One of my favorite books of 2003 was Conrad Gempf’s Jesus Asked. Gempf’s new book is titled, Mealtime habits of the Messiah: 40 encounters with Jesus. It is a glorious journey through Christ’s radically open table (though of course is
Jim Henderson, Seattle-area evangelism guru, friend and director of Off-the-Map (not the Muppet guy – that was “Henson”) has a new book coming out on June 21st: a. k. a. “Lost”: discovering ways to connect with the people Jesus misses
Lynette, Pascal and I invite you to spend a weekend with them our home. Spend time talking and sharing lives, discussing relational ministry and relational church-planting. And spend time with their Christ-commons (Quest). Connecting weekends are a great retreat and stimulus
Reporter, Peter Strimer for the Episcopal Voice wrote “The Emerging Church” (June 2005) after visiting the “mission_shaped_church” learning party sponsored by Karen Ward and COTA. The article has a great cover photo of Ryan Marsh. And there’s a “dwight-quote” on
I’m delighted to have Brian McLaren as a guest on this journal today. Brian wrote the following post, and he will be engaging here over the next couple of days. Ask him any questions you want, raise issues, enjoy and
After sitting with the question of “the nature of leadership” for some time, I find myself moving toward a very simple understanding. Is leadership is about conversation. Leadership has less to do with the clarity of vision, and much more
Well, I’m back to the world of the web connected. After a week in LA at Fuller Seminary and in Portland at George Fox University without access, it feels so good to have my networked-mind back. The time at the
Eddie Gibbs and Ryan Bolger at Fuller and Mark Priddy (Allelon) are bringing a group of Avant-church influencers together for a few days to discuss church, networking, training, leadership, etc. I head out very early this morning. This will be
Cellular Mitosis is cell division in which one somatic cell divides to produce two cells each of which has the identical genetic content (same number of chromosomes) as the original somatic cell. An interesting question to reflect on is when
I’ve been giving some more thought to the connections of Cellular Mitosis with church growth and church planting. The body of Christ appears to be a not unlike a multi-cellular living organism. Multi-cellular living organisms contain more than one cell
Yesterday I participated in one of the most promising North American emergent-type events I have seen in some time. Karen Ward and the Church of the Apostles sponsored “mission shaped church: a learning party.” A couple of things that were
Presenting “emerging theology” at the mission_shaped_church learning party sponsored by Karen Ward and the Church of the Apostles. April 17, 2005 Peace, dwight
Yesterday Joel, Tim and I went to a day long conference with Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch (authors of, The Shaping of Things to Come). The event was hosted and sponsored by Zoe, a church community in Tacoma, pastored by
The Church of the Apostles (Seattle, WA) and Moot (Westminster, UK) are sponsoring what is promising to be a great conversational space. Click for more details. peace, dwight
Please pray for 84 year-old Pope John Paul II. His health is failing and the Roman Church is preparing for his home-going. As the Pontiff for about one-half of all the world’s Christians. He has already received the “Holy Viaticum”
Sitting with the wise replies to the Emerging Orthodox post I am impressed again with the great wisdom which comes from engaging the Holy Tradition. The wisdom of “us” (which always includes the presence of God by the Holy Spirit)
Sky posted a few questions and challenges in response to my March 24th entry. Sky asked: “Can you explain how the statement that the Protestant Reformation gave the bible ‘back to the people’ applies to the vast communities in the
Karen Ward pointed me to an interesting article on dangers of the “emergent church movement.” The article cited Dr. Donald A. Carson (with his new book, Becoming Conversant with Emergent), Dr. R. Albert Mohler Jr. (President of Southern Baptist Theological
There have been times throughout Western history when people talked as though the spiritual mattered, and the physical did not. Soul = good; body = bad. The move to holistic viewing of the human person in community seems like a
Many avant-church leaders/hosts/facilitators/curates/etc. are serving in bi-vocational ways; meaning they earn their living working a “regular” job in order to support their community habit. Some have made this a conscious decision, others have been forced into this bi-vo-role by slower
This week in Seattle there is a gathering of Emerging Women’s Leadership. This initiative is one of the most important to be born of the avant-church conversation to date. The “emergent” conversation I’ve been most familiar with, appeared to begin
As is so often the case with at least me, when my journal is quiet – life isn’t. In addition to observing the 36th anniversary of my birth, I had a pretty full teaching week; 20 hours in the classroom.
One of the goals of cross-cultural missions – in some traditions – has to generate a more nearly universal Christian witness, one that has pan-human validity, thus to attain a universally applicable theology and Christian ethic; its primary goal is
The cover story of the current issue of Time is “The 25 Most Influential Evangelicals.” Listed among the powerful voices of Rick Warren, James Dodson, Richard John Neuhaus, Billy/Franklin Graham, J. I. Packer, Bill Hybels, John Stott, and sixteen others,
Recently I was again asked about D. A. Carson’s comments regarding the emerging church. The inquirer was curious whether or not I’d recommend the recordings (previous posts, 1 & 2). I always value listening to those views might appear to
Today’s entry is intended for use by those who proactively shape the ethos of Quest by participating as our hosting forum. Quest’s “Hosting Forum” is the gathering of participants from our spiritual community who intentionally & collectively discern on behalf
Teresa Acheson, who is a seminary student and radio host (listen live, www.ciay.ca Fridays @ 10pm PST) interviewed me as part of her research for a paper entitled Where is the Emerging Church Heading? She was gracious enough to let
A reader of my blog recently asked a few questions about ministry in a postmodern context. While I am certainly seeking to engage our emerging cultural context I can’t claim to be an expert in these matters. I will say
Today I was interviewed by a student researching the “emerging church.” Here are my somewhat esoteric responses: > Can you think of a model for the emerging church? When I use the term “emerging church” I am not simply referring
