We had our bi-weekly Emergent|SA meeting last Saturday at Viva. Regulars Casey, Pamela, Travis, and I were joined by Steve (an old friend and minister in the United Methodist Church) and Shannon (a pastor in the PCUSA). Steve is new to the Emergent conversation and is planning to journey with me to the Emergent Theological Conversation with Miroslav Volf in February 2006 at Yale Divinity School.
Travis led our discussion of the first two marks of new monasticism: relocation to the abandoned places of Empire and sharing economic resources with fellow community members and the needy among us. Sr. Margaret M. McKenna defines an abandoned place as,
one that has no attraction for the "world of what's happening now," and therefore is left alone by the political, economic, and social powers that be. Deserts and wastelands are abandoned places. So are inner cities, some of the loneliest places on earth.
After the "official" meeting, the regulars headed over to Beto's for lunch.
We sat outside and enjoyed a beautiful fall south Texas day and the best empanadas in town. We had a spirited conversation on the relationship between the church and gay men and women. The discussion included my confessed struggle with the Apostle Paul and his seemingly strident tone in comparison to the grace-filled inclusiveness of Jesus (For example: compare Paul's comments in Rom. 1:26-27 with Jesus' conversation with the Samaritan woman in John 4, especially vv. 16-ff.).
It was a delightful time of learning and conversation with friends.
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