An amazing weekend …
Jonathan Brink and others have been doing a great job blogging (and tweeting) about the excellent weekend we just shared in Albuquerque - over 900 Catholics, Protestants, Anglicans, Orthodox and "none of the above" gathered to consider what it means to be followers of Jesus in these times. It was a tremendous joy to work with Fr. Richard Rohr, Alexie Torres-Fleming, Shane Claiborne, Phyllis Tickle, Bryan Froehle, and Karen Sloan. And everyone agreed - nobody could have been better hosts than the amazing people at Center for Action and Contemplation, led by Brian Picha and CeCe Shantzek.
I felt especially grateful for the way that the event communicated the emerging priorities of the emergent conversation ...
1. A fresh vision of Jesus, rooted in the canonical gospels rather than in later theological debates. This fresh vision of Jesus and the kingdom of God brings a new perspective on Paul and the whole Bible as well.
2. A profound commitment to spirituality - including what Richard calls "the contemplative way," and what Phyllis celebrates in the "ancient practices."
3. A priority for holistic mission, especially committed to justice and peace-making, and especially concerned for the poor and marginalized, as Alexie so beautifully shared.
4. A celebration of community, as Shane shared, that emphasizes the empowerment of all the people of God - which our closing eucharist conveyed beyond words.
5. A relational partnership among Roman Catholics, Mainline Protestants, Charismatics and Pentecostals, Evangelicals, Orthodox, and all who wish to follow God in the way of Jesus. What hierarchs and institutions have valiantly struggled to do for decades, "common Christians" also did around the tables in Albuquerque: engage in mutual listening, sharing, honoring, and appreciating ... in the Holy Spirit. It was a beautiful thing to experience.
I returned to my home airport late Sunday night to find my car window smashed from a break-in - but I felt so full and energized by the weekend that I found myself consoling the parking garage attendant who came to help me contact the police. "Most people are totally freaked out when this happens," he said. "Thanks for being so calm and considerate."
The slides from my Friday talk are already available here on the site (drawn from EMC sessions 2 and 5), and we'll put the slides I shared on Sunday up ASAP. For those who missed the gathering, CAC will make CD's and DVD's available. We're tentatively hoping to re-convene again next year - April 9-11. Stay tuned ...
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No breakfast tomorrow … stay tuned
A group of us in the Baltimore-Washington area meets every month or so for breakfast - and we were planning to meet tomorrow, but I need to reschedule. (In part because our meeting place went out of business!) I'll announce another date soon.
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Round-up
I leave in a few hours for a gathering in New Mexico ... but before I go ...
Alan Bean just let me know that I showed up in unlikely company here ...
My friend Todd Hunter has finally written the book many of us have been hoping for him to write for years (Christianity Beyond Belief: Following Jesus for the Sake of Others) ... available here.
Troy Jackson offers a hopeful but realistic assessment of Evangelicalism here.
Zach Exley offers some insightful reflections on capitalism and the economic crisis here.
Got this encouraging note from the daughter of a Southern Baptist preacher (More below the jump ...)
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A new abolition movement?
Below the jump I've included the "deepshift" newsletter we recently sent out. (You can subscribe here.) There's also a plug for some upcoming Dialogue Forums being put together by my wonderful friends and colleagues Linnea Nilsen Capshaw and Denise Van Eck - worth checking out for folks who have read Everything Must Change and want help in putting it into practice.
The newsletter talks about the abolition of nuclear weapons, but my friend Tom Austin reminds me that small arms cause 90% of civilian casualties ... and merchants of death like Victor Bout grow wealthy through the small arms trade.
Speaking of small arms trade, Russell sent this link reporting that the US was the only nation to oppose a recent Arms Trade Treaty. Depressing. Hopefully this too will change.
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The “H” Word/Worth Reading
Certain communities of Christians like to lob the "A" word (apostasy, not adultery) and the "H" bomb (heresy) quite a bit. (Their unspoken and unquestioned assumption, of course, is that they are themselves beacons and defenders of the "O" word[orthodoxy], which is a tough job for an elite few, but somebody's got to do it. But that's another story.) There's been a fascinating employment of the "h-bomb" going on over at Associated Baptist Press. In fact, some good PhD's could be earned studying the rhetoric of inquisition in contemporary Evangelical debate in the blogosphere. Miguel de la Torre's response here is insightful and well worth reading.
Speaking of worth reading ... Diana Butler Bass's A People's History of Christianity: The Other Side of the Story is now available. What a tremendous book. Don't miss it.
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