The Nashville Cohort

Cohort Returns with a new/old location

2012-01-31T10:11:00.000-08:00

We're back this month at out our new location... the Flying Saucer;)

The results of the survey are in and we have a photo finish.
Splitting the vote almost evenly was the Flying Saucer and St. B's rectory with the Saucer eeking it out in the end.

So, with the Cathedral's generous offer for the cohort to park there for free each month we will continue at the Flying Saucer for now and run special events at the rectory.
Thanks to everyone who chipped in and gave their two cents.

This month's meeting:
We meet again this Thursday February 2 from 11:30-1:00 with a debate that was hot a month ago but bears exploration still.
Do Jesus do football? A conversation about tragedy, Tim Tebow, and the Soverignty of God.
We'll watch an SNL skit and listen to an NPR story to kick start our conversation about this nuanced topic.

Christ Church Cathedral has offered their parking lot to us free of charge (click the link for directions to 900 Broadway).
So, all that is required to park there is to go into the building and sign in as a guest of the cathedral.

See you all Thursday!
D

The Cohort debates: Incarnational Vs. Missional this Thursday

2012-01-03T06:26:00.001-08:00

This month we will discuss the difference between a church that is incarnational and missional. Is there a difference between these two theological and missiological perspectives? Does it matter? If not, why are folks parsing it out the way they are?
Come out this month for the discussion at the Flying Saucer (for the last time).

Also, I'll have news about our move to a new space.

For this month Christ Church Cathedral has offered their parking lot to us free of charge (link the link for directions to 900 Broadway).
So, all that is required to park there is to go into the building and sign in as a guest of the cathedral.
Thanks Chris Klopp for providing the space to make that happen.

See you all Thursday,
D

Cohort in Transition

2011-12-01T08:47:00.000-08:00

Greetings everyone,
Today was suppose to be the December meeting of the Nashville Cohort however we are not gathering today. The reason is because we are in transition.

Our meeting space at the Flying Saucer, while great in so many ways, has become increasingly unsuitable for our needs. Because of parking issues and the cost of such things we are looking for a new place to gather.
I have been searching Nashville for a new location with no luck yet.

I hope to settle all this and have our new space decided by our January meeting.

Until then, if you've got any ideas please let me know otherwise have a blessed Advent, Christmas and Epiphany.

Peace and good things,
D

Hangout w/ Mark Scandrette Thursday, 11/10

2011-11-04T12:49:00.000-07:00

Hey all,
The Nashville Cohort is hosting an "unofficial" reception for author/speaker Mark Scandrette next Thursday, November 10.
We'll gather around 8:00pm at the 12 South Tap Room (http://12southtaproom.com/) and hang out for a while (or until the music gets too loud).

Let Dixon know if you're planning to come so he can reserve some good space.

See you then!

P.S. If you still want to come to the workshop Mark is doing Thursday morning you can register here http://sharedpath.eventbrite.com/.

Gender at the Cohort Thursday

2011-10-31T10:41:00.000-07:00

The Nashville Cohort convenes this Thursday November 4 to talk about that most elusive of topics - Gender.
What does it mean to created male and female in the image of God? What makes woman-ness and man-ness? Is it more than anatomy? Does it matter?

Dixon will kick-off the conversation with a reading from his forthcoming book about this fascinating topic.

We'll see you in the pool room at the Flying Saucer, 11:30 on the 4th.
Call in your lunch orders by11:00 if you get the chance.
Peace,
D

www.nashvillecohort.blogspot.com
---
Dixon Kinser
Nashville Cohort
dixonkinser@me.com
615.496.2008

You're a Wonder - Nashville Cohort!

2011-10-04T09:08:00.000-07:00

Greetings all,

The Nashville Cohort officially convene this Thursday October 6 with a conversation about what we are wondering.
What frustrates you about faith? What are the leading questions you are wrestling through? What epiphanies have you recently experienced?
Bring these to share this Thursday for our round table about life, faith and the kingdom of God,

We'll see you in the pool room at the Flying Saucer, 11:30 on the 6th.
Call in your lunch orders by11:00 if you get the chance.
Peace,
D

Cohort Learns to Pray in September

2011-08-04T08:23:00.000-07:00

Greetings all,

The Nashville Cohort will officially resume on September 1 with a conversation on that most frustrating of topics: prayer.
Bring your questions and concerns for a conversation about how, when and why we should pray.
What are our hang ups? What are our misconceptions? What are we missing? and, what are we getting right?

We'll see you in the pool room at the Flying Saucer, 11:30 on September 1.\\PEace,
D

Nashville Cohort Cancelled for June

2011-06-02T07:52:00.001-07:00

Hey everyone,
Ourr June Cohort is cancelled today which means with our traditional July sabbatical we will return August 4.

Have a great summer and if there are events and opportunities to connect over the next 8 weeks let me know and we'll run it up the flag pole.

Peace in Jesus,
Dixon
---
Dixon Kinser
Nashville Cohort
dixonkinser@me.com

Two Futures at the Cohort May 5

2011-04-18T10:10:00.000-07:00

Tyler Wigg-Stevenson is the director of the an organization called the Two Future's Project that gets Christians (particularly Evangelical Christians) in the loop and on board with abolition of nuclear weapons and he will be with us May 5 at the cohort.

Two Futures is a noble organization not just for their mission but also in the way their broad collation of pastoral and political supporters (Fmr. Secretary of State George Shultz and Chuck Coleson to Jim Wallis, Bell Heybels and Rob Bell) encourages activism way above partisan bickering. This is a somewhat personal appeal for your presence because I too am big believer in what TFP is about and hope to see as many people as possible catch their vision.

Tyler will be with us on May 5 to talk about the future of Two Futures and the special opportunity we who live in Tennessee have to be part of it.
If you can make it, please put this one on your calendar. It is not one to miss.

Email me with any questions and I really hope to see you all May 5.

Peace,
Dixon

WTF?!: A theology of profanity this Thursday

2011-04-05T10:08:00.000-07:00

This Thursday, April 7 the Cohort "talks dirty" as we explore the purpose, place and yes, even theology, of profanity in the life of the church.
What is profanity, why does it matter and what is the place of it in the vernacular of faith? Furthermore, what issues do language and differences in language reveal to Christians seeking to embody the gospel in our culture in Nashville.

Call you lunch orders in by 10:30 if you're able and we'll see you Thursday.
Just remember to watch your language;)
Peace,
Dixon

More Hard Words of Jesus this Thursday!

2011-03-02T05:22:00.000-08:00

Greetings all,
The Nashville cohort meets this Thursday for another installment in our series, "The Hard Words of Jesus and postmodern interpretation". This week we wrestle with the implications of Jesus' teaching that "the poor you will have with you always - but you will not always have me" (John 12: 1-11).
If you can, read it here first and think about what implications are for Christians seeking to do the justice of God in a world of greed.

Directions and times below. Call you lunch orders in by 10:30 if you're able.
11:30-1:00pm at the Flying Saucer in the Pool Room:
11 10th Ave. South
(Located Behind Union Station)
Nashville, TN 37203

Peace,
Dixon

Ian Morgan Cron at the Cohort this Thursday

2011-02-01T12:47:00.000-08:00

Greetings all,

Thursday, February 3 the Cohort welcomes author Ian Morgan Cron.
Ian is a a sought after speaker and his book Chasing Francis has garnered as much critical praise as it has popular endearment.

Come out Thursday for lunch and conversation with Ian.

Directions and times are below. Call you lunch orders in by 10:30 if you're able.
11:30-1:00pm at the Flying Saucer in the Pool Room:
11 10th Ave. South
(Located Behind Union Station)
Nashville, TN 37203

Peace,
Dixon

Judgement Day this Thursday at the Cohort!

2011-01-03T10:29:00.000-08:00

Thursday, January 6 the Cohort will explore the theological category of judgement. This is an extension of our Second COming conversation last month and promises to be great.

Christianity's historic creeds proclaim that Jesus will return to "judge the living and the dead", but what exactly does that mean? How one defines judgement will determine what kind of "good news" Jesus return means. Furthermore, how does Jesus judgement intersect with his teachings "not to judge lest you be judged yourself" and how do missional Christians hold all these things together?
We'll explore all this and more this Thursday at the Saucer. See you there!

Directions and times are below. Call you lunch orders in by 10:30 if you're able.
11:30-1:00pm at the Flying Saucer in the Pool Room:
11 10th Ave. South
(Located Behind Union Station)
Nashville, TN 37203

Peace,
Dixon

Return of the King! This Thursday at the Cohort

2010-11-29T13:46:00.000-08:00

Advent greetings all,
The Nashville cohort returns for this Thursday, December 2 at the Flying Saucer for a conversation that will take us back to the future;)

Advent is a season of the church year dedicated to the Second Coming of Christ. As such, the Cohort is going to explore this most diversely interpreted doctrine by asking, "What are the missional implications of Christ's second coming in our day?" "Does it matter anymore and if it does matter, why?"

To avoid the conversation devolving into an eschatological pissing match I want to offer any of you who have particular views on the second coming to email them to me so I can present them for "missional evaluation on Thursday. This way everyone gets heard and we can have a constructive conversation about something that even Jesus warns not to get too fussy about.

Directions and times are below. Call you lunch orders in by 10:30 if you're able.
11:30-1:00pm at the Flying Saucer in the Pool Room:
11 10th Ave. South
(Located Behind Union Station)
Nashville, TN 37203

Peace,
Dixon
-------------
www.nashvillecohort.blogspot.com
dixonkinser@me.com

What Are You Wondering?

2010-11-03T09:28:00.001-07:00

Greetings all,
The Nashville cohort convenes tomorrow to ask the question "What are you wondering?". Bring your freshest questions and conjecture and we'll get after them all over lunch.

Directions and times below. Call in your lunch orders (615) 259-3039) by 11:00 if you're able.
11:30-1:00pm at the Flying Saucer in the Pool Room:
11 10th Ave. South
(Located Behind Union Station)
Nashville, TN 37203

Peace,
Dixon

The Cohort gets Foolish this Thursday

2010-10-05T10:07:00.000-07:00

The Nashville cohort returns October 7 for another installment in our series, "The Hard Words of Jesus and postmodern interpretation".

This week we wrestle with the implications of Jesus' parable of the Rich Fool (Luke 12:13-21).
If you can, read it here first and think about what implications are for Christians seeking to do the justice of God in a world of greed.

Peace,
D

Churchhouse Disney

2010-08-31T08:29:00.000-07:00

Greetings all,
The Cohort begins it's fall run this Thursday with a conversation about Jesus and Disneyland.

We will me from
11:30-1:00pm at the Flying Saucer in the Pool Room:
11 10th Ave. South
(Located Behind Union Station)
Nashville, TN 37203

Our topic this month is: How do we helpfully navigate, engage and remain wise regarding the Disneification of Christianity and how do we move from decrying it to redeeming it?
Come out September 2 for the conversation

Peace,
Dixon

Cohort Returns September 2

2010-08-04T09:39:00.000-07:00

Hey all,
Hang in there through the heat advisories and look for the cohort to return Thursday, September 2.
We'll have a conversation about culture, Disney and the kingdom of God.

Looking forward to seeing you there!

Peace,
D

Cohort gets Patriotic on July 1

2010-06-02T13:46:00.000-07:00

Greetings all,
The Nashville cohort finally returns July 1 for a conversation about "God and Country".
How do missional Christians live as excellent citizen's in their countries with out kowtowing to empire? And, what's more difficult, what does a discipline of holy gratitude look like for the country we live in and the people who have died in it's service?

Come out July 1 for conversation around all these confusing and powerful issues. Holly Rankin Zaher guides us through these issues!

Peace,
Dixon

Cohort Off for Tomorrow - Back in June

2010-05-05T09:33:00.000-07:00

Hey all,
Given recent events in Nashville the Cohort will not meet tomorrow.
Please keep everyone affected by the flood and the volunteers that are serving them (which include some of our regulars) in your prayers.
If you have a need please let me know and I can connect you with some of the great volunteer organizations in the city.

The cohort will reconvene June 3.

Thanks and peace in Jesus,
Dixon

O merciful Father, who has taught us in your holy Word that

you do not willingly afflict or grieve your children:

Look with pity upon the sorrows of your people for whom

our prayers are offered. Remember them, O Lord, in mercy,

nourish their soul with patience, comfort them with a sense of

your goodness, lift up thy countenance upon them, provide for their physical needs

and give them peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Insurrection Happens tonight!

2010-04-05T12:47:00.000-07:00

Author/storyteller Pete Rollins and friends come to Nashville as part of an international tour featuring Pete's work, original music.

Doors will be at 7:00. The show starts at 8:00!
Price: $10

From the website:
The task today does not lie in some naive attempt to return to the early church.

The church before Constantine
The church before Platonic philosophy
The church before Paul
The church before...

For these moves fail to bring us back far enough.

Rather we must call a new army of agitators into being. Dissidents courageous enough to return to the event that gave birth to the early church. A new breed of individuals brave enough to turn back so as to advance.

Through a provocative cocktail of incendiary theology, haunting soundscapes and musical lament Peter Rollins and friends will offer an invitation to set forth on this perilous return. A return that will strip everything from us, incinerate everything we hold dear and inaugurate a new year zero.

In short, this Easter Rollins and friends set out to remind us that belief in the event of Resurrection means nothing less than participation in Insurrection...

Joining Peter will be the poet/singer songwriter Pádraig Ô Tuama and the artist/DJ Jonny McEwen. Pádraig will be launching his first solo album 'Hymns to Swear By' on this tour and has previously contributed to the ikon album 'Dubh'. He has been the artist in residence for Corrymeela and is a published poet. Jonny specializes in developing immersive ambient soundscapes and creative audio montage. His latest album is entitled 'Fractured, Broken and Beautiful'. He is also an accomplished painter whose works can be found in many significant public and private collections.

Warning... this tour involves the use of strong language and ideas that may be unsuitable for those easily offended

Je$u$ Loves Wall Street this Thursday at the Cohort

2010-03-02T10:25:00.000-08:00

Our next Cohort gathering is this Thursday, March 4 from 11:30-1:00pm at the Flying Saucer in the Pool Room:
11 10th Ave. South
(Located Behind Union Station)
Nashville, TN 37203

Topic: Wall Street Je$u$: Erick Goss from Creative Trust Media stops by to talk about why Christians should be into Big Business and Wall Street is where the redemptive potential of the kingdom actually is! Provocative stuff from the great thinker!

Also on deck:
2.) Pete Rollins' Insurrection Pub Tour Rolls into town April 5 and we still need a venue. If you have any ideas, contacts or suggestion hit Dixon back. Thanks.

3.) A Conversation with Tony Jones, April 22
Jopa is in town doing a Pastor's Technology Bootcamp (as well as some speaking at Belmont) and Tony is interested in coming in early and having some face time with the Cohort. Keep the afternoon/evening of April 22 open for a potential meet up with him.

See you Thursday,
D

I Was Wrong...

2010-02-05T06:22:00.000-08:00

Companions,

Next time I act confident about a Greek text but don't have it in front of me, tell me to produce the text or shut up.

I was very confident about the wording of John (or Matthew, or whatever) 8:7 yesterday. And I was also completely wrong about that wording. I apologize and ask your forgiveness.

The English translations of verse 7 then are generally right. The Greek (and right now I have it in front of me, so you can consider that I've produced the text!) in that verse is either an adjective or a past participle-- Anamarthtos-- (H equal Eta in Greek, long e). It could be translated either "Let the sinless one" or "Let one not having sinned." It doesn't refer to "her sin" or "this sin." This form is not noted as having any variants in the textual apparatus in the Third Edition. Indeed, there are not apparatus notes on verse 7 at all.

What I think I may have remembered is a textual note about some additional words found in a number of variant texts of verse 8. These variants add the following after "And again, having knelt down, he was writing into the earth"-- "the sins of each person [there]." The vast majority of texts omit these last words. Only 9 include them.

And there's good reason for that. It sounds like a gloss. It throws off the parallelism with the last time "into the earth" showed up (verse 6). It probably is a gloss. That is-- it doesn't belong in the text. It's an attempt by someone or several someones later to clear up a mystery that the text left open-- namely, what Jesus was writing "into the earth." (That's an interesting turn of phrase in itself-- one might have expected "upon" (epi in Greek, plus the genitive case), but instead we get "eis" ("into," with the accusative case). Perhaps what is being described here is more like an "inscription" than simply moving the top layer of dust). The text itself seems to want to keep what Jesus was writing or "inscribing" a mystery. Whether it's a reference to Jeremiah (and if so-- where in Jeremiah? Writing on the ground against the enemies, or God's inscription with an iron pen of the sins of the people of Judah at the opening of Jeremiah 17?) or to something else that this text's first readers/hearers/circulators might have known (or that someone in their community would have explained to them) we also don't know.

My comment about this yesterday wasn't just wrong. It may have thrown off and misdirected our conversation. And I apologize and ask your forgiveness for that as well.

In the spirit of "questions" and "wonderings" we sometimes engage in, let me offer a few that take seriously the text as we have it.

1) Was Jesus here setting up an additional "standard" or "step" toward proceeding to condemnation by insisting that accusers be entirely sinless before they could impose a sentence (condemnation)?

2) If so, just what does his own decision not to apply the sentence, either, mean?

3) Or, if he's acting as sort of the judge/convener of the "sentencing" part of an impromptu trial, would be generally be exempt from imposing a sentence himself (i.e., does he get voice but no vote)?

4) Or is the "two or three witnesses" rule in play here-- that is, given the basic dictum in Torah, "let everything be established by two or three witnesses," and here there are no witnesses remaining, is Jesus simply saying "Well, trial's off. An insufficient number of witnesses (zero, in this case!) means no condemnation can be meted out."

5) Or is Jesus challenging their interpretation of the law, since if she was caught in the act, that means the man was, too, and where is he?

Question upon question. This story can take us in all sorts of directions.

I do still think we ended up at a fruitful missional point, though, consistent with at least one way of dealing with this text. And I do think it is about what to do as we judge-- whether in our discernment of wrongs done we tend toward a path that opens up new life and community, or whether we tend toward a path that inevitably leads toward shackles and death.

Whether this story belongs in John, whether it belongs where it's placed in John, whether it ever happened, whether it even belongs in the canon, it still presents for us that challenge... and it's one that I think is very consistent with the kinds of challenges Jesus and the reign of God continually posed and poses.

Peace in Christ,

Taylor Burton-Edwards

Jesus Writes in the Dirt at the February Cohort

2010-02-02T09:25:00.000-08:00

This month at the Cohort we jump into one of the more controversial and confusing stories from the New Testament: Jesus and the woman caught in adultery.
As always there is more than meets the eye to this text and depending on your church expression you'll find this story both challenging and/or affirming. Come out this week for a vigorous midrash around the narrative and some good food and drink as well! Preachers, bring your notebooks!

See you Thursday,
D

January Cohort Cancelled

2010-01-06T16:50:00.000-08:00

Hey all,
The January meeting of the Nashville Cohort is going to be cancelled due to (admittedly potential) inclement weather.
There is a chance that when the storm comes tomorrow we could all make it out, but there is a greater chance my children will be out of school. If they are I will need to be available to care for them as I'm sure many of our other members will be too.

So...

No meeting tomorrow and we'll be back February 4 with another midrash conversation about the hard words of Jesus in the woman at the well story from John 4.

Peace all,
D

Holy Innocents at the Cohort Thursday

2009-12-01T10:39:00.000-08:00

Greetings all,
Our next Cohort gathering is this tomorrow, November 4 from 11:30-1:00pm at the Flying Saucer in the Pool Room:
11 10th Ave. South
(Located Behind Union Station)
Nashville, TN 37203

Topic: Following Christmas Day is a most troubling feast, the feast of Holy Innocents. This feast commemorates the slaughter of the first born perpetrated by King Herod.
It proposes a whole list of problems when we read that an angel warned Mary and Joseph to leave the town and escape this in Egypt, but not any one else. Our discussion will center around the readings for this feast day and how we might embrace this story as mission minded Christians in 2010. Preachers, bring your note books;)

Call in your lunch orders by 10:30am to ((615) 259-3039) if you can. The menu can be found here under the "Food" tab (http://www.beerknurd.com/stores/nashville)

Peace,
Dixon

Devil With a Blue Dress

2009-11-04T08:39:00.000-08:00

Greetings all,
Our next Cohort gathering is this tomorrow, November 4 from 11:30-1:00pm at the Flying Saucer in the Pool Room:
11 10th Ave. South
(Located Behind Union Station)
Nashville, TN 37203

Topic: Devil with a Blue Dress: A conversation about how the Bible describes the forces of evil (the devil, demons etc.) and the missional implications of there of

Call in your lunch orders by 10:30am to ((615) 259-3039) if you can. The menu can be found here under the "Food" tab (http://www.beerknurd.com/stores/nashville)

Peace,
Dixon
----------------
www.nashvillecohort.blogspot.com

Tokens: Hear the Plight

2009-10-14T06:23:00.000-07:00

Hi all. A quick reminder that this Thursday is the final Tokens Show of the year, called Hear the Plight.

Even though I've only been able to go to one, I know the quality that goes on there, because of the people involved. Sheryl and I won't be able to be at this one, but having Scot McKnight, Ashley Cleveland, and Odessa Settles should make for a great evening. You can visit www.tokensshow.com for more info, but it will be a great night and if you're in Nashville, I highly recommend taking the time to attend.

Cohort Wonders this Thursday

2009-09-28T08:05:00.000-07:00

Greetings all,
Our next Cohort gathering is this Thursday, October 1 from 11:30-1:00pm at the Flying Saucer in the Pool Room:
11 10th Ave. South
(Located Behind Union Station)
Nashville, TN 37203

Topic: What are you wondering? Every so often we stop to consider some of our own deepest questions regarding missional Christian living. This is one of those times. Dixon coordinates the conversation.

Call in your lunch orders by 10:30am to ((615) 259-3039) if you can. The menu can be found here under the "Food" tab (http://www.beerknurd.com/stores/nashville)

Peace,
Dixon
--------------

Cohort Goes Techno this Thursday

2009-09-01T08:50:00.000-07:00

Greetings all,
Our next Cohort gathering is this Thursday, September 3 from 11:30-1:00pm at the Flying Saucer in the Pool Room:
11 10th Ave. South
(Located Behind Union Station)
Nashville, TN 37203

Topic: Technology, Worship and the mission of God. Does our technology help or hinder worship. Is texting the pastor during a sermon a wonderful contextualization of the gospel, or something that makes us a worse kind of people? Taylor Burton Edwards (director of worship resources for the the UMC General Board of Discipleship) leads the conversation this week.

Call in your lunch orders by 10:30am to ((615) 259-3039) if you can. The menu can be found here under the "Food" tab (http://www.beerknurd.com/stores/nashville)

Peace,
Dixon
--------------

Dixon Kinser
Nashville Cohort
www.nashvillecohort.blogspot.com

Tent City Benefit with Phil Keaggy

2009-08-10T07:05:00.000-07:00

Everyone is invited to a benefit for Tent City on Wednesday night at Otter Creek Church of Christ, 409 Franklin Road. There will be a reception for Tent City residents at 6pm, and then a concert by Phil Keaggy from 7 - 8:30. As a part of the evening as well, an art show of pictures taken of Tent City residents will be given to the Temple, a Jewish synagogue in Nashville, for display.

It will really be a great night and I hope as many of you as possible can be there.

A Night for Tent City - Ministry Moment Video from David Woodard on Vimeo.

Christian Scholars' Conference

2009-06-24T20:31:00.000-07:00

As an addendum to Phil's post below about the Tokens Radio show, the Christian Scholars' Conference is taking place the next three days on the campus of Lipscomb University. In addition to the 71 paper and panel sessions, there are four main sessions, featuring plenary speakers Billy Collins (US Poet Laureate, 2001-2003), Marilynne Robinson (Pulitzer Prize Winner, 2005), Hubert G. Locke, and Barbara Brown Taylor. Those sessions are free and open to the public, and will doubtless be well worth your time. Times and additional details can be found here.

Tokens Show

2009-06-23T20:50:00.000-07:00

Hi all.

I just wanted to remind you of the Tokens Show this Thursday at 7:30pm at Lipscomb University: Stories We Live By. This one features Ron Block of Union Station, Sandra McCracken, Buddy Greene, and interviews with Barbara Brown Taylor and Hubert Locke.

Tickets are available here: http://www.ticketmaster.com/event/1B004259811E2FFF

I highly recommend it. It'll be one of the most fun and thought-provoking times you've had in a while.

Peace,

Phil

Twitter in Worship

2009-06-11T14:02:00.001-07:00

Taylor Burton Edwards recently wrote a really great article on the phenomenon of using Twitter as part of a worship service. He has some really great insights to share. Here's the link:

http://www.gbod.org/worship/worship/articles.asp?act=reader&item_id=47649&loc_id=9,824

Cohort Gets Evil on Thursday

2009-06-01T16:57:00.000-07:00

Greetings all,
Our next Cohort gathering is this Thursday, June 4 from 11:30-1:00pm at the Flying Saucer in the Pool Room:
11 10th Ave. South
(Located Behind Union Station)
Nashville, TN 37203

Topic: What is does a Missional Theodicy look like: How do we balance the redemptive mission of God with the real problem of evil in the world. Dixon Kinser leads the conversation.

Call in your lunch orders by 10:30am to ((615) 259-3039) if you can. The menu can be found here under the "Food" tab (http://www.beerknurd.com/stores/nashville)

Peace,
Dixon
--------------

Dixon Kinser
Nashville Cohort
www.nashvillecohort.blogspot.com

David Dark brings the ? (for real!)this Thursday

2009-05-05T11:46:00.000-07:00

Greetings all,
Our next Cohort gathering is this (Maunday) Thursday, March 5 from 11:30-1:00pm at the Flying Saucer in the Pool Room:
11 10th Ave. South
(Located Behind Union Station)
Nashville, TN 37203

Topic: David Dark is on tap to discuss "The Sacredness of Questioning Everything". Should be great!

Call in your lunch orders by 10:30am to ((615) 259-3039) if you can. The menu can be found here under the "Food" tab (http://www.beerknurd.com/stores/nashville)

Peace,
Dixon
--------------

Dixon Kinser
Nashville Cohort
www.nashvillecohort.blogspot.com

April Cohort Cancelled, We're Back in May

2009-04-09T08:10:00.000-07:00

Hey all,
In case you didn't get the memo, the April Cohort has been cancelled due to a scheduling conflict.
We'll be back on May 7.

Peace,
D

David Dark brings the ? this Thursday

2009-04-07T13:11:00.000-07:00

Time to Get "Omni" this Thursday

2009-03-03T08:01:00.000-08:00

Greetings everyone,
The Nashville Cohort will gather this Thursday, March 5 from 11:30-1:00pm at the Flying Saucer in the Pool Room:
11 10th Ave. South
(Located Behind Union Station)
Nashville, TN 37203

Topic: What do we do with the "Omni" statements about God? Where do term like (omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent etc.) come from, and are they still helpful to Christians as they live the mission of God in our world? Holly Rankin Zaher leads the conversation.

Call in your lunch orders by 10:30am to ((615) 259-3039) if you can. The menu can be found here under the "Food" tab (http://www.beerknurd.com/stores/nashville)

Peace,
Dixon
--------------

Dixon Kinser
Nashville Cohort
www.nashvillecohort.blogspot.com

emergingumc, a gathering, 2: Where? When?

2009-02-26T08:59:00.000-08:00

Companions,

In ongoing conversations with several of you, online and offline, I'm looking most seriously right now at 4 possible venues for our second gathering...

Indianapolis, Indiana (home of Lockerbie Central UMC)

Greater Cincinnati Area (near Th3Waters/Florence UMC and several other connections)

Dallas, TX (home of Perkins/SMU and the methemergentlab)

and back here in Nashville, TN (home of country music and, well, this cohort, among other things!)

So... I'm asking y'all to help me decide location among these viable options. (Technically, I have to make the final call, but I want all the input and reflection on that possible).

AND... I'm needing from you as well a sense of when in late fall would work best for you to be part of this gathering...

For me right now the available times are:
October 1-3
October 8-10 (but this might be the same as an emergent event-- but can't tell since the calendar on emergentvillage is down... anyone know?)
October 22-24-- would coincide with 350.org Action Day (October 24)
November 12-14

These are all Thursday-Saturday time frames.... chosen because that's what we chose for last time based on your input, but that's up for discussion!

So... Where... and When?

Peace in Christ,

Taylor Burton-Edwards

Tokens Show

2009-02-26T06:48:00.003-08:00

Hi all. A brief plug, reposted from my blog.

Last December, Sheryl and I got to go out and see the Tokens Show at Lipscomb University, directed by Lee Camp, of whom I've spoken fondly before. We really had a great time at this Prairie Home Companion meets theology discussion. Here are a couple of videos from it, and one from a previous show.

Joy To the World

Closing Monologue: Silent Night

Class and Grass

Tuesday, March 3, at 7pm, is the next Tokens Show, and it will feature will feature musicians Vince Gill, Sonya Isaacs, Odessa Settles, and Buddy Greene; interviews with Will Campbell (author of Brother to a Dragonfly) and Brad MacLean (on his work on death-row), and much more. Sheryl and I had an absolute blast at it and if you're in the Nashville area and can make it, I can almost guarantee that you won't be disappointed. Tickets are on sale at http://www.ticketmaster.com

i don't know what this has to do with sin

2009-02-05T20:37:00.000-08:00

i do not know what this has to do with sin, our conversation from today, but again, dixon is not up on his youtube culture. so i am sharing this for your amusement.

Cohort Ponders Sin this Thursday

2009-02-03T07:05:00.000-08:00

Greetings everyone,
The Nashville Cohort will gather this Thursday, February 5 from 11:30-1:00pm at the Flying Saucer in the Pool Room:
11 10th Ave. South
(Located Behind Union Station)
Nashville, TN 37203

Topic: What is sin? Is it individual acts of badness, or is there a broader definition that would be helpful. How can approaching sin as a relational commodity be helpful. Come out for a spirited conversation.

Call in your lunch orders by 10:30am to ((615) 259-3039) if you can. The menu can be found here under the "Food" tab (http://www.beerknurd.com/stores/nashville)

Peace,
Dixon

Magdalene Ministries visit the Cohort this month

2009-01-06T13:42:00.001-08:00

The Cohort is back this Thursday: from 11:30-1:30!
Becca Stevens will be joining us to talk about what she is doing with Magdalene House/Thistle Farms, an organization she began to help girls trapped in sex work to get off the streets and make a different life for themselves. Even if you've heard Becca before I dare you not to be moved;)

Call in your lunch orders by 10:30am to ((615) 259-3039) if you can. The menu can be found here under the "Food" tab (http://www.beerknurd.com/stores/nashville)

Peace,
D

Dangerous Christmas!

2008-12-02T11:39:00.001-08:00

Greetings everyone,
The Nashville Cohort will gather next Thursday, December 11 from 11:30-1:00pm at the Flying Saucer in the Pool Room:
11 10th Ave. South
(Located Behind Union Station)
Nashville, TN 37203

Topic: We'll attempt to reconstruct the history of Christmas from it's subversive roots in the Bible to it's syncretized expressions in Rome and beyond. Then, we'll discuss how Christmas can again be dangerous in our own time of empire.

Call in your lunch orders by 10:30am to ((615) 259-3039) if you can. The menu can be found here under the "Food" tab (http://www.beerknurd.com/stores/nashville)

Peace,
Dixon

What Are You Wondering This Month

2008-11-04T11:23:00.000-08:00

Greetings everyone,
The Nashville Cohort reconvenes this Thursday, November 6 from 11:30-1:00pm at the Flying Saucer in the Pool Room:
11 10th Ave. South
(Located Behind Union Station)
Nashville, TN 37203

This month we're spending time exploring the things we are all "wondering" right now in our lives with God. Our experience of Jesus following in Nashville's culture is unique and often produces interesting revelations and reflections. These are the sessions where we honor that process and share our considerations.

Come with some of your freshest wondering and we'll spend out time discussing that, or anything else that tickles our fancy this Thursday.

Call in your lunch orders by 10:30am to ((615) 259-3039) if you can. The menu can be found here under the "Food" tab (http://www.beerknurd.com/stores/Nashville)

Peace,
Dixon

my book signing...

2008-10-13T08:06:00.000-07:00

Hey Cohort Friends,

This is the first time I've written a post on the blog, and sadly, it's a completely selfish one. I just wanted to let you know that tomorrow (October 14) at 7 p.m. I'll be doing a reading and signing of Churched at Davis-Kidd in Green Hills.

I'd love to see you there, if you're able!

Thanks so much...

Matthew

since dixon didn't know of it

2008-10-02T19:37:00.000-07:00

i mentioned & dixon didn't know of it. so here ya go buddy. Jesus for President & Red State Update for White House Press Secretary.

Faith and Politics this Thursday at the Cohort

2008-09-29T11:44:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone,
The Nashville Cohort reconvenes tomorrow from 11:30-1:00pm at the Flying Saucer in the Pool Room:
11 10th Ave. South
(Located Behind Union Station)
Nashville, TN 37203

We'll be discussing the mission of God as it relates to the politics in the United States using Shane Claiborne's "Jesus for President" as our jumping off point.
It would also behoove us all to take at look at yesterday's Tennessean and note the article about 33 pastors who planned to intentionally endorse a candidate from the pulpit yesterday. Each of these sources will provide us plenty to talk about on Thursday.

Call in your lunch orders by 10:30am to ((615) 259-3039) if you can. The menu can be found here under the "Food" tab.

Finally,
Shane Claiborne will actually be in town this week (we tried to get him to meet with us and he didn't have time) and is speaking at several venues.
Below is a list. Visit each venues website for specifics. Check him out if you get the chance!

Monday, 9/29: Lipscomb University, 8pm.
Tuesday, 9/30: Westminster Presbyterian, 7:30-9:00
Wednesday, 10/1: Belmont University, 10am.

Peace,
Dixon

upcoming events : the great emergence

2008-09-04T13:17:00.001-07:00

as mentioned at today's cohort meeting. various folks are associated with a day & half event in early december with phyllis tickle and her latest book "the great emergence." here is a bit of a write up.

The Great Emergence National Event is a unique and freshly designed event built on innovative adult learning techniques including interaction, participation, and inspiring content on the current state of and future possibilities for Christianity.

Around the four main sessions with Phyllis Tickle, participants will also enjoy the daily office—thrice daily times of prayer—based on Phyllis Tickle’s bestselling book, The Divine Hours, in the majestic and historic Cathedral of St. Mary in Memphis, Tennessee, which will be bedecked with Advent greenery.

seems like a few folks are interested in going. maybe we can apply for a 'staff' discount and do some carpool to be in good graces of our checking accounts.

upcoming events : invisible children & outdoor festival

2008-09-04T13:10:00.000-07:00

i was sent this from one of my fellow tribe youth ministers. she's actually one of the folks listed on the poster. if you are into the invisible children mission then this is certainly something to be a part of. if you've never heard of the IC then brief yourself and then try it out.

Download Outdoor_Christian_Festival Letter

New Monasticism Conference in Nashville, September 20th

2008-07-28T06:30:00.000-07:00

Copying a post from Living the Simple Life:

Come all ye faithful to Nashville, TN, to hear Johnathan Wilson Hartgrove and others explain what the new monastic movement has to say to the larger church. The one-day seminar is based on Jonathan's latest book.

New Monasticism: What It Has to Say to Today’s Church (Baker) is Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove’s introduction to new monasticism and the gifts it has to offer the church in a time a rapid change. Sam Ewell’s Building Up the Church: Experiments in Faith, Hope, and Love (Wipf and Stock) is an interactive study guide based on Jonathan’s book, designed to lead small groups into an authentic engagement with new monasticism.

Otter Creek Church (located at 409 Franklin Road, Brentwood, Tennessee) will host this event on Saturday, September 20th from 8am-6pm. For more information and to register go here.

The Church Basement Roadshow Comes to Town

2008-07-27T20:41:00.001-07:00

Hey all,

The Church Basement Roadshow is coming to town tomorrow night!

Come out and see Tony Jones, Doug Pagitt and Mark Scandrette do their thing on

Monday, July 28

6:30pm

At St. Bartholomew's Church (4800 Belmont Park Terrace, Nashville, Tn 37215)

The show will run 90 minutes and should be a blast!

If you have any questions contact Dixon at dkinser@stbs.net.

Peace,

Dixon

Cohort Goes Nuclear This Thursday

2008-06-03T09:14:00.001-07:00

Greeting all,
This Thursday at the cohort Tyler Wigg-Stevenson will take us through what needs to be the next "big" issue Christians take up - nuclear disarmament. Tyler is the Coordinator of the Biblical Security Council here in town, and like Fritz last month, he's trying to connect Christians to advocacy on this issue as a spiritual discipline. Come out for a conversation about how the church can take a lead role in tackling this very real crisis.

As usual we will meet in the pool room at the Flying Saucer from 11:30-1:00.
Call in your lunch orders to 259-3039 by 10:30am if you're able.

Also, if you are interested in promoting/assisting with the Church Basement Roadshow when it comes to town July 28 plan t stay after for 15 minutes to have brief conversation.

Best,
Dixon

Article you might want to read

2008-05-24T13:48:00.000-07:00

For those that are interested in homiletic issues, I just published an article on a collaborative preaching method I use in my own congregation. You can see the article here, or paste the following into your browser:

http://www.worshipconnection.cokesbury.com/content.aspx?dyn=1604

Grace and Peace,

Matt...

Emergent Discussion in the local church

2008-05-20T13:52:00.000-07:00

Hey friends,

I'm in the midst of a series of Wednesday night presentations concerning movements within the Church. This week, I am doing (possibly part one) of a talk on Emergent.

If you are hip to it, you are invited to come. We have a little Eucharist at 6 pm in our chapel, and the presentation will go from 6:30-7:30 (officially) in our Narthex. Childcare is open to all, so bring the kids.

You can find us at 920 Caldwell Lane, 37204. Our website is www. RedeemerNashville.net if you want more INFO.

Thomas+

Cohort This Thursday

2008-05-07T11:03:00.000-07:00

This Thursday the cohort welcomes Fritz Gutwien. Fritz is from the National Council of Churches Eco-Justice Program takes through a conversation regarding Christian environmentalism and how our 'advocacy' for creation care is a spiritual discipline. He's also a friend of Sam Davidson, but we won't hold that against him;)

Here's his Fritz's Bio:

Fritz Gutwein is currently Field Coordinator of the Climate and Energy Campaign at the National Council of Churches, Washington, DC. Prior to joining the NCC, Fritz was the Farm Bill Reform Organizer for the Presbyterian Hunger Program (USA) and Director of Crossroads Ministry of St. William Catholic Church in Louisville, Kentucky. An ordained Baptist minister and Presbyterian elder, Fritz is educated in international and religious studies from the University of South Florida and theology and ethics from Southern Seminary. His travels to Latin America and Africa as well as his experience as a therapeutic foster parent have opened Fritz's eyes to the needs of people living in poverty and have helped to make the spiritual practice of doing justice his life's passion.

Check him out: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/5/123/9B8

As usual we will meet in the pool room at the Flying Saucer from 11:30-1:00.
Call in your lunch orders to 259-3039 by 10:30am if you're able.

See you there,
Dixon

General Conference Blogging

2008-04-26T19:12:00.000-07:00

I'm doing some daily blog commentary on the UMC's General Conference (our version of a Synod or Council). My latest post regarding the cell phone gift issue has generated some heat, apparently. Feel free to check it out on "The Truth As Best I Know It".

Grace and Peace,
Matt...

April Cohort and Summer Schedule

2008-04-02T10:59:00.000-07:00

Greeting all,
Tomorrow at the cohort author David Dark shares material from his new book The Sacredness of Questioning Everything. Should be sharp indeed!
Bring your thinking cap and we'll get after it tomorrow at the Saucer!

As usual we will meet in the pool room at the Flying Saucer from 11:30-1:00.
Call in your lunch orders to 259-3039 by 10:30am if you're able.

Beyond tomorrow here is our schedule through the summer:

May 8: The Spiritual Discipline of Eco-Advocacy
Fritz Gutwien from the National Council of Churches Eco-Justice Program takes through a conversation regarding Christian environmentalism and how our 'advocacy' for creation care is a spiritual discipline.

Here's his Fritz's Bio:
Fritz Gutwein is currently Field Coordinator of the Climate and Energy Campaign at the National Council of Churches, Washington, DC. Prior to joining the NCC, Fritz was the Farm Bill Reform Organizer for the Presbyterian Hunger Program (USA) and Director of Crossroads Ministry of St. William Catholic Church in Louisville, Kentucky. An ordained Baptist minister and Presbyterian elder, Fritz is educated in international and religious studies from the University of South Florida and theology and ethics from Southern Seminary. His travels to Latin America and Africa as well as his experience as a therapeutic foster parent have opened Fritz's eyes to the needs of people living in poverty and have helped to make the spiritual practice of doing justice his life's passion.
Check him out: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/5/123/9B8

June 5: Spiritual Disaster Preparedness - Jesus and Nuclear Crisis
Tyler Wigg-Stevenson will take us through what needs to be the next "big" issue Christians take up - nuclear disarmament. Tyler is the Coordinator of the Biblical Security Council here in town, and like Fritz, he's trying to connect Christians to advocacy on this issue as a spiritual discipline. Tyler and I met last month and I was blown away with the opportunity the church has to not lay catch up on tackling this very real crisis. Please come out for this one.

July 3: Break

July 26: The Church Basement Roadshow Cohort Gathering *(tentative)*
This summer Tony Jones, Doug Pagitt and Mark Scandrette are doing a group book tour tounge-in-cheekily called the Church Basement Roadshow (http://www.churchbasementroadshow.com/). St. Bartholomew's is hosting the tour's Nashville stop and I am trying to pull together a Cohort "hang" at the Saucer afterward. I'll have more details as they become available.

August 7: TBA

Peace,
Dixon

Emerging Ordination Today at the Cohort

2008-03-06T07:28:00.001-08:00

Greeting all,
This Thursday, March 6 the Cohort jumps feet first into a conversation about ordination and the emerging church. Using a panel discussion format with John Plummer Thomas McKenzie and Dixon Kinser to kick start the conversation, we will explore what ordination is, how it's manifest in communities of faith and what it's place is in the emerging church.

Bring your own questions and we'll get after it tomorrow at the Saucer!

We will meet in the pool room at the Flying Saucer from 11:30-1:00 as usual.
Call in your lunch orders to 259-3039 by 10:30am if you're able.

Peace,
Dixon

-------------------------
Dixon Kinser
Nashville Cohort
www.nashvillecohort.blogspot.com

Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove at Otter Creek Church, Thursday, February 28

2008-02-08T14:00:00.000-08:00

Hi all. This is the event that I mentioned at the February Cohort. It's open to anyone.

The Otter Creek Church invites you to hear from Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, a founding member of the Rutba House in Durham, North Carolina, on February 28, 2008, at 7:00 p.m. Jonathan, who spent time in Iraq with Shane Claiborne as part of a Christian peacemaking team, will be discussing "Signs of the Times & a New Monasticism." He will touch upon several aspects of the new monastic movement, including the contemplative tradition, service to the poor, nonviolence, and practices of intentional community.

Otter Creek is located at 409 Franklin Road, in Brentwood. You can call the church for more information at 615-373-1782.

Hope to see as many of you there as can make it.

John York at the Cohort this Thursday!

2008-02-05T09:46:00.000-08:00

Greeting all,
This Thursday, February, 7 the Cohort welcomes John York for a conversation about Relational vs. Judicial Faith.
John is a NT and Homiletics professor at David Lipscomb's Hazelip School of Theology and co author of several books including
The Jesus Proposall and The Jesus Community.

He'll be presenting material from the latter of these two, connecting it into the ever controversial "New Perspective of Paul". Should be great!

We will meet in the pool room at the Flying Saucer from 11:30-1:00 as usual.
Call in your lunch orders to 259-3039 by 10:00am if you're able.

Peace,
Dixon

Tony Jones at the Nashville Cohort, 2:00 Wednesday 1/30

2008-01-24T11:36:00.000-08:00

Hey all,
We got the schedules worked out and Tony is going to meet with the Nashville Cohort on Wednesday January, 30 at 2:00pm!

We'll gather in the pool room at the Flying Saucer as usual (11 10th Avenue South Located behind the Union Station hotel Nashville, TN 37203 (615) 259-3039).

Hit me back if you have any questions, otherwise we'll see you there.

Peace,
Dixon

Tony Jones in Town Jan 30

2008-01-23T12:34:00.000-08:00

Hey all,
Tony Jones (executive director of Emergent Village) is in town next week, Jan 29-30 for a speaking gig at Belmont. He wants to connect with the cohort while he's in town and it looks like sometime around lunch or the early afternoon on the 30th is going to be the best time.

Whatever we do, it will be at the Flying Saucer in the pool room.

He's still waiting on Belmont to give him his full schedule and I'll keep you in the loop as soon as I know more.

That's all for now.
Peace,
D

Cohort Gathers This Thursday, January 10

2008-01-07T10:54:00.000-08:00

Greeting all,
This Thursday, January 10 the Cohort will gathering for another session of "What are You Wondering?"
Part of the excitment and vitality of the emerging church conversation comes from way it is contextually driven. That means our wonderings here in Nashville regarding missional life, emerging church and theology etc. are as important than aything being generated at conferences, in books or by others elsewhere.

So, come out this week with your freshest wonderings, we'll pass the anonymus question basket and see what comes of it.

Meet in the pool room at the Flying Saucer from 11:30-1:00 as usual.
Call in your lunch orders to 259-3039 by 10:00am if you're able.

Peace,
Dixon

Christmas and Consumerism this Thursday

2007-12-03T07:14:00.000-08:00

Greetings all,
Next Thursday, December 6 the Nashville Cohort will talk about "Doing Christmas in a Consumer Culture" with Tyler Wigg-Stevenson, author of Brand Jesus.
I will say that Tyler's take on consumerism during this time of year is interesting and should be good fodder for conversation!

We will meet in the pool room at the Flying Saucer from 11:30-1:00 (and I've booked it this time!) as usual.
Call in your lunch orders to 259-3039 by 10:00am if you're able.

Peace,
Dixon

A Community Called Atonement reivew

2007-11-29T09:27:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone. You all may recall some months back the Cohort was asked to review some sample chapters of Scott McKnight's new book, A Community Called Atonement. I was lucky enough to get an advance copy and have just finished a rather lengthy review of it. If you've read the book (or even if you haven't and want to dialogue about the issues it raises), you can check it out at my blog, The Truth As Best I Know It.

Grace and Peace,
Matt...

david dark @ west nashville

2007-10-29T20:38:00.000-07:00

want to get some more david dark? he will be speaking at west nashville united methodist church on november 10th.

Will Samson in town Next Week

2007-10-29T07:32:00.000-07:00

Hey all,
Will Samson is in Nashville next Thursday, November 8, to talk about his book Justice in the Burb's at both our Cohort gathering and an evening conversation sponsered by several or our Cohort communties. The latter event is hosted by St. Bartholomew's and it's free. All are welcome to come to either or both.

See you there.
Peace,
Dixon

Faith & Immigration Links

2007-10-04T16:49:00.000-07:00

Hey all,
Great conversation today. A huge thankyou to Emily and Steven for deflty giding our discussion! Your challenges and encouragements were a blessing to me indeed.

Below is a note from Emily including contact info for Strangers No Longer and the Tennessee Immigration and Refugee Rights Coalition.

Peace,
D

--
Hi Friends!

It was a real pleasure to meet you today and wrestle a little with this BIG issue! I just wanted to say hello and let you know a little bit about Strangers No Longer.

Strangers No Longer is an interfaith organization that seeks to promote reconciliation among all peoples, and to serve as a faithful witness for compassion and welcome to immigrants in our midst. We live out our call through education, and by encouraging people of faith to pursue deep theological reflection that will lead to action for justice on behalf of our immigrant neighbors.

Today we mentioned briefly a few opportunities for further education and reflection such as our "day-long immersion" experience. We also can help you and your community host a forum on immigration, suggest films or books for dialog groups, and much more.

If you would like more information about the educational programing that we provide, or how you can be more welcoming to the strangers in our midst, please contact us and we would be happy to help.

We will keep you posted on upcoming events for future education, action, and prayer about loving our immigrant neighbors.

Peace,
Emily Snyder and Steven Miles, co-founders Strangers No Longer

Links:
email: faithandimmigration@yahoo.com
website (coming soon): www.StrangersNoLonger.org
Tennessee Immigration and Refugee Rights Coalition (http://www.tnimmigrant.org/)

New Friends...

2007-10-03T20:54:00.000-07:00

Friends...

Just a note to let you know to expect some new friends tomorrow, here for emergingumc: a gathering, which happens beginning tomorrow night through Saturday noon at the General Board of Discipleship.

I look forward to meeting them and them meeting you!

Pax,

Taylor Burton-Edwards

" Strangers No Longer" at the Nashville Cohort Thursday

2007-10-01T15:45:00.000-07:00

Greeting all,
This Thursday the Nashville Cohort welcomes Emily Synder and Steven Miles from Strangers No Longer, an interfaith organization that seeks justice and advocates for immigrants "in our midsts".
Both are students at the Vanderbilt Divinity School and are eager to meet with us this Thursday.

Here's the little blurb about SNL (not Saturday Night Live):

Strangers No Longer is an interfaith organization that seeks to promote reconciliation between all peoples, and to serve as a faithful witness for compassion and welcome to immigrants in our midst. We live out our call through education, and by encouraging people of faith to pursue deep theological reflection that will lead to action for justice on behalf of our immigrant neighbors.

Here's a list of "faith and immigration" educational programs we provide:
presentations on faith and immigration,
day-long "immersion" experiences in Nashville in which people of faith can learn about immigrants in this community and the issues and challenges they face, as well as how to work together to make Nashville a more welcoming city to all,
Bible studies,
Sunday school lessons for all ages,
Forums and speakers bureau on immigration related issues,
and many more!

I met Emily and Steven at a presentation last month and the conversation should be great! Their website is here: http://www.usccb.org/mrs/stranger.shtml

We will meet in the pool room at the Flying Saucer from 11:30-1:00 as usual.
Call in your lunch orders to 259-3039 by 10:00am if you're able.

Peace,
Dixon

A Prayer Request

2007-09-06T15:20:00.000-07:00

I wonder if I might ask you all to pray for my pastor.

Dr. Glenn Weekley, the pastor of First Baptist Church of Hendersonville, Tennessee is in critical condition this afternoon at Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville.

Bro. Glenn has been undergoing treatment for cancer for the past couple of weeks. They were prepared to begin chemotherapy this week but he got pneumonia. Wednesday afternoon Doctors were beginning a procedure to drain fluid from his lungs. There was a complication with that procedure and Bro. Glenn went into cardiac arrest.

He is in critical condition in the ICU at Vanderbilt and doctors tell his church family that the next 72 hours are critical for him.

Please pray for Brother Glenn and his family as well as the church.

Links from the September Cohort

2007-09-06T13:10:00.000-07:00

Hey all,
Great conversation today with David and Sarah (Masen) Dark.
Below are the links to David’s books and Sarah’s music. If the audio came out well I’ll add it next week. I hope it does, the interaction was great!
Peace,
Dixon

Sarah’s website:
sarahmasen.com

David’s Books
Everyday Apocalypse: The Sacred Revealed in Radiohead, The Simpsons, and Other Pop Culture Icons

The Gospel According To America.

David and Sarah’s blog.

Cohort this Thursday and beyond

2007-09-03T13:13:00.000-07:00

This Thursday, September 6 the Nashville Cohort welcomes author/speaker David Dark from 11:30-1:00 at the Flying Saucer in the pool room.

David is the author of Everyday Apocalypse: The Sacred Revealed in Radiohead, The Simpsons, and Other Pop Culture Icons and The Gospel According To America. He is a Nashville resident and will challenge us with some great food for thought at the Saucer this week.

Coming this fall...
Next month (October 4) we will play host to Emily Snyder and Steven Miles. Steven and Emily are students at the Vandy Div school and have started a movement to deal justly and Christianly with the immigration issues facing our community and our nation.

Finally, in at our November 8 gathering (or possibly December - we're still working it out) author Will Samson will be with us to speak about the topic of practicing justice from his new book Justice in the 'Burbs. I've read it and recommend all of us pick up a copy before meeting with Will on the 8th.

As always try and call in your lunch orders to 259-3039 by 10:00am on the day.

Peace to you all in Jesus,
Dixon

This Summer's Best Books

2007-08-08T09:45:00.001-07:00

At this month’s Cohort we each introduced ourselves by sharing what books (if any) had really blown our doors off this summer. Some folks wanted that list on the blog so here you go.

Peace,
Dixon

All the Kings Men by Robert Penn Warren
Red Cactus by Alan Pert
Colossians Remixed By Brian Walsh and Sylvia Keesmaat
Appreciative Inquiry for Congregational Change by Mark Lau Branson
Everything Must Change by Brian McClaren
St. Francis: A Revolutionary Life by ?
On Being Christian by Hans Kung
Legends of the Fall
Harry Potter 1 & 2 by. J.K. Rowling
Teaching to Transgress by Bell Hooks

Justice in the Burbs Excerpt

2007-08-02T21:09:00.000-07:00

Baker Books has put an excerpt of Will and Lisa Samson's Justice in the Burbs: Being the Hands of Jesus Wherever You Live. The book is scheduled for release on August 7th, but you can get the introduction and chapter 1 pdf free. This looks like a very good book and hope that we get a chance to discuss in the next couple of months.

Michael Frost Audio

2007-08-02T20:59:00.000-07:00

Many of the ideas from Michael Frost‘s book Exiles: Living Missionally in a Post-Christian Culture, are talked about in sessions that he did in Peterborough, Ontario in 2006. Resonate makes this audio available as a podcast or download from ODEO. I have had problems with the podcast taking a long time to download, but the mp3s downloaded fine.

No Cohort Meeting in July

2007-07-03T20:57:00.000-07:00

Greetings All,
We are taking July off but will resuming our cohort gatherings on Thursday, August 2 at 11:30 at the Flying Saucer.

If you have ideas and about things you'd like to talk about this year email Dixon (dkinser@stbs.net) or comment below.

Peace in Jesus,
Dixon

Last Month's Conversation

2007-05-22T08:11:00.000-07:00

Hey!
Last month's Cohort conversation is available for download (or your listening pleasure) here.

Next month we are on for June 7 with Matthew Paul Turner reading a selection from his forthcoming book Jesus Needs New P.R.. I've read some of the manuscript and it is really great.

Thanks to Matthew for sharing.

Peace and love,
Dixon

Flying Saucer Phone Number

2007-04-12T09:02:00.000-07:00

Dixon. In the name of dog, change the phone number to 259-3039, which is the "real person" number.

Corporate prayer?

2007-03-29T12:39:00.000-07:00

Note: this is a post copied from my personal blog: The Truth As Best I Know It. I'm posting it here because I'd like some input from you fine folks.

As we approached the first anniversary of The Gathering we decided to ask people to fill out a survey telling us what they found meaningful and what wasn't working. The results didn't really surprise us. In most areas we were doing fairly well. People felt like they really got to participate in the worship and that they weren't just spectators of some show.

The one area where we weren't doing so well, however, was in the prayer time during the service. We had sensed this for a while, and the surveys confirmed it. A year ago it seemed like we had a good strategy. I or another leader would open the prayer time and guide us through an expanding circle prayer: first we would pray for this congregation, then others who were suffering, our local community, the world, the church universal, and in communion with all the saints. As we expanded the circle we invited others to verbally lift up prayer requests, ending with, "Lord in your mercy", and the rest of us would respond, "hear our prayer."

What we discovered over time, however, was that this method didn't really work for a group of 50 people. I've personally experienced this as being very powerful in a small group of no more than 10 or so, but in a larger group it ended up being basically the same thing as what we do in the 10:45 traditional service at Crievewood.

At the later service the pastor or another leader highlights some of the concerns on the prayer list in the bulletin, calls for a few moments of silence (at most 30 seconds), and then prays out loud on behalf of the congregation. Theoretically the congregation is all praying together, but I've started to wonder if that's really true. Just because someone is standing at the front of a room making a speech directed to God with their eyes closed, does that mean that 200 people are all really praying together?

This was the same problem with our prayer time at The Gathering. In theory we were all praying together and others were invited to lift up prayers verbally, but in reality there were only a half dozen or so who felt comfortable speaking up. So instead of one person making a speech with their eyes closed and calling it communal prayer, we had 6 or 7 people making mini-speeches with their eyes closed and calling it communal prayer.

It begs the question of how we should handle prayer in corporate worship. It is really possible to get a group of people larger than a dozen to be praying about the same thing? Does the fact that we do this corporate prayer enable people's feelings of absolution from the responsibility to have their own prayer times outside the weekly meeting? Does the fact that we have specific prayer times in worship narrow our definition of what prayer is? Conversations about meaningful issues in our lives can be prayer. Times of studying and struggling with the scriptures can be prayer. The act of taking communion together should certainly be seen as a type of prayer. All these things are acts we participate in to heighten our awareness of God's continual presence with us, so why should we not call it all prayer?

Right now in The Gathering we're trying an individual prayer time. Prayer concerns in the expanding circle are put up on the screen, and each table has a stack of post-it notes to write prayers on and stick up on our "wailing wall". We're going to give this about six weeks or so and see if it's working or not.

What do you think? Are we doing ourselves a greater disservice by trying to have corporate prayer in worship? Can the only legitimate prayer be as individuals or small groups? Discuss...

Emerging and global warming...

2007-03-17T18:12:00.000-07:00

For any who may be interested...

One of the things I've generally seen in emerging/Emergent is a commitment to environmental stewardship that generally is more hands on and feels a bit more urgent than I've usually found either in "pure mainline" or "general evangelical" circles.

If that's true for you, and you're interested in a simple action you might take regarding global warming (though granted, the hands here would be on your computer keyboard), you might consider cruising over to http://www.algore.com/cards.html, take a look at what he's proposing to do (bring a LOT of signatures with him about the need for congress to take concrete action on global warming when he testifies on March 21), and see if that's something you'd want to do.

If it is, then get your hands back on your keyboard and tell a few others. If not-- at least you've taken a look and made a decision.

Peace in Christ,

Taylor Burton-Edwards

A Very COOL Lent

2007-02-14T05:02:00.001-08:00

It's only one week until Lent. I don't normally send pre-Lent greetings, but I thought I'd let you know about something CoolPeopleCare is doing in regards to Lent this year.

My friend, Dixon Kinser, is encouraging his faith community, St. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church (Nashville), to try a proactive Lent this year. So, instead of using the 40 days before Easter to NOT do something (drink Diet Coke, eat chocolate, steal), he's challenging folks to actually DO something positive each day.

As a model of what can be done, we'll be focusing the content of our 5 Minutes of Caring articles on this idea.

So, if folks at your church want to get together and try to actually care for 5 minutes each day as a Lenten discipline, we're here to help. We've got a special page set up that explains what's going on, and if people from your faith community want to join in, let me know and we'll add your name to the list of people participating.

Thursday Night Dante ... an alternative theology pub

2007-02-13T14:06:00.000-08:00

Cohortistas,

I'm trying an experiment. I've always been intrigued by the whole "Theology Pub" thing I see a number of "emerging" folks doing, and thought I'd give it a shot myself here in Nashville.

The setting: David-Kidd Bookstore Café at Green Hills.
The time: Thursday Evenings at 7:30
The text: Dante's Divine Comedy-- translation by Mark Musa (individual volumes available for as little as a penny on Amazon.com, plus shipping of course)
The format: We read one canto per week together, and talk about what it says and what it might mean for our lives
The agenda: Read, eat, talk, challenge, grow. 90 minutes max. Then go home or wherever the next place is for you.
The launch: February 22
The partners in crime: Rob Rexroat and anyone else who wants to try this
The intended audience: Folks who like Italian medieval and Renaissance stuff, people who don't like reading much, poetry geeks, and perhaps a few Christians. As of now, we have two Christians... help find the others!
The journey: We start in Hell for 33 weeks or so, then to Purgatory for another 33 weeks, then to Paradise for 34 more.
What to expect: Hell identifies sin that besets you. Purgatory is about growing in spiritual vision and grace. Paradise is about living from the deep well of God's abundant and transforming love. It's not about the places, the torments, the trials or the rewards. It's about the journey, and a God who's out to save us.

If you haven't read the Divine Comedy, but you always knew you should, here's a book club (if you want to call it that) where the amount of weekly reading is low, but the amount of learning and growth might be pretty high. Even if you come sporadically, or just once.

Let me know if you're interested. Or just show up next Thursday and/or succeeding Thursdays at Davis-Kidd.

Peace in Christ,

Taylor Burton-Edwards

Good Discussion on Thursday

2007-02-10T19:04:00.000-08:00

Hey all,

I thought we had a good discussion on Thursday, at our meeting. I was glad to hear some folks voice their thoughts on the topic. I want to encourage everyone to continue to do that. I noticed that some folks were more in a listening mode. While I appreciate that, it seemed that newer folks had a lot to say. I would (honestly) have loved to hear from the regulars more.

Would anyone like to share their thoughts or comments about evangelism, pluralism, or whatever here on the blog? Or link to their own blogs if you are talking about it there?

Festival of Homiletics coming to Nashville

2007-01-31T14:55:00.000-08:00

I wanted to let everyone in the cohort know about the Festival of Homiletics that's coming to downtown Nashville May 21-25. For $235 (if you register by February 1) or $260 (if you wait till later) you can hear a lineup that includes Walter Brueggemann, Barbara Brown Taylor, Fred Craddock, Tom Long, Anna Carter Florence, Brian McLaren, Will Willimon, Gordon Lathrop, Jim Wallis, Jim Forbes, Cynthia Rigby, Will Campbell and others. The focus is on prophetic preaching.

Since you don’t have to fly anywhere, and you can sleep in your own bed at night, it’s the best bang for the buck for any con ed event you’ll consider this year!

Here’s the web site to check out the full lineup and to register: http://www.goodpreacher.com/festival/

Sick of Emergent/C

2007-01-25T12:32:00.000-08:00

I just unsubscribed to the Emergent/C newsletter. Why? Because practically every single one is a plea for money. In today's newsletter, the James Mills compares Emergent to Open Source computer software. Then he uses this comparison to ask for money, 2% of my income to be exact.

Open Source is a great idea. However, people work on it for free. That is the point. If Emergent is a "conversation," then we all have to contribute--but not to a guiding body. We should contribute through our presence, voice and prayers. We should also contribute by buying books or paying conference fees. But I don't see any reason for this conversation to be managed by employees.

My concern is that Emergent is becoming a denomination. And that is the last thing this member of the conversation wants to see. And it is one of the things that makes me suspect of this movement.

Do I believe in giving my money to the Church? You bet. The local church, parachurch ministries, ministry to the poor. But to a conversation? Count me out.

Responses? Other ideas? Where am I wrong? What am I missing? I would love to hear what you all have to say.

January Cohort and beyond

2006-12-27T09:14:00.000-08:00

Greetings all!
Any thoughts on topics of conversation for our January gathering and beyond? Post them here and let's get some ideas flowing.

What are you wondering? Any books or ideas worth exploring. Anything you have passion about or expertise in and would like to share? Any topics from last year that we should revisit?

The floor is yours....

Peace,
Dixon

Chris Seay Visits the Nashville Cohort This Thursday

2006-12-04T17:22:00.000-08:00

Greetings all,

Our last cohort gathering of 2006 is this Thursday,
December 7
at The Flying Saucer (in the pool room) 11 10th Avenue South Located behind the Union Station hotel Nashville, TN 37203 (615) 259-PINT
11:30-1:00

This month Chris Seay will be our guest speaker and he will share his thoughts on "recovering the biblical narrative". Chris is one of the leading voices of the emerging church conversation and this topic is near and dear to his heart.

Also, in the interest of being good guests, the Flying Saucer asked that we check the menu and call in our lunch orders early is we can. I'll post the menu here tomorrow and when you call just tell them you are with the "Pool Room" group.

If you have any questions hit me back, otherwise I'll see you Thursday.

Peace,
Dixon

"Mainline Emergents" seminar in Atlanta in January

2006-11-07T11:25:00.000-08:00

Columbia Seminary and the Atlanta Emergent Cohort are co-sponsoring Columbia's annual January Seminars this year, "Mainline Emergent/s: Conversations in Theology, Hope, and Practice," January 30 - February 1. Dixon and I thought it would be interesting if several of us from the Nashville Cohort went down together, not only for the seminars themselves but also for interaction with folks from the Atlanta cohort.

Featured speakers include Diana Butler Bass, Brian McLaren, Doug Pagitt, Nanette Sawyer, Karen Ward, Tony Jones, with Troy Bronsink leading the worship ... a little something for everyone, whether you're mainline or not, denominational or not.

The event will take place on the campus of Columbia in Decatur, GA. Registration is $275 (includes lunch both days), though there are a limited number of $75 registrations available to folks who work in settings where they don't have continuing education funds (if you're interested in this option, e-mail ericksons@ctsnet.edu ... pre-approval is required) . Housing is available on the campus or in nearby hotels.

The seminary strongly urges folks to register online at http://www.peopleware.net/index.cfm?siteID=572&event=2007LL&subeventDisp=CESEMJAN .

I'm glad to be a clearing house for folks who want to carpool down together. Please make your reservation and then e-mail me at jim.kitchens@secondpresbyterian.net to let me know you're signed up. I'll get in touch with everyone who contacts me in early January to make carpooling and any other arrangements.

In Christ,

Jim

Cohort has a Change of Plans

2006-11-01T20:00:00.000-08:00

Greetings all,
Today I got word that Chris Seay is sick and will not be able to join us for the Cohort gathering tomorrow. He was willing to come up just for us but I assured him that it wasn't necessary and that we'd see him in December instead.

So, tomorrow for the Cohort come out ready to share your freshest wonderings. Given all we've talked about this year and where you are in your life and faith practice, what are the questions you have? What are you excited about? What are you hoping to see God do next? Where have you been surprised by the kingdom?

I think we'll just pass a hat around and drop in questions and then read through and discuss them, letting our wonderings set the tone.
If anyone has something they'd like to discuss or present on let me know tomorrow (496-2008) and we'll get it together.

See you then.
Peace in Jesus,
Dixon

How Do We Want to Handle: Guest Speakers?

2006-10-26T08:24:00.000-07:00

This month Chris Seay will be sharing his thoughts with the cohort on recovering the biblical narrative. He will be the second “guest speaker” we’ve had this semester and I think having “an expert come in”, as we discussed after September’s gathering, does change the dynamic a little but it's not inherently bad.

So, how do we want to handle guest speakers? We all talked about Chris coming in at last month’s meeting and, because we agreed it was a good idea together, we invited him. Is this the best way to approach having “speakers” when we they want to come? Do we like that format enough to try and find people to “speak” to us, or is the occasional “expert” a better way to go?

Again, a penny for your thoughts.

Peace,
Dixon

How Do We Want to Handle: Ministries and Vendors?

2006-10-26T08:22:00.000-07:00

Because I’m the contact person on the EV website for our cohort, I get emails from people who want to connect with our little community for both personal and commercial reasons. Emergent is, for better or for worse, becoming more and more well known inside publishing and marketing circles and there are those who want to connect their product with our demographic. While this is not an inherently bad thing (depending on your perspective), I’d like for us as a community to discuss how we’d like to handle this as it relates to us.

So far people who want to use the cohort as a platform for getting word out about their organization have been in one of two groups. First, there are ministries that want to share what they’re about because they have common values with us. I’ve been inviting them to come to a cohort meeting knowing that we have announcements at the end and they can share the if they’d like (Habitat for Humanity is one example). Second, there are folks who have a product they are trying to sell (it can even be ministry related i.e. webpage software for churches) and want to access the “emergent demographic”. These folks I have thanked but tried to explain that we are not a group where that type of relationship (vendor/customer) is what we’re cultivating. They can join us as people, but I discourage their participation as salespeople.

However, there are some areas (like the book thing did with Tim last month, or Jay’s Brian McClaren announcement) that don’t quite fit into either group. These are things that are of general benefit to our community life and things we should share. So, my questions to us is, how do we want to handle these things? Not in a policy way so much (i.e. where is the line?) as a relational one (what kind of life are we trying to have together?).

Thoughts, opinions, feelings?

It seems to me these choices should be made as a group so, what say you?

Brian McLaren in Nashville Area

2006-10-24T19:25:00.000-07:00

The Godfather himself is coming to speak at a conference in Franklin in November. I received an e-mail today asking me to help spread the word throughout the Nashville area about Brian’s appearance, and this conference, which looks extremely interesting.

Missio Dei – “The Mission of God for the Next Generation” is a conference sponsored by an organization called Wiconi International. Wiconi is an organization focused on the intersection of Christianity and the Native American community, attempting to bridge the cultural gaps between westernized, colonial Christianity and native American culture.

The Missio Dei conference appears to be a regular gathering, and this year they are featuring Brian speaking at two different times, focusing especially on embracing God in the global church. The conference will be November 9 – 11 at the Christ Community Church in Franklin, and will feature worship from many cultures, including Middle Eastern, Pakistani, African, and Native American. Brian is schedule to speak at a luncheon for church leaders at The Factory in Franklin, and will be the keynote speaker at the Friday evening session of the conference (7:00 p.m.). The materials suggest that the Friday evening session is open to the public without registration, which the church leaders luncheon does require registration and costs some bucks.

I frankly don’t now much about Wiconi other than what I’ve picked up on the website, but this looks extremely interesting in thinking about issues of multiculturalism, so let me know if you are interested in attending.

Feed back from the McKnight Book

2006-10-19T21:34:00.000-07:00

Hey,
Here is what we sent to Scot McKnight in regard to his book manuscript we read together. The recording didn't work (my fault) so this was based on my notes. If anyone wants to make corrections, post away!
Peace,
Dixon

-------------------
Nashville Cohort
Reflections and responses to Scot McKnight's forthcoming book A Community Called Atonement, 10/5/06.

We had lots of conversation and sifting through it all I think there are about 5 salient points.

1.) Is Atonement the best word to use in all this? We talked for a long while about the Biblical connections to atonement and how atonement of sins in Lev 16 is different than the forgiveness of sins on the cross. Jesus linking of the Cross and Passover further complicate the matter. So, question asked – what if a new word should be coined? Maybe you could borrow one from Doug;)

2.) The emotional highpoint seems to come in the middle. At some point McKnight tells an incredibly poignant story (it's from a woman's email; she is a nurse who washes the feet....) that is the emotive high point of the book but it comes just past the mid-point. We couldn't help thinking sermonically at that point - that the climax came but there were still pages and pages to read.... anyway, worth a thought

3.) Golf is Good. Loved the golf metaphor of needing “every club in the bag”. So helpful. AS was his whole emphasis on finding an atonement theology that “works”. We felt it was a good via media between the academy and the parish. He nails it there.

4.) Atonement Wars, Really? Tim (West) asked if we experienced the Atonement Wars referenced by McKnight at a “street level” in our contexts. Most of us agreed that we did not. We all experience the fights about other stuff in our protestant traditions (which are broad, Non-denom to Episcopal), but not that. However, we know the fights are going on (you don’t need to look too hard on the net to find the fray) and that’s where his offering of a missional implication for the theology really helped. If the fight is not your concern, the book still really matters.

5.) The Kingdom gets back burner-ed. Some felt that the book read as though McKnight thought the atonement made possible the coming of the Kingdom of God, in Jesus. So, basically, the Kingdom wasn’t really happening in Jesus life and ministry until the cross and the atonement happened. I know this isn’t what he believes, but the group thought this should be pointed out.

Compiled by Dixon Kinser

Cohort Gathers This Thursday October 5

2006-10-03T12:47:00.000-07:00

Greetings all,

We have our next cohort gathering this Thursday, October 5 from 11:30-1:00 at the Flying Saucer in the pool room.

Our conversation will revolve around the idea/theology of the atonement in a postmodern context. We will be discussing Scot McKnight's new book that deals with this subject and record the conversation in order that he can make changes based on our feedback. You do not "have to have read" to come and be part of the conversation. We will have someone summarize McKnight's argument so we can all participate.

If you have any questions email me at dkinser@stbs.net and if this is your first Cohort, you have to fight...I mean your lunch is free. Sorry, too much Fight Club;)

See you there,
Dixon

Cohort Gathers This Thursday September 7

2006-09-05T09:00:00.000-07:00

Greetings all,
Our next Cohort gathering is this Thursday September 7 from 11:30-1:00 at the Flying Saucer.

It sounds like this season might be one of continuing some conversations that we began last year, so, this gathering will focus on issues of race, racism and justice. A friend of mine, Jud Laughter (PhD candidate at Vandy in critical race theory), will be presenting some perspectives on race and it's social and cultural dynamics. We'll then be pursuing a missional response together in the conversation. Jud's stuff is really excellent and provocative (for example - race is a socio-cultural designation - it has nothing to do with skin tone) and should be excellent.

Likewise, if you like to read, Tim will have manuscripts of the new John Franke and Scott McKnight books for us to read and discuss for next time in order to help the authors tweak the material before it's published. He'll give us more details this Thursday as well.

Finally, if this is your first time to visit the cohort we would like to buy you lunch. Please, allow us the honor.

If you have any questions hit me back.

Peace in Jesus,
Dixon

Emergent: Defined and Criticized

2006-08-31T13:18:00.000-07:00

Last time we met, one of us asked "what is emergent"? Quite a question. Are you emergent? Am I? What is "it," what is "us"?

So, I stumbled (in a weird, weird way) across this article on-line. It is written from a conservative Baptist perspective, and both defines and criticicizes Emergent and the emerging church movement. I found it informative, interesting, and a bit infuriating.

I hope you do to:

http://9marks.org/partner/Article_Display_Page/0,,PTID314526%7CCHID598014%7CCIID2249226,00.html

Lots of Love:
Thomas+
ThomasMcKenzie.com

"What You Win Them with Is What You Win Them To"

2006-08-04T14:03:00.000-07:00

Considering the conversation yesterday and with Gavin's encouragement, I'm posting my blogpost from today here for the consideration of the group.

"What You Win Them with Is What You Win Them To"

This statement, spoken by Randy Harris at the Lipscomb Summer Celebration, is an idea that has stuck with me, in my craw since I heard it. I realized in listening to it the bald faced truth of it.

Many churches over the last generation or so have adopted an "attractional model." In other words, offer enough programs or special services or cool teaching (or teachers) or hip worship, and people will come into your church. Once you've got them there, you just keep offering those things enough because you have to keep the people there. This is ESPECIALLY true in a place like Nashville where churches are like lobbyists in Washington; you can't swing a dead rat without hitting one. If you don't offer someone what they like, they'll just go somewhere else. So, following the title of this post, if you offer someone a great children's program and then children's program changes or goes away, then they just leave or stay and complain about it.

The focus then needs to become in our congregations, not the attractional model, but the missional model. I've talked before about how "missional church" or "missional Christian" should be absolute redundancies, but the sad fact of the matter is that our congregations have become more like affinity-based social clubs, rather than organizations with the mission that Jesus gave us in Matthew 28. What we have to be clear about is the purpose we are here for. We are to be a blessing to the world, recalling God's call to Abraham in Genesis 12. We are to work with God in bringing His Kingdom on earth as it is in Heaven, creating disciples of Jesus not simply admirers of him or adherents to some beliefs about him.

The challenge comes in working within an existing church to do this. I think Otter Creek is starting down this road. You can listen to some of the recent Sunday sermons (last week's Purpose of Membership, specifically) and hear a greater calling to discipleship, that our elders will be asking us the questions about our discipleship walk. Undoubtably, there have been people who have come to Otter Creek for our children's programs and/or our worship and/or whatever else (not being like other Churches of Christ). I hope those people will join with the elders and other members in this push toward greater discipleship (even though statistics apparently show that churches that begin this kind of transition from attractional to missional/discipleship focused lose 50-70% of their attendance).

I firmly believe that a congregation that devotes itself whole-heartedly to following Jesus could make a change in its community. I pray God gives me the strength and perseverance and patience to walk through this with my brothers and sisters, and that Otter Creek can be a place where disciples of Jesus are formed and matured and grow in the faith with a mind toward Jesus and a heart for the world.