events where you can find presbymergents during the first half of 2008
The events page on presbymergent.org has been updated with lots of information on where presbymergents are going throughout the coming winter and spring months. The biggest national gathering of presbymergents, however, will be taking place this summer at Montreat during the Church Unbound conference just after GA.
What is taking place in events, until this summer, are a number of region-specific gatherings. If you’re anywhere in the South, the combination of top quality speakers (Shane Claiborne, Tim Keel, Troy Bronsink) and low registration fee ($25 online), makes A Sustainable Faith in St. Petersburg, Florida, Feb 2-3, a must-attend event.
The main series of events is Brian McLaren’s The Everything Must Change Tour, taking place in eleven cities around the USA (Charlotte NC, Boise ID, Dallas TX, St. Petersburg FL, Washington DC, San Diego CA, Chicago IL, Seattle WA, Kansas City MO, New York City NY, Goshen IN). Currently two of the tour stops, Boise and Washington DC, have presbymergents who volunteered to connect Presbyterians going to these events. To learn more about how the First Presbyterian Church in Bend, OR, is getting ready for the tour, see this post, and email Nate Bettger for connecting with them in Boise. Brian Wallace is planning a gathering in Washington DC, email Brian for more information. If you are willing to volunteer for gathering presbymergents in any of the other tour cities, please email and/or write a post for this site by registering or logging in. I will also update the events page with your contact info and any other details you provide.
Finally, there will be a very special event this April 8-10, “Emerging Church for the Existing Church” designed to bridge gaps between Emergent explorations and established Mainline churches. All of the presentations at this conference will directly relate to what it means to be a presbymergent, a convergence of existing church and emerging church. This is an opportunity for both on-ramp questions of figuring out what Emergent is about and for higher-level practitioner questions of being Emergent in Mainline contexts.
If you’re planning a presbymergent-related event, or are even considering the possibility of an event, feel free to email about getting connected with other presbymergents.
Comment by Jim Bonewald on 16 January 2008:
I’m definitely planning on attending the Church Unbound Conference at Montreat, though as I look at the calendar that will sure make for a whirlwind tour across the country as I’m also going to be at GA as a commissioner…
Comment by Steve K. on 17 January 2008:
Thanks for this update, Karen! I just wanted to mention a few things that might be of interest to Presbymergent folks re: “Everything Must Change” in Charlotte, Feb. 1-2:
1) Ed Brenegar, of the Presbyterian Polis blog (http://edbrenegar.typepad.com/thepresbyterianpolis/), will be leading a late night discussion group on Friday night (2/1) on “What Does Leadership Look Like in the Emerging Church?”
2) Schaap Freeman, Associate Pastor from Selwyn Avenue Presbyterian Church in Charlotte, will be participating in a panel discussion with Brian McLaren on Saturday morning (2/2).
3) Brian McLaren will be participating in an interfaith Trialogue discussion with members of the local Jewish, Christian, and Muslim communities on Saturday (2/2) at 5:30 p.m. This event is free and open to the public.
More details on the EMC Charlotte blog:
http://www.deepshift.org/charlotte
We’d love to have more Presbyterian Emergents with us at EMC in Charlotte!
Comment by Neal Locke on 17 January 2008:
I’ll be at the “Everything Must Change” event in Dallas (Feb 22-23), and am interested in getting together with any other presbymergents also attending.