Telling our Story?

The latest Emergent/C email newsletter linked to this post on the EV blog. Some selections:

"You have a story to tell. It’s probably a local story, the kind best told among friends over coffee on a winter day. Maybe it’s your community’s perspective, an unanticipated incandescence that brought your tribe some new Kingdom resolve. [Stories] can also be potentially profound to this, your family of friends and would-be-friends called Emergent Village. It’s no surprise that this village is also connected by—and centered around—the stories of the collective. What is surprising is how few stories filter up and lend their voices on the national and international scale. The Village is sustained by new stories, by new storytellers. Emergent|C hopes to bring your stories to the wider Village each month. Consider this your invitation to tell, retell, question, prod, report, critique, interpret or celebrate."

What is our unique story? It is worth asking, what is God doing amongst us? How are we transformed? How might our story help others in a unique way?

Could we discover our story together, and then tell it?

This Sunday- Celebration of the Faithful

This week we are having a Celebration of the Faithful, scheduled at the Newby home. Adam and I have some ideas- mostly around the idea of advent and the season- however, if any of you have any ideas and would like to do the celebration, please let us know. Also, as a reminder, with the Celebration we will have a a potluck-style meal. I have no idea about "theme" but post/comment if you are planning on being there and if you are planning on bringing anything and we can just coordinate that way. We have not had a COF in a while, so I'm really looking forward to this time together.

House Churches: More Numerous than You Might Think

The duly-respected and much-venerated, not to mention well-traveled and extremely-attractive Tall Skinny Kiwi has a couple of short posts trying to show that house churches are alive, well, and growing across the Christian West.

The first simply states that we should not ignore house churches, because there are tens of thousands across Europe and Australia. In addition, somewhere between 6 and 12 million people in America attend house churches.

The second offers six different types of house churches, per Wolfgang Simpson.

A couple of quick thoughts: 1) It's cool to see that Xianity in the "West" isn't totally dying, but is just growing in uncharted and unusual ways. IMO, house churches are really interesting and exciting. 2) Now that we have a bit of track record (more than 2 years for the COEC now!!), would we consider ourselves a "house church"?? Would we be in the first category, that of an "off the grid," the "God-yes-church-no" crowd? Not that definitions really matter, but, you know - for the sake of conversation ;)

Rob Bell: December 10: Columbus

Rob Bell will be in Columbus for his "Drops like Stars" tour on December 10th. It would be great to go to this event with a group of "cohorters" (cohortians?).

Info: Palace Theatre, 8pm. Tickets are about $25 after all charges and fees and are general admission, so purchase them on your own (but definitely purchase ahead of time is my advice).

I would recommend trying to get a rough head count for the even within the next week or so, each person purchase tickets individually, and then perhaps we can work out some carpooling or a meeting spot before the event, and then drinks and conversation afterward.

Perhaps a good event to invite some new and/or different folks for conversation as well??

Other thoughts/ideas??

Definitions....

Here is an interesting post that discusses evangelicalism's obsessions with defining who is "in" and "out." I thought there were some interesting points for those of us who have come "out of" evangelicalism, and also now struggle with defining what exactly "is" the "emerging/ent church."

It is astonishing that so many intelligent Christians seem to believe there is a deficit in emphasis on evangelism and scriptural literalism, and that, if the hatches are just battened down on a more solid “worldview,” evangelicalism can resume explaining the universe to new generations of believers. In this respect, evangelicalism’s true believers resemble the faction of the Republican Party that asserts with a straight face that returning to “core principles,” and not a radical restructuring of priorities, will bring waves of Americans back to the right wing.

But so many twenty-somethings are not calling themselves “post-evangelical” because they know too little theology or have put too small an effort into synthesizing it with reality. They have come from the most apologetics-obsessed generation of Christians in American history, and have realized that many of their prepared answers are for questions that no one is asking. Adrift in the cultural sea, many turned to traditions and theological systems of the past, only to find those similarly unequipped to address the questions of our time. The only choice has been to begin the messy and at times overwhelming process of drafting something new.

The growing collection of post-evangelicals is what the defensive, definitional evangelical fears the most, and could by itself explain the recent obsession with protecting the label. Surely many of the intelligent professors, students, writers and bloggers rushing to its defense have also felt the naggings of cognitive dissonance and the inkling that the world might make more sense if they abandoned some of their cultural presuppositions. But haggling over the details of theology provides a psuedo-intellectual haven from real-world questions, where evangelicals can exercise their minds without coming to any unsettling conclusions. And thus the cycle of definition and redefinition continues, providing endless diversion as it cuts deeper and deeper ruts into what was once known as the Christian dialogue.

Refusing to align squarely with evangelical shibboleths requires courage, but the sooner it happens on a larger scale the better. All signs point to a near future where religion will play an increasingly climactic role in global culture and politics. Men and women who, as Mark Noll puts it in the final pages of The Evangelical Scandal, “think like a Christian”—by which he means “take seriously the sovereignty of God over the world he created”—should be leading the way on the meta questions that are already besieging society. But as long as they are busy drafting manifestos in their barricaded salons, hubristic rationalism will continue charging unchecked into the 21st century.

America & Modernity

There is a good post on the story of modernity in America over at the American Creation blog. In light of our recent conversations about how we read the Bible, I think it is relevant. It supports the idea that the "modern" way of thinking is a recent development, especially when it comes to how we approach religion. And especially to how Americans in particular approach religion.

This Sunday: Operation Christmas Child

This Sunday (Nov. 15th) we will be gathering together to participate in the Operation Christmas Child (OCC) project. OCC is a component of the Samaritan's Purse ministry, which is founded and led by Franklin Graham. The effective mission of Samaritan's Purse is to go "to the aid of the world's poor, sick, and suffering...with food, medicine, and other assistance in the Name of Jesus Christ." One way they do this is by giving needy children around the world shoe boxes filled with small, simple, but meaningful gifts.



In 2008, over 8 million shoe boxes were collected and were sent to over 115 countries around the world. This is really an incredible program, but it has to start with people who are willing to purchase the items and pack the shoe box. So, that's us!!

We will meet at 3pm at Adam and Kara's house (thanks for hosting!). First we will watch a short video about the program so that everyone has a good idea what we are participating in. Then we will drive to the store (probably Target) to purchase the items for the shoe boxes. We will return to the house to wrap, pack and prepare the boxes. Kellye and I will bring the necessary papers that are included in each box, and then we will take the finished shoe boxes to a drop off point in Grove City.

Some things you should try to bring to our OCC party:

• An empty shoe box to be packed and given away.
  
• Wrapping paper
  
• Any items you would like to include in your shoe box, such as individual size soap or shampoo; hard candy; new toys; school supplies; etc. See a list of suggested items here.
• Money - have your checkbook so you can include the $7 shipping donation. Also whatever money you plan to spend at the store.
• Snacks?? Not a necessity, but always welcome ;)
  

This is really a service event. It definitely requires a sacrifice on our part. You will probably spend around $30 on a shoe box, which might be a lot of money depending on your life circumstances right now. It will also take us a few hours. And it might seem weird to spend all that time and money so a kid can get some small toys; I mean - couldn't we do more with our money? Couldn't we really get to the root of issues like poverty and war?? Maybe. But this is also a simple and easy way to bless an unknown child in an unknown part of the world in a really special way. We have no idea what a small gift like this could do. OCC promises that no child receives a shoe box twice in their life, so for each recipient, this is their first time ever receiving a gift that is this special. It's really a great opportunity for everyday people like us.

Scripture In Community

This Sunday we will meet at Zach and Eve's home at 1270 Courtland in downtown Columbus. As a continuation of the study of the book, "Free for All" by Tim Conder we will be discussing Chapter 5, The Word in the Obscure (Genesis 34).

Despite (and maybe because of) the enormous challenge of this ancient story, I volunteered to lead this time. See you Sunday!

Nancy

What bias do you bring to scripture reading?

Is it ever possible to get to the "true meaning" of scripture? Or are we always reading into the text things that aren't there through our biases?
Should we try to pull personal meaning from the Bible or just try to only read it based on what it originally meant?
Is it possible to read some of the Bible as poetic non-literal literature while firmly believing other parts?
What sorts of biases do we bring when reading the scriptures of other faiths?
What is scripture's place in an emergent community?

We'll be discussing scripture at 3:00pm on Sunday Nov 1st at Global Gallery based loosely around the book Free for All by Tim Conder and Daniel Rhodes. Please come out and share your thoughts on how you interact with scripture.

If you are unable to come feel free to start some discussion in the comments of this post.

This Sunday - Community Night

We have decided to start a monthly activity that will be known as "Community Night." Essentially this will be a time for each person in the cohort to share any recent updates, minor or major, and for everyone to affirm and support each other in a casual, open, sincere, and meaningful setting. It will be a great time for people who have been a part of the cohort for months to continue to share life together, and also a great time for new folks to jump in, get to know everyone, and share a casual evening together.

We will have a sharing meal, prepared by one person (or couple) for that evening. This week, Kellye and I will be serving a chicken noodle casserole, salad, fresh bread, and an apple crisp for dessert. Please respond in the comments or through email to let us know you are coming so we can be sure to have enough.

We'll meet this Sunday evening (10/25), at 5:30 pm, at the Schroeder's house in Grove City. If you need more information or have any questions, feel free to email me at schroeder.jesse@gmail.com

Anglicans are welcomed by the Catholics

Just read this article on CNN that I thought I would pass along. It is called "Vatican welcomes Anglicans into the Catholic Church." Not a lot of details here, and I'm really not sure what I think about this just yet, but I thought I would put it out there.

Also, if you really want to put your finger on the pulse of religion in America, make sure you read the comment section. My favorite is this: "why do you people who dont believe in anything even comment. i will tell you why, you are possessed by the demon, satan. he is the ultimate in deception and will make you think you know everything, then he will torture you when you die and laugh at you burning. deny god and see for yourself."

I have very confused feelings after reading the story and these comments...I think I need a drink.

River Clean Up

For this Sunday's Emergent Cohort meeting, we chose to spend time walking along the river and cleaning up whatever trash we could find. Although we were a small group (only 4), we were able to pick up a lot of trash (about 15 bags). Here are some pictures:

Upcoming Events

Hi friends - (sorry for the long post!!)

A few things coming up, and some ideas I wanted to toss out there. "On Schedule" for this weekend is the "Walk Now for Autism" event - last year, Kara and I joined Noel and it was a great experience! It's a full day, but there are wonderful people there and it's a great cause for sure. I don't think we have anything formal planned as far as volunteering. I will be there with Step by Step Academy (my new job) but I'm not sure what I'll be doing. If you know you want to come and help out, contact either me or Noel.

Monday, Oct. 12th at 6:30pm is scheduled to be another planning meeting. In the past, this meeting has been REALLY helpful as it gives us an idea of what is coming up, a chance to put our heads together, and its an open time when everyone's ideas are welcome and included. So I'd like to encourage everyone who can possibly make it to come on Monday night, even if you have never come to a planning session before, or maybe not even a cohort meeting before. This is a great time to throw in your ideas and share, or get an idea of what is coming up in the next few months.

We will meet at the Newby's house. Anyone is welcome to bring light refreshments, like some apple cider or cookies.

I'd like to throw out two ideas to consider before the planning session, and then get feedback from everyone. The first is Tim Conder's book "Free for All" I haven't read it, but from what I understand, it is about getting away from a literal/fundamentalist interpretation of Scripture, and learning to let the Bible have a voice in your community. A recent Emergent Village email had an excerpt, which you can read here, and there was a podcast of Tim Conder speaking at a cohort meeting (you can find it on iTunes). Perhaps this book could be a resource for us in coming months? We could try to practice some of the ideas he suggests?

The second suggestion has to do with recent "changes" in Emergent Village. I have not really looked into these very much, but essentially the EV leadership has said they want more involvement and leadership from local cohorts. A recent post on the EV blog includes an invitation and talks about the future of EV. Does our cohort want to be more closely connected with EV? Do we want to join in the areas they are working in? Or do we enjoy being more independent? There are obviously pros/cons both ways.

These are just some of my thoughts! Hope to see you Monday night!

Wendell Berry

Come and share some reading and discussion of Wendell Berry Sunday afternoon as we share a cup of coffee or tea. We will begin at 3:00pm at Global Gallery.

Shameless Plug

Hi everyone. Sorry to clutter up the blog (and yes, we already sent an email about this), but we just wanted to mention that we have set up a blog to tell everyone about our journey through Europe over the next 9 months. It should be a nice way to stay in touch and maybe even discuss some spiritual matters as we encounter Europe's version or faith. The blog is here: http://9monthsofsolitude.blogspot.com.

We miss you all!