Next Session Dates:
October 7-11, 2026
January 13-17, 2027
4-Day Intensive Immersion Experience
Encounters is more than a conference, retreat, or training event. It is an immersive leadership and discernment experience designed to help congregations discover their own missional true north. Participants come to downtown San Antonio not merely to hear ideas, but to enter a living environment where worship, mercy, leadership, justice, spiritual formation, and contextual ministry are practiced in real time at Travis Park United Methodist Church.
In the face of the other, we encounter God.
History & Heart
What if we could feed people on a SUNDAY morning?
Travis Park United Methodist Church has been a cornerstone of the Downtown San Antonio community since 1846. The last 25 have been truly transformative. In 1999, a group of young people asked the question, “what if we could feed people on a SUNDAY morning?” What began as an idea has grown into a ministry that has its own 501c3 entity that has expanded outside the church. Through leadership changes, COVID, disaffiliation, and building collapse, the heart of Travis Park Church ministry has always been to not only weather the storm, but to level up. The elders who began this ministry have teamed up with the Transforming Communities Network leaders to share their passion for justice for the marginalized with those who are willing to say yes to radical transformation. We are dreamers and we are doers. And we are here to help.
Inspired by an experience at Glide Memorial Church that helped shape Travis Park Church’s congregational trajectory twenty-five years ago, this initiative seeks to offer that same catalytic possibility to other churches.
We serve 200 houseless people every Sunday morning, right before worship. Through intentional culture, this is possible.
Who Should Attend?
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Clergy
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Conference and District Leaders
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Lay Leaders
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Non-Profit Leaders
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Seminary Students
Enroll in the Next Session
All pricing include meals, sessions, materials, guided immersion experiences, and team planning support.
4-Day Schedule
*Subject to change
The Wednesday through Sunday framework moves from observation to reflection to application. Wednesday introduces the idea of an encounter during Prayer & Recovery Circle. Thursday reframes the church. Friday focuses on leadership and sustainability. Saturday emphasizes place, imagination, and spiritual growth. Sunday integrates learning through Travis Park Church’s regular ministry rhythm, worship, planning, and commissioning.
October 7
WED
Arrival | Witness | Orientation
3:00 – 4:00 pm
Arrival & Check-In
4:30 – 5:00 pm
Opening Orientation
5:00 – 6:00 pm
Street Choir Rehearsal
6:00 – 7:00 pm
Prayer Circle
7:00 – 8:00 pm
Dinner
8:00 – 8:45 pm
Focused Conversation & Dismissal
October 8
THURS
Seeing Clearly
7:00 – 8:00 am
Breakfast
8:15 – 9:15 am
Plenary 1: Travis Park – A Living Experiment
9:30 – 10:30 am
Breakout Block A
10:45 – 11:45 am
Plenary 2: Shalom as God’s Will for Creation
12:00 – 1:00 pm
Assigned Lunch Tables + Guided Conversation
1:15 – 2:15 pm
Breakout Block B
2:30 – 3:15 pm
Lightning Lab: Meet the CORE Team / Stories from the Ground
3:15 – 4:00 pm
Team Reflection Time
5:00 – 6:00 pm
Prayer Circle
6:00 – 7:00 pm
Dinner
7:15 – 8:00 pm
Focused Conversation
October 9
FRI
Leading Faithfully
7:00 – 8:00 am
Breakfast
8:15 – 9:15 am
Plenary 3: Growing the Church Without Chasing Numbers
9:30 – 10:30 am
Breakout Block C
10:45 – 11:45 am
Plenary 4: Faithful Planning in Uncertain Times
12:00 – 1:00 pm
Assigned Lunch Tables
1:15 – 2:15 pm
Breakout Block D
2:30 – 3:30 pm
Team Lab: Your First 90 Days After Encounters
3:30 – 4:15 pm
Open Coaching / Consultation
5:00 – 6:00 pm
Prayer Circle
6:00 – 7:00 pm
Dinner
7:15 – 8:00 pm
Focused Conversation
October 10
SAT
Imagining Contextually
7:00 – 8:00 am
Breakfast
8:15 – 9:15 am
Plenary 5: Cultivating Spiritual Growth Beyond Programs
9:30 – 10:30 am
Breakout Block E
10:45 – 11:45 am
Plenary 6: Seeing Your Neighborhood with New Eyes
12:00 – 1:00 pm
Lunch with your team
1:30 – 2:30 pm
Downtown Immersion Walk
2:30 – 5:00 pm
Debrief + Journaling + Meet with Affinity Groups
Evening
Dinner on Your Own
October 11
SUN
Integration | Sending | Return Home
7:30 – 9:30 am
Experience Sunday Ministries: Breakfast, Clinic, Showers, Clothing Closet
9:45 – 11:00 am
Sunday Worship
11:30 – 12:00 pm
Closing Plenary 7: Finding Your Missional True North
10:45 – 11:45 am
Team Planning Lab
1:00 – 1:30 pm
Final Focused Conversation + Blessing
DEPARTURE
Go home commissioned
Breakout Sessions
Listening Well • Welcoming
Asset-Based Community Development
Effective Communication
Trust Based Relational Intervention
Alternative Revenue Streams
Leading Change Without Breaking the Church
Measuring What Matters
Our Campus
Travis Park UMC
Learn alongside a diverse and affirming congregation deeply engaged with its downtown neighbors.
230 E. Travis Street
San Antonio, Texas 78205
Hotel Accommodations
St. Anthony Hotel
Excellent accommodations in the heart of downtown San Antonio, steps away from Travis Park United Methodist Church.
300 E. Travis Street
San Antonio, TX 78205
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