Princeton, Willow Creek, and DC
I spent Sunday through Tuesday at the Envision Conference at Princeton University. The highlight of my time there - all of which was important and good - was the round table on the emerging church ... It was done in a Pecha Kucha format, planned and organized by Keelan Downton. Each presentation came through like poetry.
Especially impressive to me was the diversity of the panel - An Asian American man (Al Hsu), an Anglo American woman (Bowie Snodgrass), an African man (Claude Nikondeha - who flew 30 hours from Burundi to be there), an Anglo American man (Doug Pagitt), an African American woman (Alise Barrymore), an Australian man (Michael Smitheram), a Native American man (Randy Woodley), and a Latino man (Gabriel Salguero). With the sheer creativity and vitality of their presentations, the range and depth of content, the mix of humilty, sincerity, and hope ... I had tears in my eyes through much of the time.
Then I spent Wednesday and Thursday at Willow Creek in Chicago. I've been a fan of Willow Creek since the beginning. Even when many people were critical, I've always felt that Willow's leadership was so extraordinary that it was a mistake to caricature Willow or in any way count them out. They have kept learning and leading, and my honest feeling from being there twice in recent months is this: Willow Creek's most powerful contributions are still ahead of them. Seeing Nancy Beach in action this week confirmed this confidence - as did hearing reports of the recent Celebration of Hope launched by the church - in my mind, an event of historic proportions that I hope you'll be hearing more about soon. Bill Hybels' vision seems to me to be more prophetic and incisive than ever ... stay tuned on this.
So, I'm home today, recovering from a lot of travel, preparing to speak at the Sojourners' Emerging Leaders Dinner tonight here in DC, part of the Pentecost 08 gathering. I'm very encouraged. Good and beautiful things are happening.
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doug pagitt interview, part deux
continued from yesterday ...
Brian. What kind of feedback have you gotten on the book so far?
Doug: Really good response from people who are saying, "not only did I really like the natural, hopeful message of the book but I have a bunch of friends who think the way you do and have never been able to connect with Christianity". And many responses like, "These are the kinds of thoughts I have had deeply hidden in my soul for a long time."
And I am getting really negative response from the fringy, hard-core ...
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Todd Hunter’s New Site – Worth Checking Out
My friend Todd Hunter has a new website ... he's involved with a new venture that I think has tremendous potential. Check it out ...
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Reflecting on Tuesday evening
Jim Wallis wrote a moving piece about his response to Barak Obama's speech Tuesday night. Jim recalled the racial situation of our childhood years and called this a transformational moment.
As I read the beautiful comments posted in response, I was surprised by how many people said they - like Jim - had tears running down their faces as they heard Barak's speech Tuesday night. I was among them.
I hope that all of us - Republican, Democrat, and other - will pause to celebrate the significance of these days, and I trust that we Americans will seize the moment to strengthen our common bonds and further heal from our racially divided past ... rather than let the inevitable heat of the election cause racial tensions to simmer again.
The recent xenophobic violence in South Africa reminds us - especially those of us who are part of the white majority - that we must "pursue what makes for peace" and seek to be makers of peace and seekers of justice, as Christ taught. In America, that means being increasingly aware of the prejudice and injustice our neighbors - especially our Native American, African American, Latino, Asian American, and other ethnic groups - have experienced and still experience here in America. May we seize this moment, not only to celebrate the progress we've made in 40 years, but also to continue the transforming process in light of the gospel of reconciliation, so that future generations will experience the fruit of our continuing commitment to the justice and peace of God.
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sojo post part 2
Here's the second part of my most recent posting at God's Politics ...
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