Recently I had the opportunity to be a part of an international gathering of Emergent minded followers of Christ from Thailand, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo, South Africa, Brazil, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Argentina, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, the UK, US and Canada. We spent time living and working among rural farmers, in silence and prayer, and in conversation and planning. While we came from differing contexts, but we shared a common belief and hope that a new Christian ethos is emerging … and we gathered to seek to discern and participate in what the Spirit is bringing to life.
MESA participants included: Brian McLaren, Anji Barker, Ash Barker, Terry LeBlanc, Beverly LeBlanc, Johnben Loy, James Henderson, Jill Rowe, Rene August, Sami Awad, Roy Soto, Tim Hartman, Clarice Wong Zi Yun, Steve Chalke, Doug Pagitt, Ann Beatrice, Adam Phillips, Giles Parker, Soo Choo Lee, Carolyn Kitto, Fuzz Kitto, Steve Hollinghurst, Dave Parr, Jerome Neege, Jay Bee, Pamela Wilhelms, Rachel Goble, Matt LeBlanc, Steven Knight, Holly Roach, Tom Yaccino, Dee Yaccino, Yvonne McRostie, Sean Callaghan, Annie Kirke, John Baxter-Brown, Sivin Kit, Jorge Ortega Madrigal, Rosalee Velloso Ewell, Muhindo Malunga Lusukiro, Paul Lucas Jimmy Spencer Jr., Derek T. Porter, and myself… i’m sure I must be missing some people… but it was an amazing time.
Below is the narrative that we came up with to share our shared values and desire for deeper connections between us. What I was most impacted by was learning about the various networks around the world that link up the work of small faith communities. I am heartened by the attempt to connect our work globally and hope to see collaborations for change evolve out of this conversation.
Over recent years, many of us have felt something stirring in us …
- a thirst for a more authentic, honest, and sustaining spiritual life
- a hunger to do justice, to show compassion, to walk humbly with God
- a desire to understand and engage with the critical problems of our world
- a need for a space to grapple honestly with our questions of theology and practice
- a loneliness for a sense of shared identity and belonging.
As Christians, we were searching for companions on a journey, a journey from many of the forms and assumptions that were no longer working for us, a journey toward something new that we had not yet seen.
The journey was often frightening and difficult. Whenever we found someone who shared our questions, desires, and dreams, we gathered around a table for conversation. Through conversation, we became friends on a journey. And from our friendships, we gained the courage to try new things.
Sometimes we met each other online. Sometimes we traveled great distances to be together. Sometimes we formed networks in a city, nation, region, or continent. We would share books, ideas, and websites. We would share our successes and setbacks. As our numbers grew, so did our confidence and so did our dreams. We found that we became better together than we were alone.
Soon, we realized that all around the world, similar tables and networks were forming in Africa and Asia, in North, Central, and South America, from Europe to the Middle East to Australia.
So we eventually decided to invite people to gather face to face in one place for the first time in Thailand, in 2013. About fifty of us traveled from around the world. We chose the name Mesa, the Spanish word for table, because it suggested a space of conversation, companionship, and nourishment for life, work, and action.
Our group included pastors, theologians, activists, authors, NGO leaders, and lay people from a variety of professions. We began by spending a few days in a poor rural village, sharing in the hard work and beautiful culture of our hosts. Later, in an urban center, we walked the streets where the sex trade is a major industry. We knew that whatever God was doing among us, it must be rooted in a concern for our neighbors who live in poverty.
Then we gathered at a retreat center for prayer and worship. We reflected on the Scriptures and we began to talk about what we thought we might be able to be and do together, with God’s help. We brought different gifts, weaknesses, and concerns to the table, but we shared ten deep commitments:
1. We believe in Jesus and the good news of the reign, commonwealth, or ecosystem of God, and we seek for God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven by focusing on love – love for God and neighbor as self, for outsider and enemy.
2. We seek to know, serve, and join the poor in the struggle for justice and freedom … through advocacy, relationship, and action.
3. We seek to honor, interpret, and indwell the Bible narrative in fresh and healing ways, aware of the damaging ways the Bible has been used in the past.
4. We seek to reconnect with the earth, understand the harm human beings are doing to it, and discover more responsible, regenerative ways of life in it.
5. We seek the common good, locally and globally, through churches of many diverse forms, contexts, and traditions, and we imagine fresh ways for churches to form Christ-like people and join God in the healing of the world.
6. We build inclusive partnerships across gaps between the powerful and vulnerable – including disparities based on wealth, gender, race and ethnic identity, education, religion, sexuality, age, politics, and physical ability.
7. We engage conflict at all levels of human society with the creative and nonviolent wisdom of peacemaking.
8. We propose new ways of encountering the other in today’s pluralistic world and we collaborate with other religious and secular groups in alliances for the common good.
9. We host safe space for constructive theological conversation, seeking to root our practice in theological reflection and seeking to express our reflection in practical action.
10. We value the arts for their unique role in nurturing, challenging, and transforming our humanity.
11. We emphasize spiritual and relational practices to strengthen our inner life with God and our relationships with one another and creation.
The Mesa statement – October 31, 2013
Having affirmed these commitments, we prayed for strength and guidance. We prayed that others would join us. We prayed that goals, plans, and resources would be provided as needed. We decided to gather again in four years to see and celebrate what fruit will be born from our little seeds of faith, and to see what new dreams might take shape. We have many possibilities ahead of us. We also have many unanswered questions and challenges. But we are beginning, and we invite you to join us. If your heart resonates with our story, we invite you to …
Below are a few reflections on our MESA gathering from some of its participates, (i appear in the first video).
