emergingumc : day two

"church work is not the work of the church." -jay voorhees

i had to miss out on the final day of emergingumc. still, day two (the only full day) was a great deal of fun. we did have some 'workshop' type settings through the day. i skipped a many of them and opted for informal conversations with different participants. most of the workshops/sessions i did sit in on i tried recording. carl did as well, so maybe between the two of us we will have some audio of the sessions. this should be cool, cause after talking with some of the presenters, each session had some distinct differences.

had some great conversations over lunch & dinner. david, the conference youth coordinator for kentucky conference, had some discussions over the many youth ministry voices that are part of the emergent conversation. would there be a need or a place for putting together some place for a formal youth ministry emergent gathering/conversation? a bunch of us from the southeast area resurrected an idea of putting together a southeast regional gathering for "emergents in the biblebelt" or something of that nature. examining practices within our regional context. so, more projects, just what i need. &:~)

i had dinner with jim & don which was some excellent conversation. so many stories and perspectives on ministry, too many to recap. i suppose if had to give some glimpse of that time it might be. don't take notes on what they do to replicate it, just know that their stuff just happened from being present to their communities. relationships are the ministry. connect with the arts. it is not all roses.

joined a larger group and then said my goodbyes. a good two days where i feel we all have new kindred spirits and friends, or our emergent terminology, a "generative friendship."

Comments

[Mike]

That's basically what I got from the weekend: why create a community that is a "sanctuary" from the world? Be a sub-community in the community where you are located. keep as many streams open to the larger community as possible. Sort of like Wesley's renewal movement in Anglicanism with the "ekklesiola in ekklesia" (little church in the big church).