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emergingchurch blog advice for churches lutheran xers forum episcopal xers early church fathers postmodern apostles emergentvillage phuture seven ginkworld stuff to read theooze nextwave
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Tuesday, August 15
The Porco Trial Blog: Insider's reaction Well now this high schooler will have a chance to get some college courses. He'll probably be interested in some criminal justice and then try to spread his new found wisdom to other cellmates. He was reading things like that in the waiting room...waiting for his mother to die and asking if she had said anything. I believe he had a schizophrenic break when he started college.manifested by..his grandiosity. His Axis II diagnosis is antipersonality disorder. Joan could not see as clearly as Peter that Christopher was mentally ill. What he did was so rageful with so much overkill. I hope at some point he can get back to his faith, seek forgiveness from his maker. His punishment here is nothing compared to what he would be facing on judgement day. This was such a beautiful family!!!! Praying for all of the family............ posted by ::: Scott at 2:54 PM --------------------------------------------------------------- Thursday, August 10 The Porco Trial Blog: Guilty Although the verdict has come back as expected, Joan Porco should now get closer to her son Jonathan. He has lost so much and his life is on the line defending our country. It is better that Christopher receive his punishment here on earth rather than face his maker later. I am sure Peter was looking down and praying that Christopher face the consequences of his behaviors. God bless all of the Porco family now. posted by ::: Scott at 5:48 PM --------------------------------------------------------------- Wednesday, August 2 The Porco Trial Blog: Joan Porco Testifies CP planned this rageful overkill for a very long time right down to the details of getting rid of the clothes he wore that night. Was he walking around the house while his father was hemorrhaging going from room to room? Why didn't he stay with his own family Friday night when he stayed overnight at his female friends house? I understand he was reading some very interesting books while in the waiting room while he was waiting for his mother to die. Justice will be done and he will be found guilty. The prosecution has done a tremendous job and acted professional at all times. Kindlon needs to find some compassion (not like his comments in the beginning of the trial when he said"the prosecution has proven one thing..that Peter Porco is dead" after the jury were shown the horrific pictures of the death scene. How totally unprofessional!! Doubter....... posted by ::: Scott at 5:00 PM --------------------------------------------------------------- Thursday, October 21 eln's 'tabletalk lounge' at the habbo hotel + stay tuned for a theology pub in our lounge in mid december. eln now has a 'virtual lounge' to hold parties, theology pub conversations and 'suddenly seminary' learning experiences. our lounge (guest room) is part of the larger, virtual 'habbo hotel' website environment. 1. you need to download (if you do not already have it) the free shockwave software to use the habbo hotel environment. 2. once you have downloaded and installed shockwave on your computer, you can go to the hotel website here 3. click 'check in' 4. then create your own 'habbo' (your virtual persona). give yourself a name (mine is seattlerev) and a password, then select how you look and dress. (your habbo is a sims like character that can walk around and talk) 5. then find our guestroom called 'tabletalk lounge.' (type the name tabletalk lounge into the guestroom search) then enter the lounge and chat with whoever is there. i will schedule a first theology pub date and time for us in mid december to get things going. so go get to the hotel site and get yourself a habbo and then stay tuned for our pub meeting time to be announced. posted by ::: Karen at 9:37 AM --------------------------------------------------------------- Wednesday, March 24 hello....anyone out there. Let's get this blog up and rolling again. Karen, let's be accountability partners. Everyday, let's pray - then blog for just a few minutes. I really want to dig in with you. I know you've experienced a great deal of pain because of systems and needs, but between these two impervious layers of rock are the people we are called to serve, love and reach out to. Their number is like the sands of the earth, and this layer of sand has been filled with water that is ready to gush out like an artesian well. A fracture needs to happen to free the water. Our hope, that God will break the hearts of those hardened to God's mission - that the system will fracture. If we're the agents that God uses to do so, then let God's will be done. If not, we need to pray for God to move...shift the plates...causing those things that stand in the way of God's will to lose their footing. What da ya say! Ya in!  posted by ::: Z Man at 9:58 AM --------------------------------------------------------------- Tuesday, August 26 howdy. this is todd z, down in charlotte, NC at The Well . i've talked with karen and pam a little. no contact with nate, but i did receive his e-mail. i've got about 22 contacts in north carolina. an ELN contingent is emerging here. i also contacted thrivent, and i'm trying to get some resources (at least $1,200) for scholarships for people at the well and in the synod. i encourage all of you to find funds available thru your ministries as well. collectively, we might be able to come up with enough resources to get people to boston. hope everyone is doing well. i look forward to watching all of this emerge. let's stay connected, to Jesus and each other. we need God - and we need each other. let the fellowship of the weak commence.  posted by ::: Z Man at 10:06 AM --------------------------------------------------------------- Monday, July 7 Hello everyone, This is Steph (Northampton, MA) I am working on the details for Solorize Oct. 8-10 (registration is only $99 and registration is open - check out the site at www.theooze.com). I have talked with the pastor at University Lutheran Church and we can stay in their dormitory for the solorize event as well as the next few days for the emerging leaders network (eln) conference. The dormitory is a shelter during the year and is two rooms with beds (28 total), bathrooms and showers as well as a kitchen that can be used. The cost to stay there will be about $15 a night. Meeting space for eln conference We can also use some of their meeting rooms for the eln conference. They have a large meeting room (about 70 people comfortably 100 max) that can be used any time but Fri. night. Also they have a small meeting room (fits about 50 just chairs) that is available and another larger meeting room that might be available (depends on when construction is finished). I have an email in to find out the exact location of solorize to work out transportation. The church is in Cambridge near Harvard. I will keep you all posted. posted by ::: Stephanie at 9:23 AM --------------------------------------------------------------- Wednesday, May 7 Hey... This is Thomas. If anybody looks at this, I've been trying to reach people about some questions I have for the website. I want to get this thing launched, but I need to talk to some people about content, image rights and stuff. So, if you can write me [tk@dydimustk.com] or call me [651.592.6488] that would be really really really helpful. And for you curious folk, here's an idea of the stuff the web site will do. Check out these sites as examples: - Cityguides for an idea of the Canada/US searchable map of members/ministries - theooze or Relevant for an idea of the articles section - OOZETANK or emergingminister for an idea of our "resource vault" - shifting realities for an idea of the gathering announcement/interface posted by ::: dydimustk at 9:37 AM --------------------------------------------------------------- Tuesday, March 25 karen...sorry, I haven't checked the blog for a little while - so I am a bit remiss in sending you the e-mail for scott. I'll try and locate it as soon as possible, and then send it to you. TK, how you doin' man? Have you gotten any photos, etc...for the website? I'll try and send you some things I might have, and you can see what you think. posted by ::: Z Man at 6:26 AM --------------------------------------------------------------- Wednesday, February 26 hey tk i sent you the info on the website to dontdoubt@mac.com.did you not get this mesage? so i'm gonna resend to you ty@dydimustk.com address. i wish i could be the emergent thing with you! oh well... see you soon when you move out here to to join the westcoast eln posse! posted by ::: Karen at 9:48 AM --------------------------------------------------------------- Monday, February 24 woo whooo Good times in Minnesota. Now I'm headed to San Diego for the Emergent Church conference for the next week. When I get back, I'm gonna get the first draft of the website up and running. Karen, if you could send me the details so that I can get that going, that would be awesome. God's peace, tk _________________________ http://www.dydimustk.com posted by ::: dydimustk at 10:27 AM --------------------------------------------------------------- Sunday, February 23 to todd z, can you give me the email for this guy named scott , the one who did the "sample platter" cd i ripped from you in minneapolis? there is no info. on him, no last name, location, email, nothing in those files. thanks! posted by ::: Karen at 3:15 PM --------------------------------------------------------------- Friday, January 31 karen ward...karen ward...are you out there? if you are, give me a call at home. (i left the message on your office answering machine.) guess no one is back onto this yet. i'll keep wandering. posted by ::: Z Man at 11:51 AM --------------------------------------------------------------- Tuesday, January 28 it feels kind of lonely here on the blog today. I guess I'll offer a few tidbits, and see if we can get this thing going again. water pipes broke at the well due to the deep freeze here in charlotte. got called over to the facility to find water rushing down the street. couldn't help but see it as a metaphor for the spirit. the spirit wants to flow thru us...but when we get all stopped up and frozen - nothing will hinder the missio dei. so, the water flows down the street. we can't keep god captive, nor can we make god innactive. Jesus, unstop my frozen heart and mind, and free me to yield and receive...to kneel and give. hope you all are well. remember, life is good...live it well! posted by ::: Z Man at 9:32 AM --------------------------------------------------------------- Monday, January 27 thinking alot about sardines lately. pretty helpful image for us here at the well. sardines are the ones that used to get thrown away. junk fish...ya know. pack them together and they become valuable to consumers. i pray that god will plack this place and yours with the "sardines" of the world. you know...the forgotten ones...the lonely ones...the captives, the blind, the poor. pack our churches with "big fish" too, God. the ones that the world values, but who hunger for pupose, meaning and life. sardines reproduce rapidly - help us make disciples with you Jesus. sardines travel in large schools - help us stay undivided...one holy, catholic church, Father. sardines need a healthy environment - recreate our spirtual ecosytems, Holy Spirit. posted by ::: Z Man at 10:29 AM --------------------------------------------------------------- Tuesday, January 7 looking forward to the conversation - Blessed New Year! Dan Anderson posted by ::: Dan at 7:27 PM --------------------------------------------------------------- Monday, January 6 test - we may be back. posted by ::: Karen at 12:15 PM --------------------------------------------------------------- Monday, October 28 howdy! david here in san antonio. what an amazing experience & opportunity to be invited and welcomed at soularize and the ELN meeting! i look forward to hearing from y'all & hope to aid in any way! are the minutes available from the meeting? God's peace & blessings david guerrero dwavehed@hotmail.com posted by ::: dwave at 7:17 PM --------------------------------------------------------------- Monday, October 21 Chris Enstad writing from Minneapolis where the snow has already begun to fall! I posted this at the yahoo group but I think it belongs here so here it is: I just received a used copy of an amazing book on the nature of the church, its mission and the role of laity in that mission. The book is called _The Church Inside Out_ by J.C. Hoekendijk... you can find several copies at Amazon.com under the used book search engine. Within the first few pages I was hooked. Here is this Dutch Reformed pastor calling the Church of Christendom to get with the program, to examine itself and to get in the game before the events of the world completely overtake the mission of the church. He wonders what has happened to our pioneer missionaries, those who risked the most for the Gospel, who often don't play by the rules but adjust to their surroundings while still firmly planted in Scripture and faith. He hears younger churches asking, "Where are our sacred fools?" And he realizes that it is the institutionalized church that has drummed them out of existence. "Mobility and spontaneity are hampered, the missionary-pioneer has become a rarity," he writes. By the second generation Christians become established and immobile; the first generation has the most fun. And by the third Christian life has become dull and an unexciting business of routine. We hear the call to leave our safe church harbors and put to sea again but underneath this is the undertones of anxiety from an institution that has much to lose and so immediately shackles the sailors and sucks the life from them. He sees that the call to evangelism has often meant really a call to restore "Christendom"... this is an argument I've seen on this group many, many times. Thus evangelism becomes nervous activity [I think of the evangelism committee of my congregation and their endless scramble to define their reason for being] to save the remnants of a time long past. Sometimes, he says, evangelism become a cloak to disguise the effort to recover ecclesiastical influence... to reconquer the world and reestablish the church as prime mover. Thus the reactions from "church folks" over congregations meeting in brewpubs and theaters. Hence the undue respect for numbers and growth... grow the church, grow the church... that's your duty. Ugh. The Church tries to take over all areas of life and gets the directions all mixed up trying to conform the laity to its way of life rather than living in the tension between the apostolate and the sanctuary. And he points out that the reformers always pre-supposed the existence of Christendom and that is why we don't have a full doctrine of the church... and why we keep adding things in there on what church is supposed to be, treating those rules as doctrine, and then getting all ticked off if Karen Ward comes along and tries something new. The reformers wanted to reform something already in existence... what missionary-pioneers, or sacred fools, do is try to create new communities. "Later generations maintained this position, but meanwhile the face of society changed. The presupposed foundation of Christendom sank away, and we simply continued with our reduced ecclesiology. The sermon and the sacraments were placed in a void, and often, to our astonishment, missed their reforming power, for in fact there was no community to be reformed." In other words, if a sermon is preached in a forest.... Oh man you guys, you gotta read this stuff... you'll dig it. Karen, if you are seeking food... here it is. And boys like me... serving in a suburban church still living in a pretext of modernity... we need to hear from you, listen to you, and support you in what you are doing. The give and take between the missionary-pioneer and the establish congregation can only be an amazingly fruitful relationship. Our Church needs to be aware, it needs to lend monetary and material support and then it needs to get out of the way and let the Spirit work. Oh, and one thing I forgot to mention... this book was published in 1964. Ahem. So let us not forget that there are those who have been risking all for the Gospel long before we arrived on the scene. The contemporary condition of the church did not happen in the last three years and we would do well to read, listen and learn from those who came before us... even in these discussions we are merely standing on the shoulders of giants. posted by ::: Chris Enstad at 2:25 PM --------------------------------------------------------------- dinghy life (and blog scouting) as a postmodern lutheran tribe
posted by ::: Karen at 10:11 AM --------------------------------------------------------------- Friday, October 11 greetings, fellow pilgrims. nate frambach writing from something like a castle at wartburg, which is located in dubuque, iowa. for those who have not heard, dubuque is the masterpiece on the mississippi. it says so on the plastic bags distributed by our chamber of commerce. you can believe that. i, too, am looking forward to our gathering next week to pray, play, think, talk, and imagine our way into whatever next chapter God is leading the Church and our particular tribe. although it has taken some time to get to the point that a few of us are gathering; and the journey even in this present moment is not without confusion, ambiguity, and bumpiness (sounds like everyday life with human beings) with regard to how the elca as an institution operates, i'm am grateful to be gathering with you and God next, even in minneapolis, where the cardinals lost to the twins in 87. murmuring certainly has its place (and certainly has a place in our Story) and i actually like to murmur from time to time. gratefulness also has its place. i'm grateful that ruben has helped to make this happen, as provisional as it is, and for all of the work pam has done as the person in locus in the twin cities. let's pray for discernment and a wise use of our time and energy as we prepare to come together. in terms of grist for our collective mill when we gather, i want to echo what pam said, particularly her first hope. what is distinctive about the lutheran witness to the christian gospel? what from this distinctiveness is particularly salient in light of the postmodern turn, and the necessity of engaging and being engaged by a society and its cultures? how do we talk about this, critically evaluate it in light of cultural contexts, and even embrace it, in light of two realities: a) the "generous orthodoxy" of Christianity to which our friends in the emergent network are committed and about which so may now speak and b) an awareness of global realities, the global church in general and global lutheranism in particular. also, i want to talk about a doctrine of God (particularly a trinitarian, eschatological understanding of God), and how a doctrine of God can form and inform our ecclesiology (the nature of the church and how the church actually is in God's world) as well as our understanding of leadership. allow me to show my hand a bit: if we want to even begin to talk about the church (for instance a particular tribe like the elca) being "reformed and re-forming", we need to begin with a doctrine of God...because it begins and ends with God. a certain amount of humility is generated when i am reminded that whether we choose door #1, door #2, or door #3 (Let's Make A Deal, anyone?), God will be disclosed/revealed; Jesus is the door; and the Spirit will point me to the door and often kick me in the ass to get me there. so there you go i think that's all i will say today. posted by ::: Nathan at 10:16 AM --------------------------------------------------------------- Monday, October 7 Pam Fickenscher in Minneapolis here! I can't wait to see everyone next week for Soularize and the first eln gathering. My hopes: * Can we talk about re-claiming the pieces of Lutheran DNA which are so well-suited to the postmodern age? Paradox, both/ands, the hiddenness of God. . . Sure there's plenty of modernist baggage to deal with as well, but we're a little ahead of the game compared to some of our siblings in Christ who went whole hog down the mechanistic evangelism road. * Some conversation about what's next for millenials is in order too. To hear Boomers talk they are simply a new improved version of themselves. And it would be easy for us who have been "invisible" to get stuck in (still) calling attention to ourselves rather than pointing to who comes next in leadership. If you aren't on the edge, you can't be a bridge. Those of you who ARE coming, please please let me know if you need assistance with details of being in town here. We don't want the details of your stay to distract from our conversation together. Pam Fickenscher posted by ::: Pam at 9:42 AM --------------------------------------------------------------- Friday, October 4 passing batons yep! blog on dude! welcome aboard handt! i'm so stoked you are bloggin'! it feels good to have a slightly "elder" bro to help mentor us slightly younger (20's-40) set. this is funny... i'm also beginning to do some mentoring (with millennials). i have a few really young leaders who i'm working with. old vintage geezer xer me, training two 17 year olds, one as our "powerpoint master" and the other as our "sound/tech wizard." because i feel that xers are mostly invisible and often ignored by many in the current boomer church power structure (thus the need for eln...) many xers will try to go the extra mile to honor, empower and "clear the backfield" for young millennials by trusting their leadership from the get go, and even when they call us "mom" or "pop" = :-O posted by ::: Karen at 8:26 AM --------------------------------------------------------------- here goes...can a post 50 guy really blog... handt posted by ::: Handt at 6:32 AM --------------------------------------------------------------- Wednesday, October 2 I have found that working from within the official structures of the church can inhibit creative ministry. Being 32 myself, and hoping to start a post-modern church, the obstacles I'm dealing with are one's of control and power, therefore I think that forums such as this one, and networks that are being created are absolutely essential if our generation wants to move forward with the vision that God has given us. posted by ::: Kevin at 2:53 PM --------------------------------------------------------------- our work is cut out for us ... when some of us meet in minneapolis in a few weeks, we will have no shortage of issues that need action plans. the church (elca) needs serious help is getting out of a "modernists only" framework and opening up to receive the gifts of emerging generations. something that has truly bewildered and deeply saddened me is the fact our elca has assembled a "blue ribbon" evangelism task force of over 35 people and with a budget authorization of $250,000 to produce a report. of those 35 or so, only one (or perhaps two) of the people on it were born after 1960 (= one xer). i for one, have a hard time seeing how a group devoid of native postmoderns can really produce a document that can position our trajectory into the postmodern future. this process is in marked contrast to the 20/20 process in the episcopal church. if anything, the ecusa ethos is as modern or even more so than the elca, yet with 20/20 a breakthrough happened. when facing the dim prospects for ecusa outreach into the future, they vision cast and mustered enough insight and guts to "hand over the reins of the stagecoach" to native postmoderns. in fact, each of their working groups was mandated to appoint a chair aged forty or under. as one of their older bishops commented (paraphrased) "why should old guys like me be heading up these groups, as many of us won't be around in 2020, so we need to hand things over to those who will." contrast this with the elca blue ribbon taskforce... with only one native postmodern on the group, any answers they will come up can't avoid being tilted modern and thus will be of less help for us in navigating outreach in postmodern seas. as any postmodern aware theologian of note will tell you, postmoderns think postmodern by nature... and moderns (pre-1960 born) have a less native capacity to do so. so if you want the church to swim well (and not sink) in the postmodern ocean and emerging church, those scouting and charting the routes need to include a majority (and not a token representation) of native guides. it is also just plain common sense... if you want to navigate france, you will get farther faster if you employ a native french speaker as your companion and guide. but it seems that our tribe is still the in the "let's venture into france with an outdated tour book, a 30 year old map, a list of nearby mcdonalds, a bad phrase book and no french speakers" mode. this kind of oblivion (towards the postmodern turn) and the de facto absence of the real participation of gen xers and gen next leaders (who are the future church) is tragic... eln will need to work hard to help take the blinders off, or else our (elca) prospects for being a real force in the postmodern landscape will be greatly diminished. posted by ::: Karen at 1:44 PM --------------------------------------------------------------- Tuesday, October 1 Thanks Karen for letting me know about this! Very cool! I'm looking forward to hearing about all that you all are doing! posted by ::: Kevin at 3:07 PM --------------------------------------------------------------- hey, this is great. thanks, karen. the past week has been one of clarity and direction for me--how cool that i have a place to share some of that. a couple of way cool millenial kids that i know got me in to the harry potter books. i started with the sorcerer's stone this past week. check it out--especially the whole concept of platform 9 3/4. it speaks in a big way, i think, in how it is that we find our way into "being" the church in the emerging culture, that many things have to be believed to be seen. posted by ::: Jill at 2:29 PM --------------------------------------------------------------- It's a beautiful day in Minnesota...looking forward to future "conversations." posted by ::: Dan at 11:38 AM --------------------------------------------------------------- I guess this means we have the potential to communicate in "real time" now. Should be interesting.... posted by ::: Tim at 7:36 AM --------------------------------------------------------------- |
wittenblog is a postmodern
"wittenberg door" for the emerging leaders network (eln), an organic missional friendship
among native postmodern lutheran leaders and other leaders open to gettin' busy with what god is doing in the postmodern world and emerging church.
it was so cool to be together with some of you in minneapolis... this is only the beginning of our extreem faith adventures, as we explore the currents and ride the waves into the emerging church!