Emergent Gathering 2005
As a response to the first 2 Emergent Gatherings (2003, 2004) I felt compelled to write a rather lengthy memoir-blog that would contains hints of the kinds of impressions that were left on me from the experience. Well, now it's been a couple of weeks since returning from the 3rd such pilgrimage and I am still uncertain about what would be good to articulate.
This was the first time my wife got to go with me, and I was delighted to have her free to taste this little glitch of communal kindness for herself. There, too, was one of our housemates, Heather, and one of my deepest soul friends from my previous life as a student minister in South Carolina, Rod.
The number of people in attendance jumped from 60ish last year to 165ish this year. Although this definitely changed the dynamics of the breakout discussions and the availiblity of certain charismatic figures, the overall flavor remained remarkably consistent.
For all the things being said in so many "churchy" circles about the good, bad and ugly associated with the words "emerging" and "emergent," please allow me to simply offer this as my concluding remark about each of the Gatherings thus far:
How many large-scale Christian events have you attended in your life that were utterly characterized by the things each attendant had in common with one another, namely identification with the transforming work of Jesus, rather than the boringly obvious differences? In retrospect, it seems that most of the structured Christianity I have ever witnessed has been defined by what it is NOT (liberal, moderate, Catholic, new age, abstaining from certain social morays, etc.) rather than by what it IS.
Shema! Herein resides a slowly-developing group of people from across all kinds of denominational, theological, political and geographical lines that have embraced one another in true Christian charity, partly because we need each other, and partly because we need to believe that Christian charity still exists. None of us have things figured out and all of us experience increasing isolation from the very monoliths that may have first nurtured us in faith. We have no idea what to do next. We do, however, know precisely Who to be as we navigate through the great continental drift of our age. And we will urgently and faithfully love each other towards this Being who reigns above the chaos and concurrently abides within it with us. Shalom.
This was the first time my wife got to go with me, and I was delighted to have her free to taste this little glitch of communal kindness for herself. There, too, was one of our housemates, Heather, and one of my deepest soul friends from my previous life as a student minister in South Carolina, Rod.
The number of people in attendance jumped from 60ish last year to 165ish this year. Although this definitely changed the dynamics of the breakout discussions and the availiblity of certain charismatic figures, the overall flavor remained remarkably consistent.
For all the things being said in so many "churchy" circles about the good, bad and ugly associated with the words "emerging" and "emergent," please allow me to simply offer this as my concluding remark about each of the Gatherings thus far:
How many large-scale Christian events have you attended in your life that were utterly characterized by the things each attendant had in common with one another, namely identification with the transforming work of Jesus, rather than the boringly obvious differences? In retrospect, it seems that most of the structured Christianity I have ever witnessed has been defined by what it is NOT (liberal, moderate, Catholic, new age, abstaining from certain social morays, etc.) rather than by what it IS.
Shema! Herein resides a slowly-developing group of people from across all kinds of denominational, theological, political and geographical lines that have embraced one another in true Christian charity, partly because we need each other, and partly because we need to believe that Christian charity still exists. None of us have things figured out and all of us experience increasing isolation from the very monoliths that may have first nurtured us in faith. We have no idea what to do next. We do, however, know precisely Who to be as we navigate through the great continental drift of our age. And we will urgently and faithfully love each other towards this Being who reigns above the chaos and concurrently abides within it with us. Shalom.
posted by gdwill at 1:59 PM
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