Looking for the latest info on the Emergent|SA Cohort?
Go to facebook and add the Emergent SA group and you’ll get updates.
Current standing meetings include:
Book Discussion Group and our new Second Fridays lunch meetings.
Upcoming Events include:
a Sabbath Retreat in May, especially for the Cohort, hosted by the Netzer Co-op.
our local learning group is a movable feast of characters. over the years we've had lawyers, students, soldiers, artists, activists, mommies, coaches, and even pastors. okay, quite a few pastors. but even that's been a diverse group: episcopal, baptist, lutheran, catholic, church of God, presbyterian, methodist, non-demoninational, post-denominational. we've had conservatives, liberals, middle-of-the-roaders, and post-dichotomists.
two of our cohort friends are leaving San Antonio this week: Laura is an independent contractor working in humanitarian & refugee affairs — she's 'marching' to Pretoria, South Africa to do research on human trafficking. Thomas is in the US Air Force, being sent to Baghdad, Iraq on a deployment.
feels like we were just getting to know these two. you'll both be missed.
tonight and over the next few, Thomas and I will be recording some of our cohort, creating an audio artifact of this time before everyone ships out. we'll be talking about social justice and the gospel; we'll be talking about poverty, about hope, about where the pneuma of God is blowing. We'll hopefully be joined via Skype by Pamela, who is also a former member of our learning community, serving as a missionary in Managua.
Since Thomas is being deployed, I'll take on the editing of the episode, and I think we're going to then provide it to Emergent Village's podcast.
Emergent|SA book discussion and dinner. you're invited.
sunday night. more info at the facebook group for Emergent|SA.
[excerpt]:
Hello Friends,
Many of you don't know us, but we have a mutual …interest in the emergent conversation, so we presume to call you friends. And in the spirit of such, we are offering an invitation. A few of us have been feeling a call to spend more time in conversation and fellowship about life, community, GOD, and church, and so we are forming a small group (or groups, depending on the level of interest). For at least the Spring of 2008 (and potentially longer, depending on interest level and participation) this will be the one of our primary avenues for meeting together.
At this point in time, the framework is pretty open. I (Liz) am offering my home for a first meeting on Sunday, Jan 27th, at 5:30 pm. My husband and I will serve soup and bread, and those who are interested can discuss the frame of the group — the when, where, how often, what, etc. that would form the structure we can build community around. At this point, our initial thoughts are a book discussion and dinner group that meets about once a month in someone's (hopefully rotating) home. We would have to work out details such as how often, what books, what kids might do while adults are talking, etc. but I have experienced a similar format working well in the past and we are all hopeful we can together work out details.
If you are interested and feel like this is something you could attend regularly, please send an email back and let us know you will come. I will then send out directions to those who RSVP. If you are interested and can't make the first meeting, send us an email and we will try to get updates to you.
Love In Christ,
Liz, Paul and TJ
You are invited to
The Everything Must Change Tour
Eleven Cities in 2008
A weekend with Brian McLaren and friends
T.J. Just and Tim Snyder at lunch today at Madhatters Tea. We sat around and talked over some local cohort stuff — look for a book discussion group and a roadtrip to the only Texas venue for Everything Must Change Tour.
NOTE: We're on Facebook now; that'll be the main way we get information to interested folks from now on.
EmergentSA Cohortt recently hosted a night of song and poetry and stories:
“Disgruntled with the American notions of materialism and Christianity, [The Cobalt Season] set forth on a pilgrimage, traveling from town to town relying upon the hospitality of old and new friends as well as the grace of God to see them through, searching for answers and insight into the questions they found themselves asking.” [Infuze]
These are our friends from the emergent village. We're suggesting $12 at the door to cover travel expenses; if you're not able to pay, please come anyway! If you're able to cover someone else, please bring extra dough. CDs will be on sale. I think they are $15 apiece and 2 for $25. Please RSVP via Facebook
Brian McLaren - “I just got back from Africa and have been listening to In Search of a Unified Theory nonstop for a couple days. I’m totally blown away. I really liked But I Tell You, but this one just soars. The lyrics are powerful. The songs themselves are so strong, so well structured. The vocals are perfect. And the arrangements are completely amazing. I thought of several of my favorite bands - Innocence Mission, the Weepies, and Sigur Rós. This CD should win a bunch of awards. Thanks for making it, man!”
SEGUIN, TEXAS - The Netzer Co-Op announces the launch of THE NETZER CO-OP Community-Life Cast. The Community-LifeCast is our new Podcast. The Podcast will allow for a new, dynamic form of communication for the Monastic Community and The Co-Op at large to engage its friends & partners.
The first few episodes of the Podcast will be focused on a theme of “Rhythm” - the daily spiritual lives of the Monastic Community. These episodes will take listeners into the lives of our monastics and into the ways we each live out our commitment to the rhythms: prayer, sabbath, worship, learning, discernment, and likewise.
The Podcast will feature an episode per week (hopefully) and will be a eclectic blend conversation, reflection & learning. You can subscribe to the Podcast by listening in online at www.smalltownabbot.com or you can subscribe to it on iTunes Store. Just simply type “The Netzer Co-Op” in the Store search bar.
The Podcast will be produced by Tim Snyder, abbot of The Monastic Community. Tim’s role in the Monastic Community is to care for our relationship with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and other missional partnerships.
TO ACCESS THE PODCAST - CLICK “NETZER PODCAST” ON THE RIGHT NAVIGATION BAR UNDER “MY WANDERINGS”.
The Netzer Co-Op is a community of communities in Seguin, TX committed to rethinking Christianity, living life together, and being a bridge community of spiritual formation. The Co-Op is rooted in both Lutheran tradition and the postmodern contemporary culture.
Casey, Amy, newcomers/newlyweds Laura & Enrico, and I hung out with Pam on Thursday lunch at Twin Sisters (AH).
Pamela shared stories and photos from her first year-and-half in Nicaragua working with Food for the Hungry. Laura and Enrico shared glimpses of their stories as well — pray for Enrico as he deploys to the heart of Baghdad next week.
I'm heading off to the Emergent Gathering on Tuesday, and will try to blog a bit from the phone.
Friend of Emergent|SA,
Hey everyone. Lots of upcoming speakers, concerts, events, etc:
• Second half of September (Specific time TBD). I’m planning a shared meal to welcome newcomers sometime the week of September 17-21. There’s 4 or 5 folks who’ve moved to SA this summer and have been looking for information about the emerging church conversation here in town. If you’re interested (whether you’re a newcomer yourself or simply interested in continuing the conversation), please email me offline and give me your preference (breakfast? lunch? coffee after dinner?) and some hint of availability, and I’ll put something together.
• Sept 20-30 (Specific time TBD). Emergent|SA friend and Food for the Hungry missionary Pamela Neumann will be back from Nicaragua the last two weeks in September (we haven’t seen Pamelita in 18 months!). Pamela will be speaking at First Presbyterian Church during the 10:45 am Contemporary Worship Service and following lunch on Sunday, September 30. She returns to Nicaragua on Monday, October 1. If you haven’t met Pamela, you really ought to. She brings a unique perspective to issues of poverty and hunger, and is chronicling her experiences living in Managua — Look for a lunchtime meetup announcement for the week of the 24-28.
• September (throughout the end of the month). Chiro-Java Coffee House on the main square in Seguin, TX is featuring a five-person show, featuring photography and paintings from our extended community, including Emergent|SA cohort facilitators Tim Snyder and Paul Soupiset, as well as paintings from Bri Morris — lay-abbess at The Netzer Co-op, a collaborative ministry co-operative that Tim Snyder is helping organize up the road in Seguin. Other artists include painter Maria Harrington and photographer Matt Brock. (Chiro-Java has hosted Emergent|SA events in the past and you’re warmly invited to make the half-hour trek out to see the art.)
• Oct 5-6. Richard Rohr. Many have experienced the church that is emerging as a fringe movement, on the outer skirts of Institutional Church. Father Richard Rohr is a Franciscan whose role as a priest in a religious order places him in a long tradition of prophetic voices. Since the early 1990's Rohr has been speaking a radical message of grace and re-centering our The Church. Father Richard Rohr is the founder of New Jerusalem, a community committed to kingdom ecclesiology and the founder of The Center for Contemplation & Action. Rohr has long hung out with voices like Brennan Manning (The Raggamuffin Gospel) and Jim Wallis (God's Politics) - both strong voices of emergence. Now, Rohr has been noted as wanting to put some of his last energy into this emerging church. Rohr is a keynote speaker of this years Soularize Confernce in the Bahamas. Richard has expressed a desire to be in conversation with local expressions of emergent folk. Tim Snyder is working, I think, on a cohort shared meal with Fr. Rohr, probably on the 5th.
• Oct. 2-5 Emergent Gathering in Glorieta, NM. Paul Soupiset is scheduled to go and is wondering if anyone else from the SA Cohort is going. Drop him a line.
• Oct 10. The Cobalt Season / Ryan and Holly Sharp are musicians and songwriters and members of seven society, a neo-monastic community in San Francisco, CA, along with Mark Scandrette, poet/activist/author and Emergent Village coordinator. The Sharps are part of The Cobalt Season, and are on tour this fall and coming to San Antonio to give a living room concert 8pm October 10, tentatively slated for the Soupiset house. Please bring $12 for the musicians plus a covered dish to share. We’ve all been getting into the new Cobalt Season CD, In Search of a Unified Theory. Scandrette will be sharing his poetry as well, and we’re trying to get Dan Harrington, né Foscoe Jones, to do some opening songs as well. It’s a school night, but c’mon out and join us. We’ll send another announcement closer to the date.
Brian McLaren on The Cobalt Season - “I just got back from Africa and have been listening to In Search of a Unified Theory nonstop for a couple days. I’m totally blown away. I really liked But I Tell You, but this one just soars. The lyrics are powerful. The songs themselves are so strong, so well structured. The vocals are perfect. And the arrangements are completely amazing. I thought of several of my favorite bands - Innocence Mission, the Weepies, and Sigur Rós. This CD should win a bunch of awards. Thanks for making it, man!”
•Oct. 19-20 Emergence 2007: a post-evangelical church for a post-christian world (Austin, TX) will still be held October 19-20 at Gateway Church. It is the second of two events based around the Listening to Beliefs of Emerging Churches book. The church leaders at this event will be Doug Pagitt, Dan Kimball, John Burke and Danielle Shroyer. So there will be a diversity of both theological belief and ways churches live out their faith represented. Scot McKnight is going to be the moderator; they are going to be breaking down the event into two sections. The first will be about the theology of emerging churches and the second section will be about the practices of emerging churches. (Youth Specialtes/Zondervan/NPC registration: ) Individual attendee $49 / Group of 10-20 $490 Registration includes a FREE copy of Listening to the Beliefs of the Emerging Church!
• Nov 17. Rob Bell (“the gods aren’t angry” tour; $17). Rob Bell lives with his family in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where he's the founding pastor of Mars Hill Bible Church. He also teaches in a short film format called NOOMA. Rob is the author of two books: Velvet Elvis and Sex God. “Part anthropology, part history, part deconstruction - this is new material that Rob hasn't taught before, exploring how humans invented religion to make themselves feel better.” Although Rob doesn’t self-identify as being part of the emerging church conversation, there’s a lot of de facto overlap in subject matter; it might be interesting to get a group to attend and then discuss.
• Nov 31-Dec 1. Diana Butler Bass Retreat, The Emerging Church — A Retreat on Christian Churches That Are Flourishing. Thanks to several churches, including the Episcopal Church, Diana Butler Bass will be presenting a conference in San Antonio on the Emerging Church. Her research shows that certain consistent practices – such as hospitality, contemplation, justice, discernment and worship – are core expressions of congregations seeking to rediscover authentic Christian faith and witness today, and that the congregations that are flourishing are churches that take all of these practices seriously. Diana's work is bringing good news and hope to traditional, mainstream churches, as well as practical guidance on how to imagine and practice these core values. The conference will be an ecumenical event with participation by the Episcopal Diocese of West Texas, St. Mark's, San Antonio, Madison Square Presbyterian Church, Travis Park Methodist Church, the Ecumenical Center, the SOL Center and the Workshop. (Event place is TBD). Dr. Butler Bass will share her findings and she will lead participants in conversation about an emerging Christianity that strives for greater spiritual depth and proactively engages the needs of the world.
"Butler Bass has debunked the myth that the only churches that are growing are Evangelical and Pentecostal." – Jim Wallace.
• Late Nov, TBD: Pre-conference meeting at Viva Book Store led by The Rev. Dr. John Lewis and the Rev. Dr. Jane Patterson.
Recent Emerging Cohort News:
• Emergent|SA welcomes baby Anna Sofia Baker — Labor day took Cohort co-facilitator Travis Baker and wife Misty by surprise as their daughter decided to take the day literally. Anna Sofia was born at 7:31pm, weighed 5lbs 5oz and was 18 inches long. Welcome!
• Emergent Village author and friend Karen E Sloan swung through San Antonio and Seguin recently; although we didn’t host a Cohort meeting like we originally planned, Karen was able to have some much-needed downtime here in SA …
• This summer we took our June and July meeting times to go through An Emergent Manifesto of Hope. We met a lot of new conversation partners this summer, frequently over lunches and breakfasts.
Your co-facilitators,
Travis Baker
Rudy Rocamontes
Tim Snyder http://www.smalltownabbot.com
Paul Soupiset http://soupablog.com
Apologies to those of you in the cohort who missed Emergent Village friend and author Karen E. Sloan passing through recently. The Soupisets were able to host Karen for the night and then we kind of threw together an impromtu lunch get-together at Ruta Maya so Tim and the folks from Netzer Co-op could take her back to Seguin for more stuff the following day. Karen was able to rest and stroll around the Riverwalk, however, and sounds like she plans to be back. More soon - paul
had a good get-together today at ruta. gordon, tim h, christopher, travis, ian and myself were there, talking a little about "Emergent Manifesto of Hope" and a LOT about mainline and other institutional denominations and their future (or lack thereof). The gathering photo was backlit, so it didn't do justice to the group. you can make out christopher's cool clerical collar. how's that for alliteration.
Emergent | San Antonio will meet Friday, June 20, 2007
at 12 noon [until 1 or 1:30] at Ruta Maya Coffee.
107 East Martin at Soledad. Free Parking.
We will be discussing the second half of the "Emergent Manifesto of Hope" essays.
No need to RSVP, but spread the word and bring a guest.
Today in San Antonio five cohort learners gathered over Cuban sandwiches, grilled panini or tomato-basil soup, to discuss the first two major sections of Emergent Manifesto of Hope. We camped out for a while on Mark Scandrette's and Troy Bonsink's essays, chased some on-ramp rabbit trails, described the Gatherings to some folks who hadn't yet made the pilgrimage, some discussions on parenting, the missional movement, etc. I had to leave early, so I'm hoping Tim, Travis, Rudy or Michael can post about what happened in the second half. We'll continue the Manifesto conversation in June. Please come join us, it's not too late! — Paul
here at Emergent|SA, we've decided to have our next meeting on May 17th at 1pm, at Ruta Maya Coffee, in the form of a book discussion of An Emergent Manifesto of Hope. It's the first book in the new emersion
line of books — we'll read the essay collection over
the next couple of weeks, and get together and discuss once finals are
over, etc. we hope you'll grab a copy and join us.
What comes to mind when one typically thinks of converging for an “emergent conversation”? I think the first most applicable term would be blitzkrieg. Typically the ones I have been involved with usually consisted of the consumption of large quantities of caffeine in a short amount of time. We sit talk and disperse. So this weekend was a unique and deeply spiritual experience for me on a number of levels. A couple of things stand out to me as uniquely encouraging.
The first would be the way that the day was structured. We had deep conversations throughout the day, however we purposefully gave ourselves time to stop, reflect and ingest the food we had been given. I think so often the American consumerist culture is so inculcated into our very nature that it is a very difficult task to stop and just be. I sat in the middle of the woods under a tree and just meditated on Psalm 46:10 which says “Be still and know that I am God.” This meant for me that I was called to stop doing and start being. This was something that I desperately needed so much more than I understood.
I was part of the group that talked about Peter Rollins new book “How Not to speak of God”. We talked about a number of things but mainly our conversation centered around the ineffability of God. Saturated in so much the American church is this understanding of God that we think we can put him in a box. We tried to hash out what it means for us as followers of Jesus Christ and lovers of the trinity to maintain the awesome mystery that we have been entrusted with and to refrain from the temptation of creating God in our image. What was amazing and deeply encouraging was that at the end of the day we hadn’t answered the questions in black and white sense. Instead we had an enriching experience of being engaged with the mystery of God and we had allowed it to begin to transform us.
We got to see a glimpse of the future. A time where people cross man made religious barriers and begin to focus on what unites us within the kingdom of God. I think for us we understand that inherent within the emergent conversation is a vision that has the unity of believers without uniformity. We came together and remembered our Lord and Savior in a truly communal way.
Since Tim kind of captured the overview, I think I'll skip that part and dive in for just a few words about my experiences on Saturday. I went into the day without having much in my head as far as expectations. I was looking forward to a day of good conversation and the opportunity to meet new people. Both of these were met and I feel that the bonds built up by our conversations will help strengthen us as we try and figure out this whole mess of a life of faith that we attempt to lead. I really appreciated being able to hear a bit about everyone's journey and how they have come to where they are at. It is really exciting to hear someone share their own story in an open manner among people that they can feel safe around. This, I feel, is one of the best things that the Emergent community has going for it, the ability to remain open and nonjudmental about the people whose path it crosses.
I was able to partake in the conversation about how not to talk of God. We kind of began with that and meandered back and forth through several different issues. At the end of our time together, I was left feeling nicely comforted in the knowledge that, while we had significant sharing and openness, we did not reach any solid conclusions. The opportunity to dialogue without leaving the gray areas showers me with comfort.
Lunch was a fun time of sharing songs as well as our drinks with the friendly bees. I still laugh at the nosedives they made into our drinks. Hopefully it was all worth it to them!
The time of solitude was much needed for me. I often attempt to finds moments of peace in my life but they are usually corrupted by the world at hand. My time on the bank of the Guadalupe, staring at cows keeping cool in the river's water helped calm me some and open me up to our rather unorthodox communion that I feel only strengthened the bonds between those of us tied up in this conversation. All in all, the day left me feeling fulfilled and ready for more time spent together, whether in conversation, silence, laughter, or more attempts at unorthodoxy that seems to capture the communal essence of an actual eucharist.
As my first post here as a "contributor", I'm going to recap for you our Day of Dialog and Sabbath...
We began the day with a cup of coffee (all fair trade no doubt) and a scone...blueberry. Before 9am, it was only three of us there and we got to talking about where each other are at and how life has been going. Its clearly that time of year - time for a sabbath.
By 9:30a there were six of us though and so we dove right in talking briefly about our own personal stories...where we've been and where we are. Some even had a clue about where they might be going. We opened the door (by the way our table we sat at was actually a door where the glass had been filled with grout and tile for a beatiful "new creation" - so we opened the door...and laid it all out on our table...) After throwing out possible streams of conversation, we broke into two groups around two of the streams. Some of us talked about "fostering community". And others talked about "how not to talk about God". We had lunch and then went to near by Starke Park for an hour of silence and solitude in Heysichia (Greek for Prayer of the Heart). We regrouped and headed for the historic Aumont Tower. On the terrace of this 1916 building we had our evening prayer and our sabbath reflection.
It was a much needed time for sabbath and I we were successful in creating another model for conversation. We went into the day hoping for a day of Praxis (Action & Reflection) and the day proved refreshing, engaging and spiritual.
Thanks to all who were there - it wouldn't have been the same with out yall. Shalom.
The Historic Aumont Tower (1916)
here at Emergent|SA, we've decided to have our next meeting (mid-May, TBD), in the form of a book discussion of An Emergent Manifesto of Hope. It's the first book in the new emersion
line of books — we'll read the essay collection over
the next couple of weeks, and get together and discuss once finals are
over, etc. we hope you'll grab a copy and join us.
Saturday some of us from San Antonio and Seguin got together and dialogued and practiced sabbath, silence and solitude and then celebrated Eucharist on a second-floor sun-beaten rooftop of a once-beautiful hotel where Shoeless Joe Jackson and the Chicago White Sox supposedly slept during spring training back in the day. i'm hoping Tim or Travis or TJ will blog their thoughts herein:
Reminder: tomorrow, Saturday April 28, 2007, is the Day of Dialogue & Sabbath. In Seguin, TX.
If anyone wants to ride with me and Travis, be at my house at about 7:30 tomorrow.
Dear Friend of Emergent in San Antonio,
Emergent San Antonio invites you into
A Day of Dialogue & Sabbath
April 28, 2007
You’re invited to the major Emergent|SA Cohort event for this spring. The event will be a day of praxis (action + reflection). Jump in your car — or better, share the half-hour ride — out to a relaxing little internet café in Seguin where we’ll start things off. In the morning we will begin with an “open spaces” dialogue with our cohort lead learners Tim Snyder, Paul Soupiset, and Travis Baker.
If you’re new to, familiar with, or vaguely curious about the emerging church conversation, this slow-paced day is a great way to get to know some kindred spirits, find an on-ramp into the emerging conversation, meet new friends and chill over coffee in Seguin. There will be plenty of time for stillness and personal reflection as well as group interaction. Extroverts and introverts alike will feel at home.
After lunch, we'll have several Sabbath opportunities available in the surrounding neighborhoods. We’ll close the event with an evening prayer together.
Location: ChiroJava in Seguin, Texas
(114 S. Austin Street on the main square; see map below)
Date & Time: April 28, 2007 9:30am - 5:30pm
Cost: FREE (bring your own money for lunch and optional dinner)
Hosted by: ClayPeople Community, ChiroJava, Emergent|SA, and INTERMISSION at Texas Lutheran University
Comment here at the Emergent|SA blog to organize ridesharing and to give us a rough headcount.
Free lecture; parking in the Travis Park garage is also free. Just take a ticket as you enter the garage and bring that to the church to exchange for a parking token that will get you out of the garage without having to pay.
Travis Park United Methodist Church [downtown San Antonio] is hosting Shane Claiborne, author of "Irresistible Revolution". The church has kindly extended an invitation to the emergent community in SA to this event, Saturday, April 7, at 7 p.m.
at Travis Park United Methodist Church.
Shane is also part of the Relational Tithe and The Simple Way community.
a post-evangelical church for a post-christian world
Austin, TX (April 27-28, 2007
), $49
CANCELLED Austin: Gateway Community Church – April 27-28, 2007
Host: Scot McKnight Scot's Blog
Speakers: John Burke, Dan Kimball, Doug Pagitt, and Danielle Shroyer
I hope Tim doesn't mind, but I've taken the liberty of quoting this morning's overview of Emergence from his Clay People blog:
"…The Community at Intermission had a week of incredible connections. We hosted the annual theology symposium at TLU and led conversations and a learning party on "the emerging church". Karen Ward (Church of the Apostles) and Nate Frambach (Wartburg Theological Seminary) were our lead learners and we also had two awesome special guests: Paul Soupiset (emergentSan Antonio) and Aaron Strumpel (www.aaronstrumpel.com)
The event was largely conversations all revolving around "what does it mean to be church in the 21st century?". We talked about worship, new monasticism, the arts, leadership and "church ecclesiology". There were about 50-75 who participated in the sessions and we closed with a memorable worship with Aaron leading music, prayer stations, a conversation about John's ressurection account and then The Meal.
From that closing worship: check out John, Ch. 20 and then think...
By what name does God call you?
and What does God do to get your attention?*
*[from conversational message led by Dr. Nate Frambach, Wartburg Theological Seminary]
I'm still processing the entire thing, but our community here in Seguin added many new friends including...Karen Ward, Church of the Apostles
Nate Frambach, Wartburg Theological Seminary
Jim Taylor, Mosaic Community Church
Chris Breedlove, San Antonio pastor
Paul Soupiset (not really new...), emergentSAWe all met for lunch at ChiroJava and then we even went up to the second story of the building and dreamed of possibilities for that facility and whether we might try to occupy it in the near future. More on that to come..."
just got back from emergence! at TLU. good for the soul.
t.j. and chris and tim and i were there from the cohort, and i think we may have added a few to our SA menagerie as well: expect the cohort to include a share of seguin lutherans as well :)
nate frambach and karen ward are wonderful people with wonderful stories of emergence.
as with all institutional gatherings of like-minded people, it's not the "bricked-in" time — the scheduled program — but rather the unscheduled "mortar" in between — that really sticks: shuttle van conversations. breakfast conversations. guest housing conversations.
after the conference, we chilled at chiro-java (not "cairo" or "chi-rho", but chiro, as in "yup: a chiropractor's office is here in this coffee house"). we got to look upstairs at a dusty former masonic lodge that may be a potential long-term site for the intermission community.
if you were at emergence! and want to leave a shoutout, please comment here:
SAN ANTONIO — Emergent|SA Cohort member Chris Breedlove — a pastor in San Antonio and blogger over at Dance with God — has posted an overview of the recent Brian McLaren Hear the Word event, sponsored by The Episcopal Diocese of West Texas at St. Thomas Episcopal Church in San Antonio. I asked him to share a review of the event, which he kindly posted today on his blog…
A week and a half ago I attended the Hear the Word event featuring Brian D. McLaren sponsored by The Episcopal Diocese of West Texas at St. Thomas Episcopal Church in San Antonio. First, I should mention how helpful and hospitable the hosts were; they we particularly excited to host the event and McLaren.
I did the nerdy thing by getting there a couple of hours early and securing a prime pew spot…leave it to a preacher to do that! I unwittingly chose the seating area where the local Episcopal Pastor and the West Texas Episcopal Bishop would be seated; we were situated in the front pews off to the side of the pulpit altar area, which afforded a great view of Brian and the other audience members as well.
For some of the congregants at the conference, I am sure that digesting and processing Brian’s thoughts was a bit akin to… [continue reading the whole post here]
update: anyone from emergent|sa who shows up at the seguin conference: look for us; we will be meeting with karen ward and nate frambach on friday afternoon before they drive back to sa for their flights — paul & tim.
emergence!
2007 theology symposium
FEBRUARY 15-16, 2007
texas lutheran university
COST: Free to all.
"The Annual Theology Symposium at TLU is sponsored by generous support from The Brandes Fund for Religious Activities, TLU Campus Ministries and in partnership with the Department of Theology, Philosophy, & Classical Languages and The Community at Intermission."
(THURSDAY AFTERNOON)
4:30 ON-RAMP CONVERSATION | Chapel
5:30 COMMUNITY MEAL/STORY SHARING | Alumni Student Center
7:00 LEARNING PARTY/Q&A/BREAKOUTS | Chapel
9:00 INTERMISSION WORSHIP
(FRIDAY MORNING)
8:30AM BREAKFAST | Hein Dining Hall
10:00 CHAPEL | Karen Ward gives message
10:30 HANG OUT | TBD
12:00pm CLOSING COMMUNITY MEAL
There maybe a chance for the speakers to meet with the emergent|SA Cohort Friday afternoon.
Emergent SA's Tim Snyder is organizing Texas Lutheran
University's 2007 Theology Symposium: "emergence: rethinking
Christianity for the 21st century" with Karen Ward and Dr. Nate Frambach.
friend of Emergent,
Covenant Baptist Church's Tim Heavin is leading a retreat—correction: a free retreat—March 9 & 10, 2007 to discover and practice spiritual disciplines in the pattern of St. Francis. And we're invited. We'll know more soon, but plan on rhythms of prayer, work and rest (as in sleeping-bag-on-the-floor rest). Cost is free, and the location is Covenant Baptist Church's retreat center.
Dear Friend of Emergent,
You can still register online until midnight tonight
(January 29th) for Brian McLaren’s SA visit this weekend.
Brian McLaren “Hear the Words”
Friday, Saturday Feb. 2 & 3, 2007
At. St. Thomas Episcopal Church and School
1416 N. Loop 1604 East / San Antonio, TX 78232
Conference Fees:
$40 Friday, Feb. 2 only
$40 Saturday, Feb 3 only (box lunch)
$75 SPECIAL: Both Days
$15 Student (9th grade thru seminary) each day (box lunch on Saturday)
Childcare Provided for Infants - 5th Grade
$15 Friday Child Care
$15 Saturday Child Care
$25 Both Days
It is not possible to register separately for the keynotes, but we have worked very hard at keeping the prices reasonable. For those who do not register today, if there is still room, they may register at the door on Friday.
There will be time for small group interaction. The small groups are not assigned, they will self-select. If a group from the San Antonio Emergent Cohort comes, they can meet together.
Dear Friend of Emergent,
In October 2004 the San Antonio Emergent Cohort started fairly simply: a handful of people wanted to get together regularly at a restaurant, bookstore or pub to further the so-called emergent conversation in a San Antonio context. Some were individuals in search of a local spiritual community where they might find a fit; others needed a space to deconstruct, vent or rant; others had stumbled across the Emergent Village website after reading a book, and then did a search for local learning communities; still others came and met new friends on a similar faith journey and conspired about furthering the Kingdom of God—building missional communities, imagining common life together, recovering lost spiritual practices, thinking about new ways to worship, pray, create, and bear the image of God …
Hmm. Sounds kinda nice.
Turns out, there’s lots of us here in SA: our Cohort mailing list now stands at about seventy. Mostly just everyday people. Students. Coffee House Baristas. Doctors. Artists. Teachers. Lawyers. Moms. Social Workers. Cooks. All the usual suspects. Some pastors and youth ministers. Some missionary and para-church type people. But moslty just everyday people who have emailed or blog-commented about being part of this dialogue. But fewer than 6 at a time typically attend meetings.
Quick apology: I’ve done a poor job of consistent communication since inheriting the sole leadership role (Casey, you did a great job during your tenure, and we again take time to thank ya for yer efforts). Which brings me to the reason I wrote. If this learning community continues—and even in the last week I’ve had no less than a half-dozen emails and two lunches reinforcing the idea that there’s enough of a groundswell of interest to continue—I’m going to need to ask you for some help.
Please consider your giftedness, your available free time, and your interest in serving on a leadership team. Yup: a call for volunteer labor. I’m thinking 3 or 4 people every year would do the trick... If that sounds good and you’re willing, please contact me. We need someone to organize and communicate regular meeting times and places (monthly?), and someone to help line up content, be it book discussion, guest speakers, ‘worship lab’ experiments, etc. The blog pretty much runs itself, and you’re welcome to be a guest author on the blog.
I have a new book title I’d really like to suggest we get a group to go through. [I apologize to the folks at the Fall Cohort Meeting for not following through with a book commendation email.] — the book, brand-new, is The Sky is Falling by Alan Roxburgh, one of the seminal voices in the missional church movement. [Please be also thinking about best times and places for people to get together. Saturday mornings? Sunday afternoons? Weeknights? Weekday breakfasts or lunches? Let me know.]
Who’s in? Do write back!
Paul Soupiset
Emergent | SA
http://soupiset.typepad.com/emergent_sa/
(please pass this on to anyone I’ve missed)
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