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!