This Sunday - Community Night

This Sunday - April 15 - we'll meet at Scot and Mary's house for "Community Night" which is just a time for everyone to share recent experiences, challenges or joys and for the group to respond in affirmation. We'll meet at 5pm, and the Millers will have the grill going. If you can, bring a side dish or dessert to share. We don't post addresses here for obvious Internet-related reasons, but if you need directions or more info, feel free to email Jesse at schroeder.jesse@gmail.com Post in the comments if you are coming and what side you are bringing. Hope to see everyone there!

I AM

You don’t know who you love
Stop pretending that you do
This is a God who takes sides
This is a God who murders firstborns
to teach a pharaoh and the world
I AM

Stop pretending that you know who you love
When you say yes to this God
Be ready to leave everything
be ready to suffer

But you don’t want to hear these words
You want to keep pretending
it’s about Heaven or Eden or a promised land

And that it’s not about
a God who led his people out of Egypt through bloody doorposts
a God who let a girl place a baptist’s head on a platter
a God who abandoned his own Son

When you enter into this Mystery
enter at your own risk
enter at your own peril
know that you will be devoured by The One and Only God

who will teach youhow to bleed and die with Him
how to live and breathe in Him
how to love

When you stop pretending
I can tell you in all honesty this is the God you will find

This God I love
This God I choose
This God I AM

Seder Dinner

This Friday, April 6th, we will gather to celebrate a traditional "Passover Seder." We will meet at Ian and Nikki's house at 5:45pm and start the dinner at 6pm (sharp!) After completing the traditional seder, we will share a meal together.

The Seder is the traditional meal that starts the celebration of Passover in Judaism. We will most likely have a more Christian oriented Passover, recognizing the connection of the symbols to Christianity and the death and resurrection of Jesus. It is a very rich, meaningful, interesting, and enjoyable experience. Hopefully everyone can join us!

The meal will be a potluck, so please post in the comments if you will be coming and what dish you will be bringing to share with everyone.

This Sunday (4/1/12): "Feedback"/"Self-Sabotage"

Hi everyone -  We'll be getting together this Sunday, April 1, at 3pm to watch and discuss a short film based upon Derek Webb's music, "Feedback" - the film is called "Self-Sabotage" and you can see some info about it here: http://derekwebb.com/store/feedback Kellye and I will host at our house (2406 Altenburg Ct Grove City, 43123). We will have coffee and other drinks and maybe a few small snacks but no meal to share. We'll try to finish around 5 pm.  Hope to see everyone!  Jesse

More about the film:

Self-Sabotage: the deliberate subversion of oneself. Destructive or obstructive action that hinders the person who acts. 

See also: the Lord's Prayer. 

The Lord's Prayer is inherently violent towards the one who prays it. 

Self-Sabotage is an exploration of the Lord's Prayer based on and inspired by Derek Webb's electronic all instrumental album 'Feedback'. It follows six characters in a narrative with no words - only the music to parallel the stories.This film has come to pick a fight, and any viewing that fails to recognize that may put the viewer at risk in one way or another.  Self-Sabotage rests firmly amidst the tension between the prayed and the praying; the single-minded character and vision of the Lord's prayer serves as the sub-text through which we enter into the lives of its characters. Their lives, like moving icons, open windows into the great mystery of communion through self-dethroning sabotage.

Celebration of the Faithful

Hi everyone! We will be gathering this Sunday at 5pm at the Cohoons for Celebration of the Faithful and a potluck.

Please post in the comments and let us know if you can come and what you will be bringing. We will prepare some sort of vegeterian dish. Hope to see you all there!

Saturday- Game Night, SUPER FUN!

Just a reminder that we will be having a game night on Sat night at 6pm at the Newbys.  I will be making pizza, and ask that you bring your favorite pizza toppings and perhaps a snack or side to share.  Dessert will be provided.  You can also bring your favorite game.  We will have a few here, but if there is one that you love to play, bring it along.  Looking forward to a great night of FUN! Please post and let me know if you are coming and what you are planning on bringing.  Hope to see you there (here). Let us know if you need directions.

Musing instead of Muesli for breakfast

Right now I don’t care whether Jesus was the Son of God. I don’t care whether he rose from the dead or performed miracles. I don’t know, and I don’t care. I choose to believe, however, based on the historical record and my own beliefs, that there was a man named Jesus who tried to get people to live a new way and was killed for it. Many men and women have also done this with their lives, some emulating Jesus, some who never heard of him, and some for entirely different reasons. I lack the character and conviction to ever be that kind of a man, but I will try this Lent to honor them and remember them. I am not sure if I can even go one day a week without food (my current goal), but by struggling through this comparatively meaningless task I will remember the actions of far better people who have gone before me, some of whom pointed to God, some of whom fought for freedom, and some of whom did both.

As a confession – my actions are equally, if not more so, motivated by a desire for health. As I told the group last night I am a stress and depression eater, and my current life has quite a bit of stress and depression, and consequently quite a bit of junk food. I hope to somewhat break this habit and come out a healthier person. Right now my breakfast ice water tastes quite nice. Perhaps I’ll give an update in the comments.

Celebration of the Faithful: Lent Edition

This Sunday, February 26th, we will have a "Celebration of the Faithful." We will meet at Jesse & Kellye's house at 5pm, and will participate in reflections and readings regarding Lent (as led by Brother Curt and Matt). We will also take communion together.

We will continue the "celebration" by enjoying dinner together, potluck style! Everyone is invited to bring  something fresh to share. Please post in the comments if you are coming, and what food item you will be bringing so we can plan accordingly.

This can be a great time for us all to connect, share, pray, and engage not only with each other but with God's Spirit.

To be honest, this gathering may have a bit of a "mourning" sense to it, as some of us have experienced death very close to us recently. I guess this is appropriate, in a way, for the period of the Christian calendar that we are entering.

Sun Feb 12 - No Gathering

Due to scheduling conflicts, we will not be gathering on Sunday February 12th. The Marcus Borg discussion will be rescheduled for another date.

Sunday Feb 5

The Faith, Film, and Philosophy night was cancelled. For those who want to, we invite you to our house Sunday night at 6:00PM. Yes, there is a sporting event on TV. We'll have it turned on if you'd like to watch. But more importantly we'll have food, conversation, and maybe a board game or two. Email me at adam.f.newby@gmail.com or call 388-8947 if you need the address. Please let us know if you are coming if you haven't already.

Celebration of the Faithful

Update: Location changed to Nick's house. 1270 Courtland Ave.

This Sunday at 5:00pm we will be having a Celebration of the Faithful at the Nick's house Newby's house.  Potluck dinner will follow a time of worship and communion.  We will probably make a pot of soup or chili so bring sides, desserts or drinks please.  Please post and let us know if you are coming, and if so what you are planning on bringing.  We are looking forward to seeing everyone and spending some time with you.  Everyone is free to join in.

Book Discussion - 1/22/12

This Sunday, January 22, we will have a book discussion about The Secret Message of Jesus. We will meet from 3-5pm at the Global Gallery, 3535 N. High St. Global Gallery is a not-for-profit, fair trade coffee shop. You can get a good cup of coffee or tea for less that $3, and some snacks as well. We meet in the back room around the big table.

We have had one discussion already about Brian McLaren's book, The Secret Message of Jesus. There is no set agenda for this book discussion. However, I would suggest that every take a look at the discussion questions in the back of the book, and pick one or two questions that are interesting to you. Mark these down and bring them to the meeting as "discussion starters."

Discussions are open to everyone, if you have read the book or not, if you agree or disagree, Christian, Atheist or otherwise. All are welcome, and we try to offer an open and affirming opportunity for everyone to share viewpoints and learn from one another. By doing so, we believe that we take on a posture of humility and attempt to engage with "the Other," - both in one another, and in the Divine.

The Middle

Hi friends -

This poem came through the MINemergent daily email, and I thought it was fitting for our cohort:

Christ, the Middle 

Sean Hall

  

As we eat together

Have a drink together

Friends, this is our worship

Christ, the middle of every part

Christ, the core of who we are

As we talk for hours

Share the love that's ours

Friends, this is our worship

Christ, the middle of every part

Christ, the core of who we are

Living life together

Sharing dreams together

Friends, this is our worship

Christ, the middle of every part

Christ, the core of who we are

When we cry together

Laugh out loud together

Friends, this is our worship

Christ, the middle of every part

Christ, the core of who we are

When we kiss our lover

When we dance together

Friends, this is our worship

Christ, the middle of every part

Christ, the core of who we are

Say a toast together

Lift our cups together

Friends, this is our worship

--

Eating, drinking, talking, living life, sharing dreams, crying, laughing, dancing, toasting, lifting our cups - these are all activities we share in the cohort. And I truly believe that Christ is in the middle, the core, the center, of these activities. 

I think its helpful to remember that, to picture it poetically or imaginatively. I also wonder if there are ways that we can acknowledge the center place of Christ in our cohort? I don't believe that the Spirit of Christ relies upon our verbal acknowledgment or invitation to be present. But I think words, rituals, and expressions can be helpful for us to remember that Christ truly is in the middle of our gatherings. 

As Paul says, "In him we live and move and have our being." I believe this is fully a reality, but as the contemplatives remind us, our role is to awaken to the reality around us. How do we "see" Christ "in the middle" more clearly and more often? How do we awaken to the reality of the beauty that this poem embodies? 

This Weekend - Community Night

On Sunday, January 8th, at 5pm, we will have a "Community Night."

This is a time particularly designed to allow each person present to share what is happening in their life. What are the good things? The bad things? The challenges? The joys? Whatever the person or couple wants to share.

In response, the other people present will listen - truly listen. In some ways, our best response is simply, "We hear you." Other responses may be words of affirmation, love, or reminders of truths learned in the past.

To make the gathering that much better, everyone will bring food to share! Eating and drinking makes sharing life together so much more beautiful. For the sake of our hosts, Ian and Nikki, please post in the comment that you will be attending, and what food you will be bringing to share.

You can click on the calendar link to the right for more information, or email/call Jesse if you have questions: schroeder.jesse@gmail.com / 614-557-5768

Hope to see everyone there!

Planning Ahead

We will be meeting Thursday (1/5) at 6:30pm at the Newby's house to talk about planning the first few months of 2012. We will tentatively put down dates for gatherings and schedule in "special events" (for example, Peter Rollins is in Columbus in February).

We would love your input! Here's a brief description of the types of gatherings we have had in the past:

• Celebration of the Faithful - about an hour of songs, prayer, Scripture, reflection, communion - designed by anyone in the cohort, and shared with the group, followed by a potluck meal
• Community Night - each person shares latest news, triumphs, struggles, upcoming challenges, etc. The group listens and responds with affirmation. 
• Discussion - about a book, a topic, a passage of Scripture, whatever we've been thinking about or reading lately. Usually suggested and led by one member of the group. 
• Composting Stories - Reading and discussing a familiar story from Scripture, and then retelling it in our own words
• Faith, Film and Philosophy - Watch a thought-provoking film and discuss. 
• Service Projects - such as picking up trash in the community or volunteering at a local agency
• Super Fun! - any sort of fun activity like games, concerts, festivals, parties, food, etc. 

These are just a few of the things we do somewhat regularly. We have also had baby blessings, nature walks, singing, fire nights, prayer, and various guest speakers. We have met in coffee shops, libraries, parks, and of course, homes. 

The cohort is only what we make it. These are just a few things we've done in the past that folks have seemed to enjoy and benefit from - but what do we want to do in the new year? Do we have new ideas, new areas we want to focus on, issues we are wrestling with, practices we want to introduce or revisit? 

I look forward to hearing from different people in the cohort, even if you've only visited once or twice. My favorite thing about the cohort is seeing what happens when we collaborate, sharing our faith in various ways, and going through life together. 

Feel free to post comments or ideas here on the blog, or come to the planning meeting Thursday night!