Hosted by Lockerbie Central United Methodist Church in Indianapolis, November 12-14, 2009.
We'll get a "Lockerbie Immersion" complete with their signature "Dinner and a Movie Thursday" on Thursday, plus a "lay of the missional landscape" there from our hosts, and we'll have what I hope will be some great conversations leading to real, on-the-ground commitments about how we'll work individually and collectively to restore missional Methodism where we are and across the connection from that day forward.
Accepting Lockerbie's offer of hosting means you will have next to zero costs for lodging. And we'll have access to great organic food and fair-trade organic coffee and tea onsite at reasonable prices (I ate there last night-- it's quite yummy!)
Watch the blog and the GBOD worship website for information on registration costs (we will incorporate reimbursements to Lockerbie central and some additional support costs into the registration, trying to keep total costs as low as possible)...
And start planning for November in Indy!
Peace in Christ,
Taylor Burton-Edwards
Friday, March 13, 2009
Thursday, March 12, 2009
The Mission Has Us... May It Be So!
From The Work of the People.com...
We are emerging AND missional Methodists... who long to help Methodists and others experience the fullness of both emergence and restoring our missional core...
This video may be one way to get out the missional emphasis... one of many.
How may we get out many many more?
Peace in Christ,
Taylor Burton-Edwards
We are emerging AND missional Methodists... who long to help Methodists and others experience the fullness of both emergence and restoring our missional core...
This video may be one way to get out the missional emphasis... one of many.
How may we get out many many more?
Peace in Christ,
Taylor Burton-Edwards
Saturday, March 07, 2009
Emergence... Biological, Ecclesiological, Neurological and Missional
Companions:
A dialog begins here... and one we need to continue for United Methodists...
And continues here... and we need to talk about this, too...
I responded to Tony on his Facebook page, where he also posted his video response.
For those who may not have Facebook, or have Tony as a friend there, here's what I wrote there (but view his video before reading this!):
Church as emergent reality... spot on.
I don't think this quite means that CHANGE is norm per se, but rather more precisely that ongoing responsiveness-- conscious and unconscious-- to our environment... is the nature of anything that purports to be a living organism. Church certainly does.
The other biological piece I might add into that mix, and to which you already referred a bit in terms of computers as extensions and in some ways instantiations of mind, is that not everything in a biological system is necessarily biological itself. Nearly all biological systems live always in symbiosis with non-biological, non-living and even fairly static realities. Remove that static reality, and the living parts of the system die or are severely challenged.
I think that for too long the church has acted as if the static realities were the one truly reliable thing about us. We've lost our faith in the reliability and resiliency of Life. Maybe we can appreciate both going forward.
There's another piece that can be added here, to which Tony also alludes... the finding of neuroscience that "mind" or "consciousness" is itself an emergent property of "brain-in-network." There is no "little me" in our heads somewhere that sort of directs all that goes on. Our sense of self and moment to moment awareness of everything around us is rather the emergent property of all sorts of things happening very quickly across the interactions of neurons in our bodies and the world around us.
So... several things we might discuss further...
1) Dr Clayton's question about whether the whole concept of emergence in the sciences (a concept which is now compellingly present across biology, neuroscience, psychology, social psychology, physics, cosmology and computer science, to name a few) no longer has a naturalistic "cap"-- but might mean that God could be pulling the whole system forward, luring it forward in some way... and there are no pre-determined limits on what that might mean. (BTW, this is rather similar to process theology, to which Dr Clayton refers in other videos... though some in the evangelical world may never have heard of this or may have dismissed it as heretical on the face of it...)
2) The character of emergence as quintessentially descriptive for what church is or even must be if it is faithful...
3) The concerns and resistances often raised in emerging/emergent circles to institutions and anything static... vs. my observation that in fact nearly all biological systems, to survive, always depend on a symbiosis between "living" and "non-living" entities-- think about how essential rocks or ship hulls are for barnacles as a kind of extreme example, but think, too, how important a constant supply of minerals (which are non-living) are to our health as humans. The translation to ecclesiology might be that institutions (quasi-living, slowly changing fairly stable systems) are symbiotic partners for "movement" which may be seen as sort of the instantiation and ever-moving frontier of mission
4) While Alan Hirsch and others have been wondering (with some good reason) whether "emergent" is missional, in what ways might this larger conversation about emergence help us frame not whether but rather HOW what we're getting at IS missional, and then how to move the UMC more and more in this direction?
Lots to talk about-- this may end up being several posts worth.
But let's start talking. I think this provides at least part of the background conversation we need to be ready to do more than just meet and talk, but actually plan a ground strategy, for the re-emergence of missional Methodism when we gather in the fall...,
Peace in Christ,
Taylor Burton-Edwards
A dialog begins here... and one we need to continue for United Methodists...
And continues here... and we need to talk about this, too...
I responded to Tony on his Facebook page, where he also posted his video response.
For those who may not have Facebook, or have Tony as a friend there, here's what I wrote there (but view his video before reading this!):
Church as emergent reality... spot on.
I don't think this quite means that CHANGE is norm per se, but rather more precisely that ongoing responsiveness-- conscious and unconscious-- to our environment... is the nature of anything that purports to be a living organism. Church certainly does.
The other biological piece I might add into that mix, and to which you already referred a bit in terms of computers as extensions and in some ways instantiations of mind, is that not everything in a biological system is necessarily biological itself. Nearly all biological systems live always in symbiosis with non-biological, non-living and even fairly static realities. Remove that static reality, and the living parts of the system die or are severely challenged.
I think that for too long the church has acted as if the static realities were the one truly reliable thing about us. We've lost our faith in the reliability and resiliency of Life. Maybe we can appreciate both going forward.
There's another piece that can be added here, to which Tony also alludes... the finding of neuroscience that "mind" or "consciousness" is itself an emergent property of "brain-in-network." There is no "little me" in our heads somewhere that sort of directs all that goes on. Our sense of self and moment to moment awareness of everything around us is rather the emergent property of all sorts of things happening very quickly across the interactions of neurons in our bodies and the world around us.
So... several things we might discuss further...
1) Dr Clayton's question about whether the whole concept of emergence in the sciences (a concept which is now compellingly present across biology, neuroscience, psychology, social psychology, physics, cosmology and computer science, to name a few) no longer has a naturalistic "cap"-- but might mean that God could be pulling the whole system forward, luring it forward in some way... and there are no pre-determined limits on what that might mean. (BTW, this is rather similar to process theology, to which Dr Clayton refers in other videos... though some in the evangelical world may never have heard of this or may have dismissed it as heretical on the face of it...)
2) The character of emergence as quintessentially descriptive for what church is or even must be if it is faithful...
3) The concerns and resistances often raised in emerging/emergent circles to institutions and anything static... vs. my observation that in fact nearly all biological systems, to survive, always depend on a symbiosis between "living" and "non-living" entities-- think about how essential rocks or ship hulls are for barnacles as a kind of extreme example, but think, too, how important a constant supply of minerals (which are non-living) are to our health as humans. The translation to ecclesiology might be that institutions (quasi-living, slowly changing fairly stable systems) are symbiotic partners for "movement" which may be seen as sort of the instantiation and ever-moving frontier of mission
4) While Alan Hirsch and others have been wondering (with some good reason) whether "emergent" is missional, in what ways might this larger conversation about emergence help us frame not whether but rather HOW what we're getting at IS missional, and then how to move the UMC more and more in this direction?
Lots to talk about-- this may end up being several posts worth.
But let's start talking. I think this provides at least part of the background conversation we need to be ready to do more than just meet and talk, but actually plan a ground strategy, for the re-emergence of missional Methodism when we gather in the fall...,
Peace in Christ,
Taylor Burton-Edwards
Tuesday, March 03, 2009
Open Source Liturgy Project Developers Conference 2
Companions,
Safiyah Fosua and I at the worship office of GBOD are glad to announce the second Open Source Liturgy Developers Conference, to be held in Nashville, TN, April 30-May 2, 2009. GBOD covers all airfare, lodging, ground transportation and food costs for this conference.
The purpose of this conference is to train folks who will be both writers and mentors for new writers of new liturgical resources that will be made available for anyone, anywhere to use, but which reflect both the depth of ecumenical and historical norms AND the breadth and particularity of indigenous communities. This is liturgy of the people, by the people, for the whole people of God.
Our first conference back in November 2008 was a powerful success. New community gatherings are happening now or about to be scheduled to recruit and develop new writers in Portuguese, Spanish and Native American communities, and more are coming for Afro-Caribbean, Prison, Korean, Vietnamese, Appalachian, small church and university communities... plus United Church of Christ and Presbyterian Church in Canada, to name just a few.
This time around we're making the tent even broader-- with invitations out to even more people in the UMC and even more denominations.
If you think you may be a developer for this project, or know someone who might be, or just want to know more-- leave a comment with contact info here or drop me a line at worship at g b o d dot o r g.
Peace in Christ,
Taylor Burton-Edwards
Safiyah Fosua and I at the worship office of GBOD are glad to announce the second Open Source Liturgy Developers Conference, to be held in Nashville, TN, April 30-May 2, 2009. GBOD covers all airfare, lodging, ground transportation and food costs for this conference.
The purpose of this conference is to train folks who will be both writers and mentors for new writers of new liturgical resources that will be made available for anyone, anywhere to use, but which reflect both the depth of ecumenical and historical norms AND the breadth and particularity of indigenous communities. This is liturgy of the people, by the people, for the whole people of God.
Our first conference back in November 2008 was a powerful success. New community gatherings are happening now or about to be scheduled to recruit and develop new writers in Portuguese, Spanish and Native American communities, and more are coming for Afro-Caribbean, Prison, Korean, Vietnamese, Appalachian, small church and university communities... plus United Church of Christ and Presbyterian Church in Canada, to name just a few.
This time around we're making the tent even broader-- with invitations out to even more people in the UMC and even more denominations.
If you think you may be a developer for this project, or know someone who might be, or just want to know more-- leave a comment with contact info here or drop me a line at worship at g b o d dot o r g.
Peace in Christ,
Taylor Burton-Edwards
Monday, March 02, 2009
News for Sisyphus
Hi all just was putting down some thoughts today, and would love your imput.
News my friend Sisyphus needs to hear
Thanks
Mark
News my friend Sisyphus needs to hear
Thanks
Mark
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