PSA

This is a regularly scheduled Public Service Announcement:

From the Department of Redundancy Department:
Check Your Backups.

The hard drive on my desktop failed tonight. Fortunately, I'm not in a panic, because I have nightly backups to a RAID server, and I have my laptop to use in the interim, with network access to the backups on the server.

• If you have automated backups, check the file to make certain it is current and functional.
• If you don't have automated backups, but you have access to an other computer on a network, be certain to backup regularly.
• If you are backing up to CD's or DVD's, stop and think about when was the last time you made backups. Also, are your backups stored in a safe place?

Also, if you have Spybot installed, please make sure you are not running TeaTimer, or disable it, before running any Firefox updates. Apparently this can be a fatal issue, as my crash tonight proves.

Your hard drive WILL Fail. Prepare or regret it.

We will now return you to your regularly scheduled programming.



[Donna, are you still backing up your photos?]

Thankful

I was tagged by Ché for John's Thankful meme.

1. Write down five things that you're thankful for.
2. Tag five friends who you'd like to see participate in this meme.
3. (Optional) Include a link to this post and encourage others to place a link to their completed meme in the comments section of this post so we can keep track of the thankfulness running around the blogosphere.

Because it seems almost everyone who has participated said family, friends, God in some variation, I'm going to forgo those three as obvious givens. Here are my next five, in no particular order.


Stars. I love looking up into the night sky and wondering what else is out there that we don't yet know about. There is a mystery and a power to it, especially in the winter. No I don't believe in aliens, but I'm not God so I won't tell you it's "impossible" if you DO believe in aliens.

The shrinking world. I love the internet and the global-ness it's providing us. I think God created it, and am thankful for the support, love and friendships it has provided me. In the last week I have had conversations with people in Canada, Australia, England, and people in 7 US states other than Oregon...people I consider to be friends, but whom I would never have met if it wasn't for this little corner of the internet. It's so interesting and exciting to me to learn about life in other places and other ways.

Christmas. I love it, with all it's greens, lights, fires, cold, wind...there is something in me which loves the depth of winter, even as much as I hate the dark. I don't care for the commercialism, although I succumb to it as most of us do. For me, it's spiritual implications are far more significant than the parties and presents.

Life. I am thankful to be here, participating in this great symphony, even if I am often out of tune. I am thankful also for the life which is within the people I love and learn from.

Age. Yes, I am thankful for the wisdom, understanding, and grace, that comes with age. Learning each year that the older I get, the more I know I don't know, and being OK with that. Growing into acceptance of who I am and who I'm becoming still, when so much of my adult life has been spent wishing I was someone else.


I'm supposed to tag 5 people, but I'm on a tagging fast, so you'll have to tag yourselves. All are welcome.

HomePDX

This post was on my friend Donna's MySpace today; I'm reposting it here with her permission. Donna is the one on the far right, with the baseball cap.

. . .

I've discovered that in the process of living this life there have been an incredible cast of characters who have wandered thru in various forms and fashions.

These guys with me in the photo above are no exception. They are my friends and I love them dearly. One of the things I love about them is they all have big hearts and open minds ...ok, and the amazing capacity to drink more than one beer and not have to pee all night...yes, I have bladder envy!!

Not all of the group was here for this photo but they make up the core team for a church called HOMEPDX, here in Portland founded by Ken Loyd (gray hair black glasses). Cool article about him Nov 11th in the Oregonian which can be found here www.oregonianlive.com, you'll have to do a search for the name of the article to find it which is, "A New Testament kind of guy".

Today this group of people I love is hurting, financially for one but more importantly a girl who they had been getting to know named Amber died yesterday. She won't have an article about her in the paper or her face pasted on the evening news. Her family might not even know about her passing for awhile.

I want to remember her today, she was 22, had cancer and was living on the streets. She couldn't get good medical care...trust me, if you are homeless the "system" doesn't care and there was no one to pick up the tab for her to get the treatment she needed.

The cancer didn't kill her, she od'd...I don't know the details but she did have people here who cared about her ...please say a prayer for them today...they have big hearts that are hurting.

. . .

That Oregonian article about HomePDX that Donna mentioned can be found HERE.

HomePDX is a plant of The Bridge Church; it is a church for "people without houses"which meets in downtown Portland. Until recently, they were meeting, literally, under a bridge, now they are renting space in a downtown Church.

HomePDX meets downtown, where most of Portland's "people without houses" congregate. The people who come to HomePDX are treated with dignity and respect...as Ken likes to say, "These people are my friends" And they are. They are served a meal and a short message each Sunday, and they provided with opportunities and supplies to practice art and music. They are also supplied with socks, hoodies, toiletries, hand warmers, and other items as they are available.

HomePDX is supported by area churches, who take turns providing the meal. I don't know all of them, but I do know Bob Hyatt's church Evergreen Community is a regular supporter.

HomePDX could use help in paying the rent on the space they use in a local church. They also are always in need of white men's tube crew socks and black XL hoodie sweatshirts, among other things. If you would like to help support HomePDX, contact me (erinword at gmail dot com) and I'll hook you up with more info.

To learn more about HomePDX, here are some links:

Rick Meigs a.k.a. The Blind Beggar - HomePDX
Pam Hogeweide - The Birth of A Church and White Gold
MySpace slideshow about HomePDX
You Tube video about it.
Off the Map Live interview with Ken

Ogre and Donkey and Adolescent Wisdom

We watched 'Shrek the Halls' tonight on ABC. If you Tivoed it or something and don't want to be spoiled, read no further.

. . .

Shrek finds out from Donkey that it's Christmas Eve. Shrek has no idea what this means, so he gets a book called 'Christmas for the Village Idiot', which tells him all the classic information about Christmas - decorating, food, stories...etc. Shrek proceeds to rush around trying to put together the Perfect Christmas for his Perfect Family. Finally, Shrek has everything ready and is preparing to sit down and share the Perfect Christmas with his family...when suddenly Donkey, Puss and the entire crew show up at the door, ready to celebrate Christmas.

What ensues is a disaster in cartoon style...including several highly entertaining versions of The Night Before Christmas...and eventually Shrek gets fed up with the chaos and kicks everyone out.

Shrek: I just wanted to have the perfect Christmas with my family.

Fiona (in all her womanly ogre wisdom): "Yes, it was crowded and noisy, but that was your family".

A minute later, Shrek realizes his bad attitude and proceeds to apologize to Donkey.

Shrek: I didn't mean for it to turn into a big fight.

Donkey (in all his Donkey wisdom) : Christmas is all about big fights...my mom says, "Christmas ain't Christmas 'till somebody cries".

Yep, that's about the size of it. Overall, I really enjoyed the message of this show...family is family in spite of the chaos. That is what Christmas is all about...

Me: I guess Shrek learned something important about family.

My 11 y.o. son: "If they set my butt on fire, I'd kick everyone out, too".

Sigh. I guess we still have work to do.

Simple Faith

Gary tagged me with a difficult meme the other day. I've been pondering how to answer it...

The question stands:

How would you define simple faith in Christ?

How do I have faith? I have faith as the only viable alternative to not having faith. Sometimes I think it's a process of elimination. I have tried to not have faith. I have tried to tell God I don't believe in Him anymore, I have sought other paths.

However, in the end, I had no peace with those things. I never felt guilty for denying God, but I couldn't get rid of Him. He stubbornly refused to move, funny that is. He's like a stain on my soul, never to be removed. I have faith simply because God refuses to leave, and because I know God won't leave even when I ask Him to, I have faith that He is with me in anything and everything. I simply have faith because I can't NOT have faith. It's in my DNA.

I don't know if that answers the question or not, but there it is.

I feel like I've worn out my tagging welcome with most of you...if you feel so inclined to answer the question, leave your link at Gary's place.

Comment(s) of the Day

Today I was reading a post at The Consumerist about Verizon Wireless opening it's network to any compatible device.

"Verzon Wireless announced today that it will be opening its network to any compatible device. Verizon uses the CDMA network, a technology it shares with Sprint. According to Verizon Wireless Chief Executive Lowell McAdam, Sprint phones could work on Verizon's network "if they pass Verizon's testing procedure."

A series of comments on this post made me laugh. See if you know why.

BY BURAN AT 12:17 PM You still have to go through the gatekeeper and if they decide they don't like your phone they can refuse to activate it....

BY DAME1234 AT 12:21 PM @Buran: are you the gatekeeper? I am the keymaster.

BY FINDER AT 12:26 PM Gozer?

BY STREYEDER AT 12:31 PM Holy crap! That's one big Twinkie!

BY ASTROPIG7 AT 12:40 PM @Finder: Are you a god?

BY BURAN AT 02:05 PM @dame1234: If anyone asks if you're a god, you say YES!

Did anyone understand this exchange?

Fresh Ink

Makeesha posted a pic of her new tattoo today, and it reminded me I have never posted my new one.

It's loosely based on Matthew 10:16...wise as a serpent and gentle as a dove. It starts about 4" above my right wrist and goes almost all the way up, wrapping around my arm. If you look closely, you can see the serpent in gray. We're going to add more detail to it next time I'm in. We did this in one sitting and by the time we got to that, I was done for.

Yay!

I got this text message and photo from my sister just a bit ago:

"I SAID YES!"

This is fantastic news. In the picture, she is wearing her now-fiancé's grandmother's engagement ring; and right now they are up in the mountains cutting a Christmas tree. They have been together two years, and she is also gaining two beautiful girls close to the same ages as my boys. We are all so happy!

My sister is a huge fan of Christmas, so it is very romantic and thoughtful that he chose this time and place to ask her.

Yay!!!

Black Friday

Not terribly fond of this tradition, but not opposed to it, either. To be honest, there are better deals to be had later in the season, if it really matters to you.

However, I am strongly against the idiots who violently clamor to save $50 on an iPod or to get a 2GB memory card for free. Get a life, people.

"Managers called police, ambulances and firefighters to help with crowd control at Towne Square Mall in Boise, Idaho, where an estimated 10,000 people lined up to charge through the doors when they opened at 1 a.m. Officials said some doors were broken and some customers were injured in the scramble."
Quote from MSNBC. Image from KTVB.

Click HERE for the enthralling video. It's 7 or so minutes long.

I don't mean to single out this particular mall or incident. It could be Anywhere, U.S.A. It was the scene all over the country today, with some stores and malls open even as early as midnight. I don't mind if you were shopping today, but let's think about it: is it honestly worth pushing a pregnant woman down so you can buy your girlfriend that Gap sweater she really really wants?

Gobble Gobble

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wishing you safe travels and great times with family and friends. We really do have so much to be thankful for. Blessings to you.

For everyone who isn't celebrating this holiday on November 22nd, I wish you a wonderful day as well.

Wide Open Spaces...

...is now in stock and shipping from Amazon.com.

Wide Open Spaces: Beyond Paint-by-Number Christianity is the latest book from Jim Palmer, author of Divine Nobodies.

I was introduced to Divine Nobodies a year ago when my friends Pam and Donna were reading/talking about it, but it took me until last summer to get to reading it. After inhaling it in a single day, I was very sorry I waited so long. Divine Nobodies' subtitle is Shedding Religion to Find God...or, in my own words, "Finding God in Life and Love".

I'm eagerly anticipating reading and reviewing Wide Open Spaces, just as soon as I'm able.

I have a little story to tell which I have been saving, and this seems like an appropriate time to share it.

In early August, I was reading Divine Nobodies, and I stumbled upon Jim's Turn Love Inside Out project. There is a two part interview with Jim, found HERE and HERE, which explains the heart of TLIO. I blogged about it HERE.

Near the end of August, I noticed Jim would be guest-editing the September issue of Bill Dahl's Porpoise Diving Life with the topic being Love, so I submitted two posts I had written. You can read Jim's editorial/introduction to that issue HERE, and find my submissions HERE and HERE. Being the amateur writer I am, I was surprised Jim decided to publish both. (I like to tell people, only half jokingly, he must have been quite short on submissions. ;-)

Not long after the PDL issue, Jim invited me to join his team of writers on the TLIO blog. What?! I was humbled to be invited into such a place, where there are other people "like me", and we are all looking together towards something...something called Love. Love with a capital L.

Backing up just a step...in one of those posts published at PDL I used the word "Agapeology", which I had pulled out of thin air when I initially wrote about it...but I decided I had better check and see if anyone has ever used that word before, so I can give credit where credit is due. So I Googled it. Guess what I found? That term had been used previously, and it shouldn't have surprised me, by Kevin Beck...who also, coincidentally, happens to be one of the other TLIO bloggers.

Do you see a pattern here?

All this points to something. I'm not blind, I can connect dots. I have no clue what God's got up His sleeve with all this. For quite awhile I have been feeling something in me that I couldn't describe. I have struggled with this thing in my heart, almost like a parasite in its unwillingness to give up; I keep trying to kill it because Love as a theology doesn't seem to fit well into most modern incarnations of biblical theology. I have been feeling pretty crazy lately for my waning theology and waxing sense of Love as my foundation, but have found validation and encouragement in these recent events. It's Love. Love. Love as you have been Loved. Love as you would like to be Loved. Love one another. Could it really be that simple? I think so. And I'm thankful to have found a place where I can explore this with other people.

Incidentally, back when I changed Decompressing Faith's subtitle, I almost used "Experiencing The Wide Open Spaces of God". No kidding. Long before I had ever heard of the book. Something strange about that, there is.

God is one freakin' crazy Dude. In fact, I think I'll start calling Him 'Crazy Dude in the Sky'.


If you'd like to know more about Wide Open Spaces, here are some resources:

Amazon
Publisher's Weekly Review
Early Endorsements
Excerpt in RELEVANT
theooze Review
Jim Palmer interview on Next-Wave, by Bill Dahl
YouTube video where Jim talks about Wide Open Spaces
Wayne Jacobsen talks about Wide Open Spaces at Lifestream

7 Random Weird things

I've never been tagged for this one before, so I was glad that Sue thought me worthy. ;-)

The necessary rules:

1. Link to the person’s blog who tagged you.
2. Post these rules on your blog.
3. List seven random and/or weird facts about yourself.
4. Tag 7 random people at the end of your post.
5. Let each person know that they have been tagged.

Aside from the more commonly known weirdnesses about me - pierced nose, pink haired, tattooed...

1) "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" is the ringtone on my Trēo. The bestest "good triumphing over evil" song EVER.

2) I have never read the Bible clear through. Don't think I ever will.

3) The only foreign language I know is French, and that is pretty rusty. OK, I can count to 10 in Spanish, thanks to Sesame Street. No, I do not speak Arabic. (That's an inside joke.)

4) I can interpret people's dreams. I've done it since I was a girl and I'm good at it. Shoot me one and find out.

5) I'm officially left-handed, but ambidextrous in many things. I can write legibly right-handed, but I can't use scissors right-handed. Go figure.

6) I refuse to listen to classical music. It makes me CRAZY bored.

7) My husband is weird too (though not as weird as me). Our wedding bands look like the photo above.



Now I am supposed to tag seven people, but I'm not sure if I know seven people who haven't already played this one...let me know in the comments if you'd like a tag and I'll tag you.

What WAS that Song?

Gone are the days of wondering what that great song you just heard was...listening to a station for hours on end hoping they will play it again....or trying to get through to the radio station by phone so you can ask what it was.

Welcome to the internet age.

For those of you (anyone?) who still listen to regular FM radio, in your car or whatever, and are a music buff like I am, you might be interested in this.

Today I discovered Yes.com.

Yes.com logs up to a week worth of playlists from many FM radio stations. You can look up a station by call letters or position on the dial...although the position (97.1, for example) will bring up every station in the nation that broadcasts at that location...you just have to scroll down until you find the one you want.

There are three tabs: Chat ( I haven't tried) Top Songs (most requested/played for that station) and Song Log. On the Song Log tab, you can choose a day and an hour to see a list of what was played during that time. Keep in mind if a station has periods of time where it doesn't play music (like a talk show), there will not be any results for that time period.

Very handy for that day you might hear a song you like but the DJ doesn't say what it was. Just remember what station you were on and approximately what time of day you were listening, and look it up.

I thought it was cool, but maybe I'm a dinosaur for still listening to radio once in awhile. It came in very handy today for a song I heard yesterday.

All the stations I ever listen to here in the Portland area are on there; check it out and let me know if the station(s) you listen to are included.



P.S. I'm NOT going to tell you what song I looked up. Some things we never admit, like our age and our secret musical tastes. Let's just say it was a shameful favorite from the 90's. I couldn't remember who the artist was and I wanted to buy it.

What Gives you Peace?

I have a theory I want your input on.

A good friend of mine has a difficult decision to make. It's one of those "could go either way", decisions where logic tells her one thing and yet she feels her spirit is telling her another. She and I had a long conversation about it today...hashing out all the details, looking at every angle....and in the end, I told her it is something where no one can tell her what to do, save for God Himself.

The one thing I keep going back to, not only in my own life but when having these kinds of conversations with others...it's a question I ask:

"What gives you peace?"

In my own life, I have used this question as a decision-maker for years, however it wasn't until recently that I was able to articulate it.

It is my belief that God wants us to make wise decisions, which is part of the reason He gave us His Spirit, to bear witness to us when we have questions. I believe when the Spirit guides us, we will have peace.

I also find that God's will for a situation often defies human logic...I'm not talking about moral decisions such as whether or not someone should use drugs...I'm talking about the decisions where either direction could be God's will.

Do you find that in your life when faced with a decision, one choice will seem more logical and the other will seem to "feel right" for no apparent reason, even if it is illogical? If so, do you think this question works when seeking an answer, based on the idea that God will give us peace when we make right decisions and we will feel unease in the other?

Does this theory stand up to real life for any of you? Do you think the question "What gives you peace" would work for you in seeking God's will at times of uncertainty? Do you already use some similar notion to help in decision making? Or is this just some strange idea I have....

Magazinial Outreach?

November 15th Synchroblog: Money and the Church

"Magazinial Outreach"

**About a year ago, I wrote a post as a reaction to the huge quarterly magazine my CLB publishes. If you'd like to read that original post, you can find it HERE. Be aware, there is cussing and tangible bitterness in that one.

My CLB is a megachurch with all the trimmings, including the publication of a 20-30 page full-color quarterly magazine (or at least last time I checked). This magazine was printed in vast quantities and made available for free in the church foyer. For a number of years, I was an eager consumer of said magazine: enjoying the inspiring articles, appreciating the details about programs, ministries and classes, and believing it was an excellent way to inform people of awesome things going on there. In my mind, it was an "outreach".

About a year ago (about two years post-church), my husband went to a service at our CLB and brought home a copy of the current church magazine. My reaction surprised me; I no longer appreciated this publication; instead, I was thoroughly irritated at this behemoth icon of modern consumeristic church, appalled at myself for ever having "subscribed" to it.

I recognized this reaction as a change in my mindset. Suddenly, it represented meals which were not on the plates of children in my community, people being evicted from their homes and the elderly who cannot afford their medications. And I was entirely surprised at the passion and depth of this change in my heart. As in the original post I referenced, this passion involved a great deal of cussing.

Recently there has been talk about a certain megachurch's admission that they may have missed the mark in their creation of attractional programs and outreach. Some reactions to that admission have spoken of the difficulty in changing the ways of a megachurch; or like Amy Grant sings, "It takes a little time to turn the Titanic around". Often, this is used as an excuse not to even try, because it honestly seems impossible to convert an attractional church from its ways. Maybe we emergissional types are to partly blame for that "impossible" attitude. We may seem to desire an instantaneous change in these Titanics; asking far too much as evidence of change.

A few years ago, Readers Digest initiated a "Change One" campaign, aimed at helping people improve their health by simply changing one bad habit at a time. I wonder if the same could be applied to church...rather than demanding systemic change in a megachurch, what if we askde the leadership of these churches to simply change one thing? (At least for now). One suggestion I have is to consider discontinuation of the big honkin' church magazines, dedicating the savings to real-life outreach, rather than "magazinial" outreach.

Assuming a large church might normally spend as much as $15,000 (or more) on a quarterly publication, every three months this magazine possibly equals:

• Help putting food on the tables of 100 families. - or -
  
• Help for 100 families with their rent/mortgage - or -
  
• Help with the medical expenses of 100 or more people.
• Or some combination thereof.
  

Instead, all that money sits in neat little stacks on cute little tables by every church entrance, eagerly waiting to go home with someone, and let's face it, eventually ending up in the trash or recycling. It's not feeding anyone, housing anyone, or improving the health of anyone.

I understand an obvious concern with making important information available to people who need it. However, this church has a comprehensive and expensive website where this publication is available for download. Many American churchgoers do have internet access; why not print a small quantity of simple, black-and-white flyers for those who don't? These flyers could contain all the pertinent information, without the bells and whistles such as photos and articles, and this could be done quite inexpensively. Then, simply ask the congregation NOT to take a copy of this flyer if they have internet access.

I understand to some people, even this small step will seem like an impossibility.

To others of us, it might seem like too little, too late.

However, is just "One Thing" really a bad thing? Could we emergissionals learn to recognize small changes, being appreciative of the all the "One Things" some churches are changing? Could we encourage small changes as part of bigger change? Yes, and Yes.

The magazine is simply one example; there are many "One Things" for a large church to choose from.

However, I, for one, no longer believe church magazines are an outreach of any kind.

Thanks for reading.




This post is part of a synchronized blogging event; please visit my fellow synchrobloggers. I will update this list with post links as they become available. If you'd like to participate in this monthly event in the future, e-mail me and I'll hook you up.

Money and Church is the topic. Follow the links, and watch the fur fly!

The Check That Controls at Igneous Quill by Adam Gonnerman

Trusting God: A New Perspective at Eternal Echoes by Sally Coleman
Greed and Bitterness at Square No More by Phil Wyman
But I Gave at Church at The Assembling of the Church by Alan Knox
Moving Out of Jesus Neighborhood at Be the Revolution by David Fisher
Money and the Church: why the big fuss? at Mike's Musings by Mike Bursell
Bullshit at The Agent B Files by Agent B
The Bourgeois Elephant... at Headspace by Lainie Petersen
The Church and Money at Khayna by Steve Hayes
Pushing The Camel at Fenando's Desk by Fernando Gros
Lord, Won't You Buy Me a Mercedes Benz at Hello Said Jenelle by Jenelle D'Alessandro
Walking with the Camels at Calacirian by Sonja Andrews
Money and the Church: A Fulltime Story at The Pursuit by Lew A
Coffee Hour Morality at One Hand Clapping by Julie Clawson
Bling Bling in the Holy of Holies at In Reba's World by Reba Baskett
Money's too tight to mention at Out of the Cocoon by Paul Walker
When the Church Gives at Payneful Memories by Leah
Greed at Hollow Again by Dan Allen
Tithe Schmithe at Discombobula by Sue
Silver and Gold Have We - Oops at Subversive Influence by Brother Maynard
What if We had Nothing by Tim Abbott
Who, or What, Do You Worship at Charis Shalom by Bryan Riley
Zach at Johhny Beloved by Zach Forrest
Wealth Amidst Powers at Theocity by Kirk Bartha

Free(d) to Pray

Back in August, Cindy, Lyn and I had this crazy idea for a prayer synchroblog. You can find my Prayer Synchroblog Post HERE and a list of all the participants HERE.

This post is a recap of that event and how it impacted each of us.

Free(d) to Pray

by Lyn Hallewell, Erin Word, and Cindy Bryan

Following a conversation the three of us had about prayer, we decided to run a prayer synchroblog. We wanted to find out how others prayed to God, how did prayer look within the emerging church, and maybe find out that we were not on our own when it came to struggles with prayer. We were overwhelmed with the number of bloggers who took part in the synchroblog - 41 in total. Many new friendships were formed. Time and time again similarities were shown between posts, many of which blew our minds away. We decided to put together a document to pull together the main themes which ran through the blog posts, as we thought this would not only be helpful to ourselves, but to others too. Below is probably more of a summary of our thoughts rather than an in depth look at this event. The three of us have had so many conversations about it, it would make far too long a blog post!

Pulling Away
by Cindy

The bible records hundreds of beautiful prayers from across the ages. They’re diverse and unscripted. They’re passionate, vengeful, ebullient, sorrowful, always real. Yet, some of us in the Church have allowed our prayers to become lifeless words, far removed from the kinds of petitions and praises that flowed from the lips of David, Jeremiah, and Jesus.

A number of the “How Do You Pray” synchro-bloggers confessed in astonishing unison that we had succumbed to the practice of praying by formula—a cheap display designed sometimes to impress (others or ourselves) and sometimes in attempt to coerce God into granting our wishes. It sounds absurd to speak of coercing God; and, of course, it is absurd. We aren’t graven image worshipers who perform vain rituals to gain rewards from the gods.

Are we?

No. At least not anymore.

I was moved by the resolve of so many to determinedly pull away from empty, legalistic forms of prayer. The prevailing sentiment was a desire to be sincere with God, even if it meant not praying at all for a while, or longer, until we get it more or less figured out. From the resulting void grew an awakening to fresh and new—as well as ancient and beautiful—expressions of truth before God. These new and new/old approaches to unshackled prayer inspired and renewed hope for me.

Rising Up
by Lyn

I was not only amazed by how many took part in the synchroblog, but also at the very different styles people used whilst praying. Some people preferred more traditional methods, whereas others used art and other creative methods to pray. There were a couple of key elements which seemed to appear time and time again, though. Those were liturgical forms of prayer, such as Phyllis Tickle's "The Divine Hours", Northumbria Community and The Jesus Prayer. Secondly, breathing seemed to be a term used a lot. The phrase "I'm learning to breathe again" or "Prayer has become natural just like breathing" was used repeatedly. Which led to people becoming more honest, and even reckless with God. Along with this breathing seemed to come stillness and realness with God. One contributor put it like this "Could it be that God is not found in the whirlwind, not in the fire, not in the earthquake… and sometimes not even in the whisper. Might he sometimes be found in the silence?"

More traditional forms of prayer seemed to help people find a rhythm with their prayer life. One blogger wrote "I’ve discovered that liturgy is a balm for me. I know that this is not true for everyone. But for me repetitive prayers become healing and allow God to speak into my life in ways that I have not found before." Another contributor put it like this "The Jesus Prayer is so portable. Powerful. Meaning FILLED. I repeat it gratuitously. I repeat it fervently. It rolls in the back of my mind on some occasions like the surf on the beach. It has in some ways become a part of my pattern in living."

Creative forms of prayer shared included nature walks, photography, painting, meditating on scripture whilst looking at a candle, rock and sand, and even a tool box! Someone who uses art as an expression of prayer wrote this "I pray with art, with images and color that reflect out loud the embers that still burn in my bones. I pray with paint, and glue, and scraps of paper that I collage together."

Prayer, whether done in the old or new, is a way of life, it's a rhythm, like a heart beating. It is finding a way to connect with God that is right for you. There can be no right or wrong, for it is the heart that God seeks.

Gathering Again
by Erin

I often refer to the blogging community as the blogohood, a spin on the word "neighborhood". The word brings up images in my head of Mr. Rogers (for you Americans). Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood is a children's television program that has been around since 1968. Fred Rogers discontinued producing new episodes in 2001, and passed away in 2003, but existing episodes of the show continue on. Every episode, Mr. Rogers began the show with the song "Won't you be my neighbor" (this was, I think, the early precursor to Facebook)…the words went something like this:

It's a beautiful day in this neighborhood,
a beautiful day for a neighbor.
Would you be mine? Could you be mine?...
It's a neighborly day in this beauty wood,
a neighborly day for a beauty.
Would you be mine? Could you be mine?...

I've always wanted to have a neighbor just like you.
I've always wanted to live in a neighborhood with you.

So, let's make the most of this beautiful day.
Since we're together we might as well say:
Would you be mine? Could you be mine?
Won't you be my neighbor?
Won't you please, Won't you please?
Please won't you be my neighbor?

Something amazing happened with this Prayer Syncrhoblog… each of our neighborhoods expanded. I have come out of this experience with a number of wonderful new friends, and for that I am so very thankful… I am touched and encouraged by the new people I have met and the relationships which have grown from that.

But I'm not speaking only of myself. What I have observed beyond myself is of much greater importance to me - I have seen that everyone else made new friends, too. As I make my blog rounds now, I see so many people interacting, people who I believe may not have known each other prior to this synchroblog… and I am so thrilled with. It makes my heart smile.

All I really want for each of us is to have people in our lives who understand us, who can share with us and encourage us. For each of us those people will be different. Some of those people will be our "skin friends" and some will be our online friends. Recently, though, I saw a "coming together" online for many of us that I had not expected, and a growing of each of our neighborhoods.

Won’t you be my neighbor?

Conclusion

Hopefully this post has helped to remind you of the key things which came up from the prayer synchroblog. Maybe you never read any of the posts before and now feel inspired to do so?

Following the synchroblog we asked others to comment on what they had learnt through reading everyone else's posts. A few of the responses are below:

"I learned that many people are learning that prayer is less about the words that you say or the way that you say them. Instead, prayer is more about recognized God as being near and desiring to communicate with us as a father talks to a child."

"I guess my surprise was finding that there were quite a number of people like me, struggling with prayer, either not feeling like we’re “doing it right” (my issue) or not being heard or whatever. I felt sure going into it that most people would be talking about satisfying prayer lives, and there were quite a few who did, but there are a lot of us who find it a struggle for one reason or another."

"This process of redefining my faith and beliefs sometimes leaves me feeling without direction. In the past, I relied so heavily upon rules to guide my spiritual life that I wasn't sure what prayer would be without all the formulas attached to it. To my surprise, it felt free, natural, easy; so much that I think it scared me a bit. Reading the Prayer synchroblog brought me into a community of believers who have found the natural rhythm of breathing with God, confirming to me that this instinctive way I had begun to converse with my Creator was valid and good."

"The Prayer Synchroblog was a good time of reflection and awareness for me. As I read through the many thoughts on prayer, I felt a sense of freedom sweep over me. We are free to worship and commune with the living God, in our own unique way. With this kind of support, being able to express myself without guidelines or judgment has greatly encouraged me to be me."

"I enjoyed writing an article on my prayer life. I enjoyed even more reading other peoples articles on their prayer lives. There was encouragement and questions, ideas and routines... all reflecting the very different people we are, and how we relate to our Creator. I loved being asked to be a part of it, because it meant that I'm slowly connecting to a community of people I really like and respect. I've been given lots of grace and hope to keep going in this journey..so thanks!"

In conclusion, we have learnt that prayer is a personal thing; it is from the heart and should not be legalistic. It is part of our natural relationship with God, which feels to many like breathing, it is a rhythm. Prayer can be many things including creative, meditative and liturgical, there are no rights nor wrongs.

Barriers seems to come down in the prayer synchroblog, people seemed willing to bare their soul and consequently new relationships were formed.

Calling all Innies

What I have learned applies to my life today...

I try to avoid posting more than once per day...this is my third today. It seems I have a lot to say.

Today at The Bridge, the message was about grace....my favorite subject in the whole wide world (aside form 80's music). I think there can never be enough of it and we never are good enough at it so we have to keep practicing. I think grace can never go too far (there is a difference between having healthy boundaries and limiting grace). I love grace because it is what has kept me following Jesus all these years, when no amount of rules, legalism or manipulation could keep me in the fold. Because I know I need so much grace from other people, I cannot live without giving it to others, as well. One thing I do know is sometimes it's hardest to extend grace to ourselves.

I am definitely not the person you want if you are trying to change or fix someone...I am no good at it. But if someone needs love and listening, I'm your gal.

I have been the recipient of much grace these last three years since I left church. My husband, first and foremost, who has never pushed me to return to church, who has understood my reasons for leaving and supported me. Several of my friends from "before" have stuck with me and listened to me whine and held my hand while I grieved the things I lost when I left. It has been a long road, a difficult one. I have come so far and learned so much.

About a month ago, something shifted in my spirit. I have written about it before, suffice to say I suddenly felt the desire to be a part of a local family again. It was a slow shift taking place over probably a year or more, but it culminated in the idea that I would challenge myself to go to church for a month. That's all. Baby steps.

And I have followed through, at least as much as I've been able. I intend to follow through some more in the coming weeks and months. A little at a time. Baby steps. So many things in me have healed and grown and changed. I feel so much healthier. Church feels different.

There is one thing that I have always struggled with, and I need to ask advice from all you Class A introverts who hang around here.

It is something that seems logical but it's something I have never made the connection on. I guess in recent months I have become so much more in touch with my inner introvert, but for whatever reason, I have just now realized this. Church sucks. Not because it "sucks" as in "it's bad", but because it sucks my introvert dry, like a social vacuum on my soul. After church today, I got home and promptly fell asleep for 2 hours. I was worn out. I have had plenty of sleep lately...it was simply the act of going to a new church and being social.

And I realize it is a great deal of the reason it has taken me sooooo long to be ready to take this step.

It's not that I'm shy...please know I love meeting these people and I feel fine about it. I love people when I get to know them. It's getting past that hurdle that I really struggle with. Eventually, as I know people and have friends, I will draw energy from them and I will thrive.

I had to extend grace to myself today (and hopefully others extended it to me) and give myself permission to leave when I needed to, when the service was over.

I just need to ask my fellow innies...how do you cope with this kind of drain on your emotional energy and not come to dread it? How do you protect your innie (by not hanging around and being social after church, for instance) and not seem like you're being rude?

Any thoughts?





P.S. I don't want to write another post tonight, but I have a request: if you would be willing to take a quick moment and shoot up a word for me, I would appreciate it...my stress level has escalated this week (completely unrelated to the subject of this post or my going to church) and it's taking a sudden physical and emotional toll on me. Thank you. Love you all.

WWJDWTC Week 3...uh...4?

So the 30 day WWJDWTC challenge is coming to a close in a few days, except for me.

• Week 1 I was too sick to participate.
• Week 2 I did what I was supposed to do
• Week 3 I was out of town at Off the Map and didn't even post (although on some levels my trip to OTM was pertinent to this exercise...it didn't quite qualify)
• Week 4 (today) I'm being good again

So I'm at week 4 which is really week 3 which is really week 2. Got it? Good.

Today, I went to The Bridge again...last time I was there, several people went out of their way to apologize and tell me it wasn't a "normal" Sunday...today it was what I suppose is considered to be a "normal" Sunday at The Bridge, in which there isn't much normal about it and you never know what is going to happen next. It's kind of like being at a circus. Or in a bar. Or at an AA meeting. It's a place where f-bombs are dropped and smoke breaks are taken, where O'Douls is given as a prize; where Bob and Larry are the butt of jokes. It is a place where those without tattoos, dreadlocks, pink, red, green or blue hair, or unconventional piercings are in the strong minority.

It's called 'being real', folks, and it's some killer crazy fun.

I have to qualify that statement with this paragraph:

There is still powerful "Worship" at The Bridge. There is still "sound teaching" at The Bridge, and there are still highly educated and qualified Pastors at The Bridge. This isn't a free-for-all. The observations I choose to share are anecdotal and serve to make a point, not meant to personify what The Bridge or it's heart is all about. I feel very strongly in the importance of sharing how different, and therefore safe for the misfit like me, this place is. But their heart isn't about being "different" as a purpose or an end, and I absolutely don't want to define it as a place that says "Look how cool and relevant we are". The Bridge, to the best of my understanding, is about loving on anyone who comes through the doors, and ministering to people in any way they can...regardless of who they are, how they look, how they live, or where they do/don't live.

But it is a place that IS different. For one thing, when I was explaining the phenomenon that is The Bridge to my husband, he said, "Well, it sounds good, but I'm not sure I like that the f-bomb is considered to be acceptable church language". I have an important point about that.

When I was involved in my CLB and all the trappings thereof, one thing which was stressed, emphasized, time and time again, was the idea of "being real". The fact is, being real in many church environments is a myth, elusive and invisible...at least in my experience.

We would go to church and pretend we were better than we are. We would plunk our asses in a seat on Sunday morning (or Saturday night), put on our church lady and sing praises to the Lord. The rest of the week we'd cuss, scream at our kids, and gamble, drink, use meth, or partake of pornography. Then on Sunday again, we'd hear a sermon about how important it was to be real, as we sat prim-and-proper in our seats, hearing a proper sermon and singing proper worship songs.

At some point we'd have a small group where we would all still pretend, just a little less deeply, that we were all OK and didn't really struggle with anything serious. We'd share that we overspent the budget, forgot to tithe, or maybe, just maybe, we would share that we fought with our spouse. The problem with this model is when the day would inevitably come where someone would take the call to "be real" to heart, judgement would be so thick you could cut it with a knife. So we were only real to a limited extent. We thrived in the lies and half-truths; the environment where you're only OK until you are not OK.

Why pretend to be something that you're not when you're in Church? Where the hell did that model come from? I would rather be in a church where no one had any illusions about anyone else and we were all comfortable in our broken humanity. Being honest about their imperfections doesn't make The Bridge a perfect church. Instead, they are a place full of perfectly wounded, abused, addicted or formerly addicted, spiritual and/or societal misfits...of which I am one and I fit right in.

I would rather hear one sermon that has the word 'fuck' in it...and not just for effect or to make a point, but simply as natural language...and sing one worship song that says "We don't know how to be sober" (as I did today), than spend the rest of my life in a church where standards are unrealistic and people are false.

A Hot Bed?

Glenn Hager says Portland is a hotbed of emerging Church activity. I don't know that we can claim that, but I am biased and will say I think so. I tend to not care for the word "emerging", but since most of you know what it means (more or less) I'll stick to it here.

Glenn then lists the Portland area emerging-type bloggers and Churches he knows of:

Pam
Rick
Gary
Me

Imago Dei
The Bridge
Evergreen
(and all their respective Pastor-types)

Glenn then asks who else hails from the Rose City area. I can think of a few:

Robert
Donna
Ken (who is organizing our Emergent Cohort)

And other emerging-types from around Oregon:

AJ Schwanz
Nate Bettger
Bill Dahl
Karlene Clark

OK, now you all have to help me out...

Who else belongs on the Portland (and Oregon) emerging hotbed link list?

Also, if you live around Portland, tell me (or Glenn):

Why do you think Portland may be considered an emerging hotbed?

If you read this blog but live somewhere else, do you think your area is an emerging hotbed? Why? If you'd like, blog about it and link back here. We can all learn more about the emerging activity around the world.

Emerging Grace has Moved

For anyone who may have missed it, Emerging Grace has moved!

She is now found at Kingdom Grace.

Be sure to update your feedreader and blog links.

Now, go tell her how much you like her new digs.

Still Learning

I want to introduce you all to my friend "Trailady". In case you didn't figure it out, that's her blogging pseudonym. I don't really remember how we met, but I've known her on the blogs for well over a year. Her life is quite busy at the moment, so I'm not sure she'll have time to respond to this post right away...but I couldn't help but write it.

Among other major transitions she has faced in recent months, she is in the process of leaving her denomination. I have been drawn to her writing because she so beautifully addresses the season of questioning, wrestling, and doubting that anyone goes through when 'leaving church'. She also writes eloquently about nature from time to time, and I always relate.

So anyhow, the other day she posted this on her other blog, Signs & Wonders:

Still Learning

Be patient with me, I'm still learning. I don't have it all figured out.
When I was a kid, I thought I did, but everything's different now.

Don't push me too far, too fast. I'm already hard on myself.
These are truths that must come with time and not from somebody else.

What is God? What is life? What is love? You seem to know it all.
I'm asking my questions, taking a chance and I'm not afraid to fall.

Don't be critical and expect me to thank you. Don't rob me of my journey.
In due time I will reach my conclusions. I will be where I need to be.

My heart is in the right place. Whether you agree or not.
I'm standing tall, my face to the wind, I'm giving it all I've got.

So let your mind rest easy. Don't need to cry for me.
Cry for yourself and all the others who go through life so blindly.

I'm risking it all, to find the truth, I cannot just conform.
And I will stand, knowing who I am, what and Who I'm living for.

"Risking it all to find the truth"...does that resonate with anyone else?

Thanks to Trailady for allowing me to share this. You rock!

Tagged and Tagged

The other day my good friend Cyndi tagged me with a Thinking Blogger Award. This astounds me, because often I don't think enough before I write here...I often speak without thinking at all. But for some strange reason she thinks I make her think and I do appreciate the sentiment, for sure! I'm not going to tag anyone this time around...if I read your blog it's because you make me think. Otherwise you wouldn't be on my blogroll!

Glenn tagged me with the What Would Jesus Say to Me meme which was started by Jim Lehmer. Sonja actually took the wind out of my sails (just kidding) with her post, which was astoundingly similar to what I would say. I think I'm supposed to tag some people, but I'm not going to...rulebreaker that I am today. I want to invite anyone who feels led to answer this one.

About a month ago, Glenn approached me with an idea for the What would Jesus Do with the Church synchroblog idea. I thought it was fantastic, but I kind-of hijacked it from him by adding the "and then DO it" for 30 days angle. I couldn't help it, Glenn's idea was so much in alignment with what God had been saying to me, it just needed to go one step further.

About a week prior to that, God had simply said, "Get off your ass and DO something!"

"Excuse me?"

This shocked me, but not for the reason you might think. God has cussed at me before...I suppose if we make God in our own image, He possesses our vocabulary.

However, I couldn't remember the last time I heard God speak so clearly. He and I have been in this gentle rhythm, like a heart beating or breathing or dancing, for so long, I had almost forgotten what it was like to hear Him actually speak.

Do you remember in Dances with Wolves...Stands with a Fist is grieving her dead husband, but she has fallen in love with Lieutenant John Dunbar? This fact is finally drawn to the attention of Chief Kicking Bird, who is also her adopted father. He is in charge of deciding when Stands with a Fist is no longer grieving and therefore allowed to marry again. One day, he simply walks straight up to her, says "You grieve no more", and walks away.

And suddenly in the last month or so, I have felt that I "grieve no more"...my loss of relationships, church, and religiosity.

It's time to move on.

Therefore, the "Do It" part of this WWJDWTC exercise has involved my (tentative) return to church. This is an experiment, because I am still fearful and cautious, but I think I already know where it's going, and frankly I'm excited.

So what would Jesus say to me?

Honestly, I have no freakin' idea. But I would think it would be something along the lines of:

"Attagirl."

Off the Map Wrap

Off-the-Map: Friends
Off-the-Map: Learning
Off-the-Map: Friday
Off-the-Map: Saturday

There were several other things I wanted to write about this weekend that didn't fit well into the other posts.

One point I wanted to make is how easy it is to be lost in a conference like this...not literally, but emotionally and mentally. There is such a deep well of intellect, experience and theology at an event like this that one might end up feeling a bit out of their league if one isn't presently writing a book, heading a ministry or pursuing a DMin. If one stops to think about it, it will quickly overwhelm.

However the tidal energy in this place was one of passion...passion to treat others as equals (otherlyness)...passion to create space for the marginalized...passion for alternatives to the modern forms and methods of ministry and music. Those passions ebb and flow in ongoing conversations, experience-trading and connections that are made.

Last year we were taught a great deal by Brian McLaren and George Barna. This year we all learned a lot from each other.

I did like the format this year with the wide variety of workshops...my only complaint about that would be that no matter which workshop I was in, I felt as though I was missing something else I wanted to hear equally as much. In other words, it really would have been better to repeat some of the workshops in different time slots so there was more than one opportunity to experience each.

Also, as is typical with Off the Map, this was a conference greatly leaning toward white males. I know the heart of OTM is for this not to be he case...but nonetheless both women and those of a race other than white were clearly in the minority both as speakers and attendees. I don't mean this as a put-down, as I said, I know that OTM wishes this weren't true. This year was a clear improvement over last year in that arena, and I would hope to see it even more so next year.

The other things I want to share have to do with relationships. I love spending time with Pam. Our personalties are so different, but we get along well that we complement each other. I also can't say how much it meant to me to spend time with Ché, my new sister. She and I spent most of the weekend together, going to workshops together, sharing meals, etc. On Saturday afternoon, after the conference, we did some shopping and that was great fun.

Saturday evening, Pam, Ché and I decided we needed to go out on the town. Esther had already left for her return to Vancouver, so it was just the three of us. We found an Olive Garden and had dinner and asked the waiter where we could hear some live music. He recommended a place in downtown Kirkland, so we decided to check it out.

That place didn't turn out to be for us, but we found a venue a block or so away called Calabria. They had a live band playing covers of rock hits from the 70's. We had a few drinks and enjoyed the music. We even danced to songs like Sweet Home Alabama, Heart of Gold and Drift Away.

Sunday morning Ché had to leave fairly early, with 8 hours of travel ahead of her. It was sad to say goodbye because we had such a great time, but here's hoping it won't be too long before we can hang out again.

Pam and I had an entire day to kill, since we weren't expected home until Sunday evening. She met for bit with a family member who lives in the area, while I checked out of the hotel. I happened to have an interesting conversation with the front-desk person. He had heard we had been at a Christian conference and he told me he's a Christian too. We had a great talk about how Christianity isn't about rules or about converting people and I told him about Off the Map. He was interested and said he would definitely check them out. I encouraged him that God has placed him in a job where he has the chance to talk with many people from all over, and to listen to the Spirit when he feels led to share with someone about his faith.

Pam and I decided then to spend some time at Seattle's waterfront Pike Place Market. I had never been there and had a great time perusing the wares and chatting with people. We had some awesome Chinese food for lunch there, where the staff was impressed that Pam knew some Cantonese. I bought some souvenir t-shirts for my boys and then Pam got coffee at the Original Starbuck's across the street from the market, still featuring the original Starbuck's logo.

Then it was time to return home. It really was a fantastic weekend and I'm very glad I went. There were connections made, friendships grown and experiences shared.

Success, if you ask me.

Off the Map - Saturday

Saturday morning I heard Brian McLaren speak on Globalism and God. We came in about 20 minutes late...we just couldn't get going in the morning. So we ended up in the back and couldn't hear all of what was said. He spoke about the mission field and community, and took a series of questions, many of which were about missions. One thing Brian said that stuck with me was this: instead of looking at missions as teaching experiences, look at them as learning experiences. When we go on missions to make people's lives better, paint their houses and teach them the bible, we tend to look at it as if we are giving something to those who are "beneath" us. When we go expecting to learn as much from the people we meet, we begin to see them as equal but simply different.

Last but certainly not least, I had the chance to meet Bill Dahl, editor-in-chief of The Porpoise Diving Life. It was so nice to meet him after having worked with him in May/June; he was warm and friendly and hinted that he will be seeking guest-editors again in 2008.

He read a few pages out of his book with the same title and provided an explanation about how he came up with the name. For one, he is very clear that this is not a "dig" at the popular 40-day program of a similar title. From the introduction of his book, which he shared with us in the workshop:

"There are millions of people on this planet who are never going to buy and read The Purpose Driven Life authored by an avowed U.S. evangelical preacher. Like I've said a number of times publicly, I've read the book three times and have been blessed by it. The Porpoise Diving Life is NOT a dig at the other book. It is a work that moves beyond purpose-driven, as evidenced by our lives, and the millions of others, like us, who don't swim within the purpose-driven safe harbors where many have come to reside in the seas of faith."

Bill also spoke about the "C" bomb...how we have had the A-Bomb and the F-Bomb and now we have the C-Bomb - Christian. Bill says there is no faster way to end a conversation than telling someone you are a Christian...and he is looking for a new word to describe followers of Christ, one with less baggage. He also spoke about his involvement in immigration reform, which he frequently write about.

Bill also emphasized that he welcomes submissions for his Porpoise Diving life. New issues are published each month with e-mail subscriptions in the thousands of people from hundreds of countries. He said he will read anything you send him. He also spoke about how he sometimes reviews manuscripts for publishers and the one must-read that has come across his desk in recent months is UnChristian, by David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons.

Next was the closing session, where we heard from several of the speakers. Jim Henderson asked them who they had met or spoken to during the conference that the rest of us just HAD to meet. When it was Diana Butler Bass' turn, she introduced my friend Pam. You can read more about that encounter at Pam's Blog.

During the conference we also heard a great deal of awesome music. The ones I enjoyed the most were Byword and Agents of Future (of course).

So there you have it. These posts are simply a compilation of my greater impressions and experiences during the conference and not meant to cover any of it in totality. For links to other people who have written about their OTM experiences, go to the Off the Map Live Blog.

I have one more post in me about this weekend. Look for that next.

Off the Map - Friday

First thing Friday morning, I heard Todd Hunter, President of Alpha USA, talk about the changing face of evangelism and how we are not yet in post-modernity but are in a space between the times of modernity and post-modernity. He used some visuals to help us understand the difference between modern evangelism, which consists of talking "down" at people from a platform or stage, and postmodern evangelism consisting of conversing with people at eye to eye, at the same level. It was informative, he definitely has a knack for explaining this changing face of church to those who might not have had any exposure to it yet. I had the sense that this workshop would be best directed to Pastors, but I did enjoy it.

This same workshop also featured Richard Twiss, President of Wiconi (pronounced wi-cho-nee) International. Richard is a Native American (he sometimes refers to himself as Indian, but all my life I've been taught that's incorrect, so I'll say Native American) who is working to help his people integrate Christianity into their own culture, rather than having to adopt a more "white" or "American" culture in order to be Christians. He spoke about how the Europeans came and not only desired to convert the Native Americans to Christianity but taught that in order to be Christians, they had to become like the Europeans and leave their cultural ways behind.

Richard is an incredibly funny man, he had us all in stitches Thursday evening during the introductory session with a series of "white man" jokes. I was telling my 11 year old son about this and he asked "You mean he's racist?" I laughed hard and said "No, I think in the points he was making, 'white man' has to be able to laugh at him/herself because so much of it is true".

During the workshop, he got out his drum and told us he wanted to sing for us. He began what one would perceive to be a very traditional Native American song, but quickly led into lyrics about Jenny Craig. Yes, you heard me right. It was frighteningly funny, but also made a meaningful point about how aspects of one tradition or culture might not translate well into another, and how ridiculous it can sometimes seem to try. I really enjoyed hearing Richard and hope to have the opportunity to hear him again. The consensus from the people I spoke to was that Richard was the highlight for many of us. Cultural awareness is so important today, and every opportunity to learn how to be more sensitive is significant to me - when it is interspersed with humor it makes it all the more enjoyable learning experience.

Friday morning second session, I heard Earl Creps. I wasn't familiar with Earl, but the subject matter sounded quite interesting to me: "Sacred Accidents: Evangelism and Spiritual Formation as Responses to God's Surprises" I truly enjoyed this workshop...it was meaningful to me to hear how God has interrupted Earl's plans and now he and his wife find themselves somewhere they never imagined...living in someone's basement and preparing to plant a church in Berkeley, California (if I remember right). I realy appreciated the affirmation that God works through surprises and accidents as much as He works through our best-laid plans.

I actually sat out the first afternoon session on Friday. I was going to write a blog post, but instead spent a good hour trying to get onto the wi-fi. I found out that lugging my laptop around all day was pointless...the wi-fi couldn't handle the kind of traffic OTM generates. In any case, it was a good opportunity for me to spend some time alone, as I was on high mental overload at this point.

In Friday's second afternoon session, I had the pleasure of hearing Phil "The Why-Man" Wyman and John "JJ The Smu" Smulo speak on, what else, being "friends with Witches". I had been looking forward to this workshop since I heard about it a month or so ago. Way back in May there was this thing called the God for People Who Hate Church conference at Phil Wyman's church, and featured John Smulo, Jay Bakker, Jim Henderson, Karen Ward, Tony Jones...and some other people I can't remember. I listened to all the podcasts from this event and enjoyed them very much. The idea of being friendly with those of the Pagan persuasion is something that has always been in the back of my mind, but of course isn't something we talk about in "normal" churches. I'm so encouraged to hear that there are people out there who are doing this and talking about it.

Friday evening we had something called "Venues". This consisted of four events taking place in different locations around Seattle. Ché and I went to the Cascade People's Center to hear a conversation between Todd Hunter, Phil Wyman and Spencer Burke. Honestly, I was so tired I didn't get a lot out of it, I simply couldn't absorb any more information and can't even remember what was discussed. However, the location was fantastic and beautiful and amazing. A young man who is a Pastor (I cannot remember his name) and works at the center introduced the speakers and told us a bit about the center. It is this incredibly home-y community center that has a daycare, classes for the community and has been undergoing "eco-reonvation" this last year. They now even recycle their wastewater. In the middle of the floor of this center was a huge and incredible sand art project for Dia De Los Muertos (the Hispanic and Latino holiday). The environment made me conscious of how important those with a heart for inner-city ministry truly are.

So that's if for Friday. See Saturday coming up next.

Off the Map - Learning

So now I'll tell you a little about what I learned. I did not take copious notes this year, preferring to be in the moment, to enjoy and experience each event rather than being distracted by note- taking. So what I share will be mostly from memory. So sue me.

During the course of the conference I went to workshops presented by or featuring Todd Hunter, Richard Twiss, Brian McLaren, Jim Henderson, Earl Creps, Phil Wyman, John Smulo, Spencer Burke, and Bill Dahl.

From this list you might think there was a shortage of women speakers; I want to reassure you that was not the case. Yes, the numbers were still skewed, but I was impressed by the variety of women speakers. I just happened not to make it to any of their workshops.

Let me paint a picture for you:

Friday
9:00-10:30 - 3 workshops to choose from
11:00-12:00 - 10 workshops to choose from
1:30-3:00 - 3 choices
3:30-4:40 - 10 choices
7:30 -10:00 - 4 venues

Saturday
9:00-10:00 - 3 choices
10:15-11:15 - 10 choices

Every single workshop was different, meaning having to chose only 7 out of 43 possibilities, so you see, it was impossible to hear every speaker or even most of them. Many of the workshops featured more than one speaker, so that increased the odds of hearing someone, but even so...and you might think that I would be most interested in the women presenters, that didn't actually prove to be true when given the wide variety of subject matter.

Instead, it was necessary to consider several factors when choosing workshops...and one of those factors being, of course, the subjects which interested me, another factor for me is the availability of the Women's Convergence event coming up again in February (10 minutes from my house)...which will make it possible for me to hear a number of women speakers, some of whom were here at OTM. Also, I chose workshops presented by those whom I haven't heard before and/or might not have another opportunity to hear for some time.

OK I just decided I'm going to break this up into two more posts because it is getting rather long. Look for my Friday and Saturday posts coming up next.

Off the Map - Friends

In this post I want to talk a bit about the people I met and visited with and the emotional/relational aspects to this weekend. In another post I will share more about what I learned and the speakers I heard.

Thursday afternoon, Pam and I arrived around 3 PM and had time to kill before the evening session at 7:30, so we decided to drive to the church where the conference was being held and get the lay of the land. Eastside Foursquare is a beautiful church, the architecture was gorgeous, lodge style and was comfortable and welcoming. In some ways it felt like home to me, very similar to the church I grew up in and the church we most recently left. It might have something to do with the denomination, which has (until the last 3 years) always been "home" for me. However, I have to admit that it also gave me the megachurch and denominational heebie-jeebies...it was a bit melancholy because I have now moved so far away from that, and the informationoal flyers on the stall doors in the ladies restrooms, the church "magazine" sitting in stacks around the foyer, and the rack of ministry brochures on the wall signify everything that I am no longer about, everything I have chosen to leave behind.

While we were exploring the church, we ran into Helen Mildenhall. I met Helen at OTM last year, and have kept in touch with her some over this last year, so it was great to see her again. I always enjoy talking with her, and I am sorry she and I didn't get a chance to visit much over the weekend, but with so much going on it's difficult to connect with everyone.

Pam and I ran into John Smulo in the lobby, and I have to say it was nice to finally meet this legendary blogger. He was friendly and easy to talk to, and I was glad to have more time to chat with him later on during the conference. Pam and I sat with him during this first session, where (being the official OTM blogger) he was quietly tapping away on his laptop so that everyone out there in cyberspace can glean a taste of this event. I didn't take any notes at this time, but you can read more about what we heard during this session at John's blog and by checking out this list of others who have written about it. This session consisted primarily of introductions to the speakers and some of the workshop presenters, and general information on what Off the Map is all about.

I also met a number of other people this evening, including Kathy Escobar, who I also did not get nearly enough time to talk with. She and I met through the Faith in a Dress project, and have gotten to know one another a bit since then. Kathy co-Pastors The Refuge, an alternative church in the Denver area, where they are "committed to the marginalized, the oppressed, the ones on the fringe of their faith, of society, the ones who are asking tough questions and know there aren’t any easy answers, ones that are seeking a deep, purposeful life with God and are tired of the status quo." I have enjoyed talking with Kathy and hearing about what they are doing there, because it is similar to what I envision church to be, and I think very much like what I will find at The Bridge.

Pam and I also met Benjamin Ady, who is one of the moderators of OTM's Justice and Compassion blog. Ben organized the Friday night Bloggers dinner, and was thoroughly cool to meet. I don't know him at all, but talking with him a bit over dinner was interesting and insightful. He is someone who is energetic and always laughing, (and as John noted, has a memorable laugh) making people feel comfortable and welcome.

I was eagerly watching the door for my friend Ché to arrive...I was so looking forward to meeting her. But the session started and I still hadn't seen her, and I worried a bit that she ran into trouble on her way down from B.C.

Towards the end of the meet-and-greet segment, I saw Ché walking towards me...she must have recognized my pink hair, LOL, and it was nice to finally meet her. We met online last summer and quickly connected. Since then, we have had extensive e-mail conversations, and I can safely say that while our lives are different, we have very much in common (including personality type). During our conversations, I felt like she would enjoy an event like Off the Map, so I mentioned it to her, and invited her to room with Pam, Esther and I. Because Pam is an extrovert extraordinaire, it was nice to have someone for my introvert to hang with, who understood the need to be away from people from time to time during this event. It's easy for an innie to become overwhelmed at the sheer volume of information and the huge number of people to meet and be around at a conference like this. I have learned that I have to protect my introvert at times like this or I will become tired and grouchy. Ché and I were able to spend time together through workshops, over meals and while shopping, during the course of the weekend, and I feel as though I have a new sister.

I can't remember now, but either Thursday evening or Friday morning (it's all a blur) I was approached by Barb Orlowski. (It must have been the pink hair again). As many of you know, Barb is doing research about the church-leaving phenomenon. I had several opportunities to talk with her, as she was staying in the same hotel as we were. When Barb initially approached me several months ago about her study, I had reservations - not about her or the research, but personal issues that I thought would prevent me from participating. After meeting her and talking with her about it, I am happy to say I will be participating in her study. If you would like more information about what she is doing, e-mail me and I can put you in touch with her.

On Saturday, I had the pleasure of meeting Bill Dahl, publisher of The Porpoise Diving Life. As you might remember, Pam and I had the chance to guest-edit PDL in June of this year, and I was impressed with Bill's demeanor, not only for his willingness to allow women to take over his publication for a month, but for the sheer breadth of theological views he allowed us to publish there, with nary an objection. So I was thrilled to hear he was leading a workshop, and I made a point to be there so I could introduce myself...yet once again, someone knew who I was before I said my name.

I was hoping to meet Gary Means, but due to pressing work projects, he was unable to attend. I certainly understand and appreciate how that happens, but I was hoping to pick his brain about some things.

Off the Map is the kind of event where it's easy to feel lost among the Pastors, authors, theologians and other important people. However, in my experience these last two years, it is also an event where ideas are exchanged, ministries are birthed and visions are expanded, even for a lowly blogger and observer like myself.

I'm sure there are many more people I met whom I am forgetting...I will write about those encounters as I think of them...my brain is overloaded and my recollection of the weekend's events is a bit slow. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the connections and look forward to doing it again.