Xenos Summer Institute "Pre-Discussion" - Part 3

Alright - here is question #3, with a little bit of explanation, and a few side tracks. These are the proposed topics of conversation for Sunday's meeting at Global Gallery.

Dennis' initial email asked: "How to reach postmodern young people: What should go into an approach to communication, community, church ethos, structure, practice, etc. in order to avoid losing relevance to postmodern culture?"

I was a little unsure what he was getting at, so I sent another email and asked him to explain a bit more, and this is what he wrote: "I'm referring to non-Christian postmodern people (mainly the young) and how to attract them to Jesus. What does the church need to be in order to be considered relevant to these people's lives? What would commend Jesus to them? I think one of the big arguments I've seen and heard from emergent Christians is that unless the church becomes more postmodern, it will lose its voice with postmoderns. So, the argument is that the church is too propositional, too modern, and that's why we need a change that emergent is pioneering." (btw, thanks Dennis for the great questions and quick email responses!)

Side track A: When Dennis first offered the three topics, I suggested a fourth topic, "The Kingdom of God," and from the looks of an email giving some details about the conference, this topic is also on the table. So perhaps this week we can also toss around the topic of the different understandings of the kingdom of God b/w traditional evangelicalism and emergents.

Side track B: Since the Goshen "Everything Must Change" event, a few of us have tossed around the idea of getting together with other cohorts in the MidWest region. If you haven't heard, Emergent Village officially canceled any official national cohort gathering this year in an effort to stimulate more regional, indigenous and organic gatherings. I contacted a few cohorts this week and they seem interested, so perhaps we could also toss around ideas for a regional get-together.

Reflection on EMC

A lot of tough questions were thrown out during the conference. You can tell that Brian McLaren has wrestled with a lot of these questions before, and is still wrestling with them. During a morning session, I blurted out: "We don't need more churches, we need more Christians." Brian's response was something like this: "Let's really feel that tension...Let it sit for a minute...Do you feel that?"

We all really wanted him to give us an answer to our questions, but he didn't.

Later, Jane commented that as American Christians we are eager to solve problems as soon as possible. But right now, the most important thing we can do is to recognize the depth of the problem that is before us, to really sit with the tension, to rest in the darkness.

God lives within this tension. He clearly sees the problems of the world, and of course he has the power to "solve" these problems if he chooses to do so. But instead, he allows us to experience uncertainty, questions, challenges and tensions. And it is out of the deep darkness, out of the struggles, that great faith is birthed and new visions for the future are obtained. Visions of faith that are not just cute names for a new churches, or new website designs, but new ways of living and believing.

At the last session, Brian encouraged everyone that perhaps one of the best things to do right now is not to search for a solution, but instead to deepen the dream in our hearts and minds. Through prayers, meditations, songs, poems, artwork and conversations, we can explore the depths of our questions and understand the undercover reasons for our discontent. We can better articulate our disappointments with the currents expressions of Christianity that we see around us. We can formulate a more powerful and invigorating dream for the future. Brian referenced the story of Nelson Mandela living in prison, dreaming of a new South Africa that would be free from apartheid.

I think my favorite section of the book "Everything Must Change" is Part 8: "A Revolution of Hope." On pg. 299, Brian writes this:

"But new kinds of faith communities are emerging, and more will emerge - virile, courageous, nurturing communities that center their theology on Jesus' revolutionary message of the kingdom and that center their lives on living out that radical message. These are communities of profound spiritual formation leading to liberating social transformation, and their continuing emergence is one of the most important developments in our time."

I believe that our Emergent Cohort is one of these "new kids of faith communities," not just another church. And I know that I want to follow in the revolutionary way of Jesus Christ, and not just be another Christian. I want to dream, to write, to listen, to love and to fight. I want to love the Lord with all of my heart, soul and mind.

But first, I'm going to deepen the dream by waiting and exploring the tension....

Back from EMC

Hey everyone! We've made it back safe and only a little damp from Goshen. It was a blessed weekend in many ways, with exciting opportunities opened up, challenging conversations, and new books to read. Most of all, I think the members of our cohort genuinely enjoyed spending time together, and we realized that we have something really special in Columbus! This includes all of you reading this right now, and I'd love to invite everyone (whether you came to the conference or not) into the conversation of how our cohort can continue to live out God's call for us in Columbus. For now, here are some pictures, and look for more blogs about the conference to come this week.

New Blog for EMC Tour

Since the Everything Must Change Tour is coming up quickly, and there will be an increase of posts regarding travel plans, hotels information, etc., I thought it might be helpful to have a separate site to communicate all of that information (also to spare those of you who aren't interested the boredom).

So - if you ARE attending - visit http://columbustogoshen.blogspot.com/ and also send me an email so I can add you as an author - and we'll make some plans to make it to Goshen!

Baptists & Global Warming

Just saw this headline on NPR and it reminded me of our discussion over dinner on Sunday.

I have enjoyed the somewhat extended discussion on prayer over the last few weeks, and I have thought that another topic we could discuss at length could be something like "Intentional Living." We could address issues of climate change, global poverty and consumerism, etc. Many of the topics would coincide with things discussed in McLaren's "Everthing Must Change" and so it could be a good lead up to the conference.

More than anything though, I think we could combine the resources of the cohort and really challenge one another to make significant changes in our lifestyles. As we've been mentioning, it is one thing to talk about "emergent ideas" as if it were a hobby that we enjoyed, and it is another thing to live as an emergent Christian. I know that even the ideas are fuzzy, so the lifestyle is even more ambiguous. Furthermore, when it comes to issues of climate change, consumerism, and the global economy, significant changes are even more difficult to achieve. However, I cannot help but feeling guilty for patting myself on the back that I recognize there are significant issues in our world, yet continuing to live my affluent American lifestyle, making little to no changes.

Everything Must Change Tour

Okay.
So I registered for the Everything Must Change/Deep Shift event. It's being held May 9-10, in Goshen, Indiana, at Goshen College. In doing so I got a discount code to share with friends. So, I'm passing this little discount on to you, hoping that it will inspire you to register! Use the code "referral" when checking out, and you will pay $85 total for your registration.
The schedule of events looks awesome and I'm personally looking forward to the Saturday morning emerging cohort members breakfast with Grace and Brian McLaren and the digital art exhibit.
So register and get excited!

A Sneak Peak...

Brian Mclaren is sharing a free webcast of the first session of the Everything Must Change: Deep Shift tour. Since some of us are planning on going to Goshen, IN to participate in the conversation, I thought this would be a great way to get a taste of what the tour will be like. I'm excited to tune in, and would love to talk about it on the following Sunday, or even that Friday night (we could get together and hang out?).

Check out the tour site here: www.deepshift.org

The site address for individuals to receive the free Webcast of Brian McLaren and the EMC Tour on Friday night February 8, 2008 is http://media.nnu.edu/live. This address will either work when typed into your address bar in your internet browser or you will need to open up Windows Media Player and place this address in the "open a URL" line in the file menu option.The Live Session will begin on Friday, February 8 at 9:00 EST. Until that time, there will be nothing to see at that site. If you have difficulty that evening, contact wesleyconf@nnu.edu.