The Cohort for November is upon us! Yeah!
Let's talk about vision. Let's develop our friendship and get to know each other better by talking about what our hopes and dreams for the church are.
This opens the night up to all sorts of interesting directions as we imagine together the future of the church. It also opens the door to a discussion of the word "generative" from the phrase that Emergent Village is a generative friendship - ie. a friendship that "generates" new things.
What does the Lord have for us both individually in our churches, but also collectively in this region as we all emerge together over the coming years?
See you Tuesday night at 6:30
Origins Church Office
581 9th Ave #3B(corner of 42nd and 9 Ave.)
above the papaya dog.
Enter next to the hotdog place on 9th ave.
look for the ORIGINS poster in the door and buzz number 3B...
Saturday, November 11, 2006
Thursday, October 12, 2006
Book List from October Cohort on Gay Issues
So many things to talk about with this huge topic affecting human community and in some quarters splitting the church, one night was not enough.
Here is a book list that we have compiled to further help us explore - please send in more if you have them - we present this without editorial comment and recognize that it represents a broad number of views which represent our breadth of community. We are gathering for friendship, and learning from one another is a good part of that:
Here is a book list that we have compiled to further help us explore - please send in more if you have them - we present this without editorial comment and recognize that it represents a broad number of views which represent our breadth of community. We are gathering for friendship, and learning from one another is a good part of that:
Embodiment- An Approach to Sexuality and Christian Theology, by James Nelson
Gay Theology Without Apology by Comstock
Christianity, Social Tolerance and Homosexuality, by John Boswell
Touching Our Strength by Carter Heyward
Between Two Gardens : Reflections on Sexuality and Religious Experience, by James Nelson
Beyond Gay by David Morrison
Freedom, Glorious Freedom- The Spiritual Journey to the Fullness of Life for Gays and Lesbians, by Jjohn J. McNeill
Setting Love in Order: Hope and Healing for the Homosexual by Mario Bergner
Stranger at the Gate: To be Gay and Christian in America , by Mel White
Slaves, Women & Homosexuals: Exploring the Hermeneutics of Cultural Analysis by William J. Webb
The Sins of Scripture by Spong
The Erotic Word by David Carr
Women's Bible Commentary by Carol Newsom
Take Back the Word
Saturday, October 07, 2006
October Cohort!
This Tuesday October 10th, at 6:30 is the cohort gathering, as usual at Origin's office.
I'm sorry for the late notice, but we are changing the topic, our special guest had a schedule change and so we are postponing that 'til later.
Instead we will be discussing two issues from a pastoral perspective - ministry to gay congregants and seekers - how you viewed this in the past, and how you view it now - same? changed? Where will we emerge on this issue that affects so many lives?
And then, how to address God, or speak of God in the English language where there is no neuter personal pronoun...is God a he? is God a she? is God an it? How do other languages handle this? What are emerging sensibilities? Do we change because of cultural sensitivity or does that water down understandings of God? Mainline views and Evangelical views - is there a third way?
See you Tuesday night at 6:30
Origins Church Office
581 9th Ave #3B
(corner of 42nd and 9 Ave.)
above the papaya dog.
Enter next to the hotdog place on 9th ave.
look for the ORIGINS poster in the door and buzz number 3B...
I'm sorry for the late notice, but we are changing the topic, our special guest had a schedule change and so we are postponing that 'til later.
Instead we will be discussing two issues from a pastoral perspective - ministry to gay congregants and seekers - how you viewed this in the past, and how you view it now - same? changed? Where will we emerge on this issue that affects so many lives?
And then, how to address God, or speak of God in the English language where there is no neuter personal pronoun...is God a he? is God a she? is God an it? How do other languages handle this? What are emerging sensibilities? Do we change because of cultural sensitivity or does that water down understandings of God? Mainline views and Evangelical views - is there a third way?
See you Tuesday night at 6:30
Origins Church Office
581 9th Ave #3B
(corner of 42nd and 9 Ave.)
above the papaya dog.
Enter next to the hotdog place on 9th ave.
look for the ORIGINS poster in the door and buzz number 3B...
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
Cohort Expanding
If the cohort were pants, and the people were a belly - then it would be time to dig a new hole through the leather belt and loosen it up a bit.
Wow, what a great gathering last night. Everyone was so excited to see one another, we had new people who were welcomed lovingly and afterwards expressed gratefulness for the life they received from being around likeminded folks.
Elise Brown gave us the low down...on her new Thursday night gathering, which many of us will be attending on Sept. 14th at 7:30pm at Advent Lutheran, corner of 93rd & Broadway.
Transmission is growing in the hearts of Bowie and Isaac, and all of us.
I got a wonderful email today from Sean Callaghan in South Africa, who is moving out here hopefully by the summer to plant in Tribeca - he follows the Cohort blog here and can't wait to come and be amongst us, and we can't wait to be there to aid in their families transition into the city. They will be a great addition to our growing community.
Sunday afternoon some churches are going to Central Park for the Save Darfur Rally and the Doctors Without Borders Refugee Camp - a big day here for Social Justice.
Diana Butler Bass will be speaking about her new book on signs of life in mainline churches at St. Bart's tonight at 7:30pm, Center for Religious Inquiry. Free. Her new book is called "Christianity For the Rest Of Us" - about new signs of life in mainline congregations (She's on the Board of Directors of Emergent Village) [update: me and Becky went, very insightful new book]
Please send in links to your blogs and church websites and we will post them permanently on the sidebar here.
Next Month: A special treat as cohort member David Ramos founder of the Latino Leadership Circle (LLC) comes and guides our dialog. Probably a number of LLC'ers will come with. Can't wait!
Wow, what a great gathering last night. Everyone was so excited to see one another, we had new people who were welcomed lovingly and afterwards expressed gratefulness for the life they received from being around likeminded folks.
Elise Brown gave us the low down...on her new Thursday night gathering, which many of us will be attending on Sept. 14th at 7:30pm at Advent Lutheran, corner of 93rd & Broadway.
Transmission is growing in the hearts of Bowie and Isaac, and all of us.
I got a wonderful email today from Sean Callaghan in South Africa, who is moving out here hopefully by the summer to plant in Tribeca - he follows the Cohort blog here and can't wait to come and be amongst us, and we can't wait to be there to aid in their families transition into the city. They will be a great addition to our growing community.
Sunday afternoon some churches are going to Central Park for the Save Darfur Rally and the Doctors Without Borders Refugee Camp - a big day here for Social Justice.
Diana Butler Bass will be speaking about her new book on signs of life in mainline churches at St. Bart's tonight at 7:30pm, Center for Religious Inquiry. Free. Her new book is called "Christianity For the Rest Of Us" - about new signs of life in mainline congregations (She's on the Board of Directors of Emergent Village) [update: me and Becky went, very insightful new book]
Please send in links to your blogs and church websites and we will post them permanently on the sidebar here.
Next Month: A special treat as cohort member David Ramos founder of the Latino Leadership Circle (LLC) comes and guides our dialog. Probably a number of LLC'ers will come with. Can't wait!
Friday, September 08, 2006
First Fall Meeting of the Cohort!
Hello Cohortonians!
We are back for the new fall season Tuesday, Sept. 12th at 6:30pm!
(which is the second Tuesday in the month)
We've got a great fall ahead of us, next month David Ramos, founder of the LLC is facilitating the dialog, and a host of enlightening conversations are in our future. Already you can sense a wonderful enthusiasm about the relationships we are building, and if you read the post below, you will discover things are already happening out of these friendships.
On Tuesday rather than having a specific theme, we will talk about the overall emerging church phenomenon, and leave space within that for questions from new people, along with talking about actual things that are happening in America, in England, and here in NYC and where we hope or imagine this thing will go in the future. A good general night, so come ready to talk about whatever is on your mind.
See you Tuesday night!
Origins Church Office
581 9th Ave #3B
(corner of 42nd and 9 Ave.)
above the papaya dog.
Enter next to the hotdog place on 9th ave.
look for the ORIGINS poster in the door and buzz number 3B...
We are back for the new fall season Tuesday, Sept. 12th at 6:30pm!
(which is the second Tuesday in the month)
We've got a great fall ahead of us, next month David Ramos, founder of the LLC is facilitating the dialog, and a host of enlightening conversations are in our future. Already you can sense a wonderful enthusiasm about the relationships we are building, and if you read the post below, you will discover things are already happening out of these friendships.
On Tuesday rather than having a specific theme, we will talk about the overall emerging church phenomenon, and leave space within that for questions from new people, along with talking about actual things that are happening in America, in England, and here in NYC and where we hope or imagine this thing will go in the future. A good general night, so come ready to talk about whatever is on your mind.
See you Tuesday night!
Origins Church Office
581 9th Ave #3B
(corner of 42nd and 9 Ave.)
above the papaya dog.
Enter next to the hotdog place on 9th ave.
look for the ORIGINS poster in the door and buzz number 3B...
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
Generative Friendships!
Alright, well we're all enjoying the month of August off. See the awesome post below by Becky about her journalistic interview with Steve Chalke.
For all of your wonderful convenience, here is the fall Cohort Schedule:
Every Second Tuesday at 6:30pm
Sept. 12
Oct. 10
Nov. 14
Dec. 12
Here's a report of a Cohort "generative friendship" happening:
Generative friendships is one of the goals of Emergent Village, and it means friendships that generate actual things happening!
Of course, feeling loved by a fellow struggling comrade in the garden of the Lord is one of the best actual things that happens, and it is one that I plan to take home often, but here is another kind of thing we hope to see much of, as we all labor side by side here in our local field....
Starting in September, Advent Lutheran on the UWS is holding an emergent gathering every other Thursday, helmed by their pastor and NYC Cohort member J. Elise Brown. But being the emergent that she is, Pastor Brown is not doing everything herself, she has a whole wonderful group of folks at her church doing most of the planning and running of the gathering itself (including cohort member Becky G.).
But beyond her own church, she's is making generative friendships here at the NYC Cohort, and here is one such connection...she has asked another member of our cohort to lead the prayer portion of the gathering throughout the fall, and to preach/share a few times also! (if you want to know who, you'll just have to come check it out every other Thursday, starting Sept. 14th, 93rd & Broadway)
We cannot wait to see this happen all over the place - helping each other, consulting with each other, encouraging one another...generating, generating, generating...friendshipping, friendshipping, friendshipping!!!!
Exciting times are right up ahead.
For all of your wonderful convenience, here is the fall Cohort Schedule:
Every Second Tuesday at 6:30pm
Sept. 12
Oct. 10
Nov. 14
Dec. 12
Here's a report of a Cohort "generative friendship" happening:
Generative friendships is one of the goals of Emergent Village, and it means friendships that generate actual things happening!
Of course, feeling loved by a fellow struggling comrade in the garden of the Lord is one of the best actual things that happens, and it is one that I plan to take home often, but here is another kind of thing we hope to see much of, as we all labor side by side here in our local field....
Starting in September, Advent Lutheran on the UWS is holding an emergent gathering every other Thursday, helmed by their pastor and NYC Cohort member J. Elise Brown. But being the emergent that she is, Pastor Brown is not doing everything herself, she has a whole wonderful group of folks at her church doing most of the planning and running of the gathering itself (including cohort member Becky G.).
But beyond her own church, she's is making generative friendships here at the NYC Cohort, and here is one such connection...she has asked another member of our cohort to lead the prayer portion of the gathering throughout the fall, and to preach/share a few times also! (if you want to know who, you'll just have to come check it out every other Thursday, starting Sept. 14th, 93rd & Broadway)
We cannot wait to see this happen all over the place - helping each other, consulting with each other, encouraging one another...generating, generating, generating...friendshipping, friendshipping, friendshipping!!!!
Exciting times are right up ahead.
Wednesday, August 09, 2006
Steve Chalke interview
Steve Chalke, founding Director of Oasis Trust and Faithworks, wrote a book titled The Lost Message of Jesus , which Brian McLaren references in his book in The Secret Message of Jesus . I found this book valuable as I was penning my book to help me explore what it means to put The Greatest Commandment into practice. Passing along the URL in case you might enjoy some summer reading. Steve Chalke Door Interview.
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
Awesome Second Meeting
Wow, what a great time we had last night at our second NYC Cohort gathering. Everyone was really into it and the conversation was awesome (can you tell I'm from California).
David Ramos characterized it well on his LLC blog, "About ten of us gathered at Origins where we discussed the lost art of listening as well as how the Emergent dialogue has created spaces of discussion that transcend denomination, ethnicity, and other categories. Over crackers and cheese [and beer] we talked about the uniqueness and fecundity of having mainline, Catholic, and evangelical traditions all in one room. We weaved in and out of varying personal and ecclesial observations."
Jon Tyson, our gracious host summed up what I felt when he said afterwards, "this was life giving to me".
We agreed to meet starting in September on the second Tuesday of each month, which is Sept. 12th at 6:30 at the same place, Origins church office - a very cozy space filled with couches.
We are also going to have more members of the cohort post here on the blog and hopefully we can continue the dialog throughout the month, and I think this will also give us a good idea of what kind of topics to have each month as we see what people are wanting to talk about.
The best part for me, and what the real point of it is, are the friendships that are developing. I see a wonderful unity going forward that will bring joy to our Father as he sees his children living and playing and working together as they be his presence here on earth.
Okay cohort members, start posting!
Sunday, July 02, 2006
July Topic - Listening to all the voices
July Cohort meeting on Tuesday, July 25th at 6:30pm
Origins Church Office
581 9th Ave #3B
(corner of 42nd and 9 Ave.)
above the papaya dog.
Enter next to the hotdog place on 9th ave.
look for the ORIGINS poster in the door and buzz number 3B...
(August-no meeting, back in September)
The NYC Emergent Village Cohort is not the first regular gathering of emergent minded people in NYC - The Latino Leadership Circle already has that distinction.
Over the last year I have been thrilled by how God has been giving me friendships with some of the leaders of LLC. I met the founder David Ramos at the emergent theological conversation at Yale this winter, along with Jose Humphreys. I have been pastoring my church this whole year in the same building, the Lamb's theater, as Gabriel Salguero, the pastor the the Lamb's Manhattan Nazarene Church, and prof at Alliance Theo Seminary.
These guys have been very excited and encouraging to the start of the Cohort. I know as time goes on many of them will come and help build friendships. I'm hoping some of them will help in even deeper ways with the Cohort.
Last month, the LLC hosted Brian McLaren for a day full of events, and warmly invited me along. Here is a quote from David Ramos on the LLC blog which has inspired the topic for the July Cohort.
"Among many things Brian shared about his personal journey, described the history of the emergent dialogue, challenged us through narratives of faith in action, framed new questions for us, shared resources, and above all—authentically listened to us! While listening seems simple, it is nevertheless an act that lamentably, and often tragically, is not practiced enough within our communities, and as one person said, “Listening is an act of love.” "
So, let us take action - to listen as an act of love. Listening to people is how you go from acquaintance to friendship - so let's listen to one another.
July topic: How do we emerge together? (listening to one another)
Come and share your perspective, especially if you feel it isn't being heard.
As always we will make room for those new to the discussion and cover some of the basics if they don't know much and are curious to learn. We're all just getting into this!
Origins Church Office
581 9th Ave #3B
(corner of 42nd and 9 Ave.)
above the papaya dog.
Enter next to the hotdog place on 9th ave.
look for the ORIGINS poster in the door and buzz number 3B...
(August-no meeting, back in September)
The NYC Emergent Village Cohort is not the first regular gathering of emergent minded people in NYC - The Latino Leadership Circle already has that distinction.
Over the last year I have been thrilled by how God has been giving me friendships with some of the leaders of LLC. I met the founder David Ramos at the emergent theological conversation at Yale this winter, along with Jose Humphreys. I have been pastoring my church this whole year in the same building, the Lamb's theater, as Gabriel Salguero, the pastor the the Lamb's Manhattan Nazarene Church, and prof at Alliance Theo Seminary.
These guys have been very excited and encouraging to the start of the Cohort. I know as time goes on many of them will come and help build friendships. I'm hoping some of them will help in even deeper ways with the Cohort.
Last month, the LLC hosted Brian McLaren for a day full of events, and warmly invited me along. Here is a quote from David Ramos on the LLC blog which has inspired the topic for the July Cohort.
"Among many things Brian shared about his personal journey, described the history of the emergent dialogue, challenged us through narratives of faith in action, framed new questions for us, shared resources, and above all—authentically listened to us! While listening seems simple, it is nevertheless an act that lamentably, and often tragically, is not practiced enough within our communities, and as one person said, “Listening is an act of love.” "
So, let us take action - to listen as an act of love. Listening to people is how you go from acquaintance to friendship - so let's listen to one another.
July topic: How do we emerge together? (listening to one another)
Come and share your perspective, especially if you feel it isn't being heard.
As always we will make room for those new to the discussion and cover some of the basics if they don't know much and are curious to learn. We're all just getting into this!
First Meeting!
We had a great first meeting, where we grappled to understand what this whole emerging church thing is all about.
Here's a few definitions:
Emerging Church (EC) - a large amorphous group of Christian leaders talking about the future of the church together, often interested in how postmodernity is changing things, and why the post-Christian generation has stayed away...with the hopes of being the church in our day in new ways.
Emergent Village (EV) - the specific organization started by Doug Pagitt, Tony Jones and Brian McLaren amongst others in order to help facilitate the above conversation. When outsiders report on the EC they often go to these guys who are generally considered amongst the leading voices. EV is starting Cohorts like ours all around the country to help people build friendships and carry on the conversation.
We had a great time at O'Lunneys, but it was too loud there so next month we're looking for a new space - I will post it here as soon as confirmed.
If you would like to be on the list, please email me or just comment below and I will get it. jeff@cotanyc.com
Soon I'll send an email to the list and post here, the topic of next month's conversation. Please comment below on what you think the emerging church is.
Here's a few definitions:
Emerging Church (EC) - a large amorphous group of Christian leaders talking about the future of the church together, often interested in how postmodernity is changing things, and why the post-Christian generation has stayed away...with the hopes of being the church in our day in new ways.
Emergent Village (EV) - the specific organization started by Doug Pagitt, Tony Jones and Brian McLaren amongst others in order to help facilitate the above conversation. When outsiders report on the EC they often go to these guys who are generally considered amongst the leading voices. EV is starting Cohorts like ours all around the country to help people build friendships and carry on the conversation.
We had a great time at O'Lunneys, but it was too loud there so next month we're looking for a new space - I will post it here as soon as confirmed.
If you would like to be on the list, please email me or just comment below and I will get it. jeff@cotanyc.com
Soon I'll send an email to the list and post here, the topic of next month's conversation. Please comment below on what you think the emerging church is.
Monday, June 19, 2006
The NYC Cohort Starts!
Many of us are excited to finally have a place to come build friendships amongst progressive ministry leaders here in NYC! We will meet monthly (except August) to dialog about all things emergent.
Our place will be O'Lunney's on 45th St. right off Times Square between 6th & 7th Ave. I have used them for other meetings before and had a wonderful experience (note, they moved from 46th to 45th St. if you knew them in the past).
This Friday, June 23rd at 6:30pm.
Our topic for discussion this month will be, "What is emergent?".
Emergent Village is the organization started by Brian McLaren, Doug Pagitt and Tony Jones to help coordinate the emerging church conversation.
Please feel free to invite anyone, and send an email to jeff@cotanyc.com if you would like me to add them to the list, or just comment below.
Our place will be O'Lunney's on 45th St. right off Times Square between 6th & 7th Ave. I have used them for other meetings before and had a wonderful experience (note, they moved from 46th to 45th St. if you knew them in the past).
This Friday, June 23rd at 6:30pm.
Our topic for discussion this month will be, "What is emergent?".
Emergent Village is the organization started by Brian McLaren, Doug Pagitt and Tony Jones to help coordinate the emerging church conversation.
Please feel free to invite anyone, and send an email to jeff@cotanyc.com if you would like me to add them to the list, or just comment below.
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