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For the upcoming Gathering we have set up a separate blog for the coordination of rides, shared rooms, etc. It is here, and you can also get to it by a new link over to the left which will remain active until the Gathering. Check there for all information related to Glorieta.
For many of us, one of the great highlights of Emergent is hanging out at Glorieta. Many of you have been asking about when the information for booking would be available. It is now online!
To reserve your space at the Gathering, click here.
Housing will be a little bit different this year. Here is the information:
Hotel rooms: Standard hotel rooms are available for $49.95/night. These rooms contain one double and one single bed
Large apartments: Large apartments are available for $59.95/night. These rooms contain 2 single beds, one queen bed and a sofa bed. They also have kitchen facilities.
Housing needs to be arranged with Glorieta directly. Contact them at 1-800-797-4222.
The following was sent out last week to all who receive the Emergent/C. If you are not on that list but would like to receive regular updates from us, go over to the home page of Emergent Village and "Join the Emergent mailing list."
The Importance of Being Together
by Doug Pagitt
For the last few years a number of people have had the opportunity to give their time and energy to the effort of Emergent. While Emergent has attempted to be a flat, open and "non-agended" organization, this should not lead one to believe that it has not been organized or that much work has not gone into creating events, arranging publishing, coordinating the website, making connections between people, etc. There have been many people involved in this effort.
I have had the privilege of being one who could give my time and energy. I can say after four years I have benefited greatly from having been involved with the people of Emergent.
And, I will say that for me the most important aspect has been what is created in events. I will admit that I am an event guy. Not because of the content delivered, nor simply for the excitement that comes from traveling and getting a bunch of people together in the same place, as good as all that is. But my love affair for events comes from the fact that I find being together to be of such importance. For me Emergent is not an idea, a movement, or a resource - it is a community. In the work I do at Solomon's Porch, or my attempts to re-imagine my faith in the world, even my hopes of having a family that lives together and in the world in the way of Jesus, Emergent has been one of my formative communities. And events have been the places where ideas are embodied and "walk among us". Events are where our humanity connects.
In many ways events are like pilgrimages - they shape me. I find myself needing to get beyond blogs and books, tapes and downloads, phone calls and DVDs and be in the same space with those of my community. Eating together, walking together, praying with one another. I want to, and need to hear stories of other's families and faith. I want to hold the young children of soul-friends from around the country. I want to be in the conversations that happen late into the night, or in the van pulled in front of a hotel when the conversation will not seem to end and the true depth of joy are frustrations being shared.
For me events are part of what keep me sane. Emergent is not so much a place of ideas as it is a place of friendship and I hope that friendship continues on for years and decades. I want to be together learning new spiritual practices or yoga poses. I want to learn the rhythm of other people over days spent together.
In one way or the other I have been part of the developing relationship since 1997, when my daughter was 7 years old. She is now nearly 16. We have had the chance to include our children in many events, and to introduce them to friends who stay at our house, or whose homes I have stayed in. My daughter came home from visiting a friend's church youth group last night. The youth leader was talking about how important having solid, unchanging belief is in "a world like ours" for teenagers. He went on to say that this "new thing called emergent" has leaders who do not believe this to be the case and went on to give warning about the dangerous effect of movements like these. My daughter said she sat there thinking to herself and whispering to her friend, "I bet he doesn't even know any of the people he is talking about. I do know those people and he has no idea what he is talking about."
She said that she did not speak-up or try to argue, instead she smiled and said thanks - not so much for what said that night but for the fact that she has friends, admittedly the geeky friends of her mom and dad from around the country who are part of the community of Emergent. I want my children to know that relationship is more important than being right and that the people we know give us confidence in what we know.
I recognize that not everyone will have or has had the same experience with deep relationships in Emergent, and I am sorry for that. But I would encourage us to all keep meeting and keep growing in this generative friendship we call Emergent.
There are a number of events planned for 2005, 2006 and 2007 and while now one can be part of them all I implore you to find a way to continue to meet together with those of your larger community.
Overview of Upcoming Events
October 10-13, 2005 - Glorieta, NM - The Emergent Gathering
The Fall Emergent Gathering is a real highlight for many in the Emergent conversation. It is a prime way to connect with one another in a structured, yet free form setting. It is part family reunion, part art festival, part "senior seminar". More than anything it is something you have to experience to fully understand. The Gathering is set at a conference center outside of Santa Fe, New Mexico. The setting is peaceful, the conversations enriching and the event is very much at the heart of the Emergent effort. There is no cost for the event and housing options include hotel-like rooms, camping, and large cabins. We are hoping that the Gathering will become the prime place of meeting for those on this journey. Please consider joining in.
Emergent Theological Conversation - February 6-8, 2006 - New Haven, CT
For several years, Emergent has been convening a conversation with a preeminent American theologian in hopes of advancing and sophisticating our movement. This time, we'll be meeting with Miroslav Volf, one of the leading theologians on the scene today. After growing up behind the Iron Curtain, the son of a Pentecostal pastor, Volf studied with Jurgen Moltmann. He taught for several years at Fuller Theological Seminary before taking his current position as the Henry B. Wright Professor of Theology at Yale University Divinity School. He also directs the Yale Center for Faith and Culture. Volf's theological interest lies in the intersection of faith and life, and he has written extensively on issues of work, ecclesiology, and forgiveness. Our conversation with him will be an intersection of his writings and musings and the development of the emerging church.
Leadership/Theology/Life Institute - Summer 2006 - Minneapolis, MN
The Leadership/Theology/Life Institute is a new initiative for Emergent. In an effort to provide personal and professional development the institute will utilize both classroom teaching, interaction, and peer-based instruction techniques with leadership provided by people connected with Emergent who are peculiarly qualified to provide leadership in these areas. We believe there is something significant happening in the development of 21st century Christianity and the time is upon us to make significant strides forward in the development of thoughtful, well informed and healthy leaders in this effort. Significant work needs to be done in the areas of Theological and Philosophical thought, Ministry Leadership, Community Creation and Holistic, Sustainable for individuals and Communities in order for the continuation of this effort. The Emergent Institute is intended to allow participants to grow and learn in not only church and ministry related areas, but in a new understandings of Christianity and in holistic, sustainable ways of life. The institute will run in four sessions, each running 2 ∏ days; Monday - Wednesday and Wednesday - Friday, during the weeks of June 5-9 and June 12-16, 2006.
2007 National Event - May 2007 - San Francisco, CA
This event will be a series of events happening over the same period of time (think Olympic Festival or South By Southwest). Our hope is to create and event that fits well with the feel and message of Emergent. The intention will be to create an event that benefits from many contributing organizations and meeting together in a common city. A group was formed in February 2005 to create the structure and plan for the event. As details become clear we will communicate through the Emergent/C, EmergentVillage.com and the 07Event Blog.
The second half of the PBS story on Emergent is available here. This is primarily an interview with Brian McLaren. Additionally, you can read an extended transcript here, as well as clicking here to see additional footage that did not make the show. The additional footage includes many friends of Emergent, including Phyllis Tickle, Doug Pagitt, Lauren Winner, Lilly Lewin, Tony Jones and Claudia Burney.
If you missed the first half, click here to view that.
by Will Samson
I am so hopeful for the role that Emergent is playing in the Church. One of the main reasons is the belief that it can be a part of shaping the dialogue around intergenerational faith.
At the summit that took place in Minnesota last month, we were sitting around one afternoon, pondering the question: "What is your greatest hope for the Church in the next 50 years?" My answer to that question was that, over the next 50 years, I hope and pray that the Church can start to diminish the huge cyclic volatility that has come to be characteristic of Western Christianity. It seems to me that each new generation, perhaps each new decade or so, brings a new way of "doing church." While this springs from a consumeristic mindset deeply imbedded in our culture, this causes a breach in relationship both with our generational peers and with the generations before and after us.
One of the words I would love to reclaim is the word "religion". In some circles it has gotten a bad rap, coming to mean something people fear in terms of having a false morality forced upon them. This is not undeserved, because in other circles the concept of religion is, in fact, the false morality that I just mentioned. Ironic, isn't it? But the word itself has such a beautiful heritage. It springs from a French verb, "ligare", which literally means "to tie fast", but carries with it the idea of being bound together through shared principles. Religion should be the shared values which bind us together as a community. Constant disequilibrium within the religious community makes it difficult to be bound to each other through a set of shared values.
This instability is perhaps even more hazardous to an understanding of how to follow God that flows from one generation to the next. In the lectionary reading for this week I was struck by this verse:
Turn to me and be gracious to me; give your strength to your servant; save the child of your serving girl. (Psalm 86:16)
Do you see what's happening there? First, the Psalmist focuses on his relationship with Yahweh. Then, the Psalmist focuses on the how that relationship is connected with his heritage, with his mother, in this case. This seems so disconnected with the way in which I understand my faith. But it also seems precisely the kind of long-term, intergenerational faith for which we must all be striving. It also speaks of a more long-term, stable relationship to God, one not punctuated by cycles of adoption.
One of my great hopes for Emergent is that we can smooth out the curves; that we can help people imagine a Church that does not go through the constant ups and downs that should be more characteristic of a market-driven organization that an organic entity like the Church. By focusing on questions more related to the nature of God (theology) rather than specific practice, perhaps we can begin to do this. We talk about including a wide range of Christians from progressive evangelical, mainline Protestant, and Roman Catholic backgrounds in the conversation. I believe that this will increase the intergenerational nature of the conversation. There are clearly some faith traditions that have a longer heritage than mine and I have much to learn from them.
The beautiful truth is that I already see some evidence that this is working. I am in conversation with people in their sixties who identify with Emergent. I am in conversation with people in their twenties who identify with Emergent. Me, at forty and squarely in the middle of those two groups, also feel right at home within this conversation. This is how it should be and, by God's grace, this is how it can be.
If you have not read it yet, Emergent received a nice nod in the latest Christian Century. It is here:
'Loose' Emergent churches to add more structure
Posted by Emergent Village
PBS did a story on Emergent on their show Religion and Ethics News Weekly. It is online now. If you have RealPlayer you can watch the full piece online. If not, you can still read a fairly good overview.
Posted by Doug Pagitt
by Ivy Beckwith
I looked forward to the Emergent Leadership Team Minnesota summit meeting in June with high anticipation. Not only was I looking forward to spending a few days with some of my favorite people in the world in a beautiful spot, but I was excited about talking about the amazing array of possibilities embodied in the next few years of Emergent growth and evolution.
And I was not disappointed. The possibilities for Emergent (or whatever we decide to call ourselves) to be a force in God’s movement to change the church and, ultimately, to change the world are enormous and widespread. But as we looked at these possibilities we knew we’d not get a lot of chances to harness them, to make the possibilities a reality, if we didn’t act soon and decisively. And that meant getting ourselves more organized.
We, also, knew that we’d broken a lot of promises to people. We’d made several false starts on ideas and projects – good ideas and projects all – but ones we’d failed to follow through on because we’re all volunteers with jobs, school, family, and life that kept getting in the way of bringing these ideas to full blossom. And we knew we’d disappointed many of you in the process. We wanted to become people of our word and to do that we knew that meant getting ourselves more organized.
And, as much as many of us may loathe the idea of it, in order to do many of the things we’d promised and to harness the energy of the possible we knew we needed money. Usually, people with money to give like to give it to people who seem to know what they are doing and who will put the money to good use. In order to be those kinds of people we knew we needed to get organized.
So we created an organizational structure which you’ve been reading about and commenting on the last few weeks. None of us believes this structure is perfect. None of us believes this structure is the answer to all of Emergent’s shortcomings or the complete answer to Emergent’s future. And all of us know that any kind of organizational structure if not carefully monitored and reviewed presents a danger to a movement that has identified itself as an open and egalitarian conversation. However, it is a step toward propelling this group toward accomplishing something significant and important for the kingdom of God.
I’m now a member of the Board of Directors. I look forward to sharing this new role with Brian McClaren, Tim Keel, Chris Seay, and others who will join us. The Board’s role is not to micromanage Tony Jones or the Coordinating Group but instead to work hard to give Emergent both roots and wings.
