Emergent Village Coordinating Group – 1
As I sit in the Solomon’s Porch sanctuary, I thought I would drop a quick update of how things are going. Yesterday I flew in to Minneapolis to participate in the Emergent Coordinating Group Meetings over the next few days. I was picked up from the airport by John Musick, pastor of the emergent shaped Vineyard, Bluer (the name which inspired me to name a church called the Red Greener). Having wonderful friends and urban partners with the Vineyard in Winnipeg, I was excited to meet John, who has been kind enough to put me up for my time here.
Yesterday afternoon & evening was a great time of meeting new people and connecting with several I have only known via blogs & emails. I spent the first part of the afternoon with Jeff Kursonis, a former YWAMer (if there is such a thing) who now a church-planting pastor of Communion of the Arts, a new kind of faith gathering, especially drawing people in the various arts expressions. Having someone else here familiar with YWAM & Emergent Village is great. He is also a great guy and a great new friend.
That evening we attended Solomon’s Porch, which was excellent. The physical space is a refreshing mix of traditional building style (stain glass & pipe organ included), but is designed to be an incredibly inclusive, comfortable and warm space that brings everyone together, worshipping, relating and growing together as a family, not an institution. Certainly it is very different than many other churches, making it challenging at times, but the gracious leadership & community helped any new comers participate easily.
Instead of preaching, Doug Pagitt invited all of us from the Coordinating group to gather a few people around us and share where God has us right now. This was an easy place to engage people personally, sharing passions and connecting with people you didn’t know. I was somewhat disappointed to not participate in Doug’s very unique approach to preaching, but it was excellent regardless.
After church, our first meetings began at the church over some excellent pizza. The first evening was about introductions, sharing our passions and wrestling with the issue of identity and practices of being Emergent. Tony Jones also shared that Emergent Village, as opposed to just Emergent, is being intentionally put forward as the official name. I think this is an excellent move, given the much wider use of the word emergent throughout the global conversation, not to mention the multiple other disciplines using the term and concept.
Above all, the best part of the first day was hanging out and getting to know people. While I name everyone, people that were great to connect with were Andrew Seely, Tony Jones, Dwight Friesen (a fellow Manitoban), Doug Pagitt, and so many others. A couple more days of meetings, so more to come!
