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.