Thursday, October 05, 2006

TWO METHODISTS AND A SAINT WALK INTO A BAR...

Like I said earlier this morning (last night for me actually), Gavo and I hit the road in the wee hours of the night to head to Kansas City for a colloquy/conversation between theologians and ministry practioners to talk about what role the emerging church plays in relation to the umc and vice versa. This was an invite only dealio but somehow I managed to persuade someone that they needed a token methodist from "Da Eastside". I'm not sure but that's my best guess as to how I'm here.

So here we are right now in the car racing along interstate 70 about 20 minutes from downtown Kansas City- Me, Gavo and St. Augustine. That's right St. Augustine's on pilgrimage with me too. One of my practices this weekend will be to engage two readings from and about Augustine. One is a wonderful book that I read over the summer and am going back to read again- "You Converted Me: The Confessions of St. Augustine" translated by Robert J. Emonson with study notes written throughout the book by Tony Jones, published by Paraclete Press. I love the translated version of this book and Tony's casual and insightful notes makes it feel like I have Augustine as a travelling companion alongside Gavo, as the ancient saint shares with me his life story and invites me to consider his faith and how it might inform my own. If you are looking for a devotion book you might consider it.

Augustine is also speaking words of wisdom from premodernity through Michael Hanby's book- Augustine and Modernity. This is a book in the Radical Orthodoxy series. Now this one is a little heavier reading but a perfect match for pilgrimage to a sacred space where we will be discussing the shift in ministry and life from modern ways of thinking and "doing" church to postmodernism (i would argue that we are still knee deep in the hold of modernity but quickly moving past it into something very different).

This pilgrimage for us feels much like other pilgrimages we've taken together- prayer books in the back seat, camera, road trippin sharing stories about life, good music (burlap to cashmere at the moment), looking for the sacred in most every moment, etc... the traffic cop pulling us over was a whole new adventure to the trip. What is very different this time around is our location. We have two destinations for our pilgrimage. The first stop in which we will be arriving in just a few minutes is Jacob's Well which is one of the "emerging congregations" that have been a model for the emerging movement. We'll be having lunch with Mo, their youth pastor and listening to how an emerging congregation equips for youth ministry.

The rest of the weekend we'll be hooking up with our buddy Jay Voorhees and pal Ingrid (who is currently in DC at Wesley School of Theology) chillin' at The Church of the Resurrection in Kansas City where Adam Hamilton is the Sr. Pastor. I hear this is a pretty big congregation. We'll see what else comes out of this weekend. More to come.

shalom,
j.

1 comment:

Jonathon said...

sweet!! i had no idea you were in nashvegas that often!!