships that will deepen all your relationships

• A local “triad” that meets weekly and monthly with a spiritual director

• Opportunity to identify positive and negative aspects of your formation and moving towards wholeness

• Takeaway insights and practices that you’ll apply daily with God and weekly with others

Once you’ve submitted your preferred retreat, we will contact you with more information about attending. If you have questions at any point, you can contact info@edenteam.org. Complete this application form and pay the $25 application fee to attend a single retreat and experience a taste of feeling more at home in the love of God.

We have established an Eden Lead Marketplace Queue for those showing interest. "Reserve Your Spot" above to enter the Queue. Once we have critical mass we will reach out to establish a location based on where leaders are based and dates for the launch.

The Eden Lead Marketplace location has not been selected yet. We will select a location based on which region is most represented in our initial applications. 

* Future retreats will be hosted in various locations throughout the United States. Costs of retreats will vary based on venue costs.

Eden Lead Marketplace Cohort price will be approximately $10,000. This includes resort room & board for 3 retreats over 9 months. , training resources and cohort coaching. 

Yes. We offer a variety of payment options that can be tailored to your situation.

The registration fee includes all room and board and materials for all 3 retreats which cover 3 nights each. Participants will be responsible for travel expenses to and from retreats. Participants will be responsible for payment directly to a spiritual director for monthly sessions throughout the year.

The fee for any cancellation or change to the Eden Lead (hereafter "Cancellation/Changes") will apply in the following noncumulative manner:

• The entire registration fee* for a "no show" or Cancellation/Change within 5 days of a retreat;
• A $600 fee* for Cancellation/Change within 12 days of the workshop;
• A $450 fee* for Cancellation/Change within 3 weeks of the workshop
• If we are able to fill your spot with someone on the waiting list, we will adjust this Cancellation/Change fee.

A Spirit-filled follower of Jesus for at least five years who has influence. The program is entitled “Eden Lead” with the conviction that the best way to renew the church is to seek the renewal of her leaders. 

We build our retreats and cohorts for both marketplace, both female and male. Eden Lead is ideal for those who are hungry for more with God, who are experiencing a low ceiling in their relationships, or who simply sense that there has to be more to Christianity than they are currently experiencing. 

If you have been formed enough in Christ to be an imperfect but committed disciplemaker…

If you are hungry to experience more with God than you’ve known…

If you are willing to admit your neediness before God… 

If you're convinced there is growth need in relational connection with God, yourself and others...

If you're committed to leading your business towards holistic relational flourishing for your employee, customers, investors and suppliers...

…you’re a great candidate for Eden Lead.

1. Ideal Option: Sign up with two other local spiritual friends to experience the Eden Lead Year together, both at home (weekly) and while on Retreat.
2. Second Option: Participate at the Retreat with an assigned triad and recruit two other local friends to meet with you weekly in person (even though they are not part of the Eden Lead Year.) 
3. Third Option:  Meet with your Triad both at retreat and between retreats, online. 

Much of this will be personally tailored to your stage, desires, and desperations in the season. Your Eden facilitators and spiritual director will help you to establish a personal Rule of Life that is specific to you. This will involve prayer, curiosity, and experimentation. You will build on the pathways you’re finding are most helpful for connecting with God, yourself, and others.

This process will take into account the uniqueness of your vocation and business to ensure you're plan is full aligned with the unique challenges and opportunities of your life and work. 

Each of the three retreats are 3 night, 4 day retreats. We will send you start and end times upon registration for your specific travel preparation and planning.

Send an email to info@edenteam.org and the administrators will answers any questions that you may have.

Affirmation of the Lausanne Covenant and the Apostles Creed.

Eden’s Theory of Change An Augustinian perspective*

First, humans are not primarily driven by knowledge or the will, but by desire. We are creatures of the heart. We are creatures of love, meaning our discipleship is fundamentally driven by desire. We point our lives towards what we love. Bruce Waltke states, “From the viewpoint of the writers of the Bible, the heart was the central organ that moved the rest of the body.  It denotes a person’s center for both physical and emotional-intellectual-moral activities.” 

Second, the human heart is hard to change. Our hearts are shy and strongly resist direct efforts to change them. Have you ever tried to change someone's mind about a political issue through rational argument? Has anyone’s mind ever changed via an insult on social media? Augustine was aware long ago, the human heart is hard to change. 

Third, after the fall of humanity, we’re wired in such a way that judgment kills love. When we feel judged, we put up walls and resist feedback both consciously and unconsciously. Any theory which depends upon simply telling people what’s wrong with them and then expecting change will be constantly ineffective and frustrating. And yet a Barna study found that 81% of self-identified Christians “contend that spiritual maturity is achieved by following the rules in the Bible.”** Augustine disagrees in his Treatise on the Spirit and the Letter stating that the Law merely teaches us of a disease without healing it. The Apostle Paul in Galatians refers to The Law as a tutor showing us how badly we’re failing the test. Awareness is essential, but it alone does not heal us. Rather, it grows our desire to encounter the Great Physician who dispenses the medicine of grace with great attention and care tailored to the ailments of each person. 

Therefore, our discipleship must begin with where we are and what we want. It all turns on desire. Becoming like Jesus requires an emotional encounter with the God revealed in Christ. We must be present to ourselves and present to God. The good news in Christ with the coming of the Holy Spirit God has already come and is present to us in love. Romans 5:5b… ”God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.” We now have new hearts, empowered by God Himself slowly beginning to desire what God desires, which is always our highest good. 

We are transformed from one degree of glory to another as we behold “God Actual.” Broken images of God will slow our growth in connecting deeply with God. 

Given these convictions about how people change, we invite leader to slow down, to pay attention to what you’re paying attention to, to be honest about what you really want. Even if that desire is sinful (or you suspect it may be partially sinful) that’s ok. To start with the truth about you. Start by being honest about your heart. And we do well to heed the wise words of Dr. John Hannah, “Do less that is meaningful, rather than more that is hypocritical.” We invite leaders to not pretend they’re further along. To avoid mimicking spiritual people who seems to be further along. To be honest with yourself in community and with God is first step on the Journey back home to the love of God. 

 *Influenced and adapted from a lecture “The Cure of Souls: Theory of Change in Christian Ministry” by Simeon Zahl professor of theology at Cambridge University.

A spiritual director is someone who meets with you one-on-one for an hour each month to help you “pay attention to the active presence of God that is in you, around you, and for you.” Our curated list of recommended spiritual directors have gone through years of training to care for the souls of God’s people. They meet a huge need in the body of Christ. Leaders need regular time that is spacious and quiet in order to attend to the voice of God. Sadly, The soul is often the most neglected part of the leader’s life. It is a tragic irony that spiritual leaders, entrusted with the care of other’s souls, usually do not adequately take care of their own. Here is a very short article that explains more: https://desertdirection.com/2022/07/27/every-leader-should-have-a-spiritual-director/.

A typical session with a trained spiritual director will involve them sitting with you in prayer and with curiosity seeking to discover what God is inviting you into with Him in the moment or season. This is different than biblical counseling but a great help for growing in intimacy with God and in spiritual discernment. 

Eden Lead participants will be asked to engage monthly with spiritual director. The typical cost of a spiritual director is $100 per session. We believe many leaders will discover the value of this key spiritual investment and will continue with their spiritual director years after completing the Eden Lead Year. 

We have a trusted list of spiritual directors to refer, but participants are required to reach out and to hire their own spiritual director. Eden does not manage this relationship or get involved with payment.

Yes. We will serve healthy and nutritious meals; and they try to accommodate a variety of dietary restrictions. We inform the kitchen/catering staff when we have individuals in our group who have some special dietary needs. This will accommodate vegetarian and gluten-free options for those who specified that when registering.