Emergent - Mid:Michigan

Cohort at the Pub

2008-04-11T16:02:00.000-07:00

Hey all,

It's that time again! Tuesday, April 15th at Harper's in East Lansing at 6:30 in the P.M. we'll be having the Emergent Co-Hort/Theology at the Pub (still undecided on a name really...must we label everything? Can't we just get together to talk philosophically over some beer?).

Come with something on your mind or just an open mind and let's talk! Or let's drink!

Remember, we're really poorly organized, so I mean it when I say bring something to discuss (just in case it gets quiet and awkward...no one likes that).

We hope to see you there! And feel free to forward this e-mail around and invite some friends who'd be interested!

November Gathering

2007-11-07T16:40:00.000-08:00

Where: Crunchy's - East Lansing
When: Tuesday, November 13th at 6pm

We hope you can join us!

October 2007 Gathering

2007-10-15T12:29:00.001-07:00

After a long summer break, we are getting together again!

Tuesday, October 16th 2007
Cruchy's
254 West Grand River Avenue
East Lansing, MI 48823
6:30pm

See you there!
Chad

Fall Gathering

2007-09-10T15:53:00.000-07:00

We are in the midst of planning our fall gathering and would love to hear from you! We have been meeting once a month on the third Tuesday night of the month at 6:30pm over at Gone Wired Cafe' in downtown Lansing.

We want to be flexible for people's schedules so let us know if that's a conflict. Also, we want your input upfront on topics, speakers you'd like to hear from and so on. Please contact Chad or Eric when you can!

Peace

May 8th 2007 - Gathering w/ Sara Cook from the ONE campaign

2007-05-07T18:07:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow evening, we will be gathering at Gone Wired Cafe in Lansing with Sara Cook from the ONE campaign and Bread for the World.

6:30pm

Come to hear about global hunger and poverty and how we can play a roll in bringing justice.

Robert Webber Dies

2007-04-28T15:20:00.003-07:00

Another leader in the conversation has passed. According to the Webber Institute, Robert Webber died on friday at 6:10pm. Webber had been fighting cancer for some time, but finally lost that battle last night.

Good bye Bob, we'll miss you.

Technorati tags: robert webber, ancient-future, bob webber

When Doug Comes To Town - May 2nd

2007-04-24T18:00:00.000-07:00

In one week, we will be hanging out with our friend Doug Pagitt in Grand Rapids. Doug is the husband of Shelly, father of 4 teen agers! He is also pastor of Solomon's Porch, a church in Minneapolis. In his spare time, he writes great books, speaks to all kinds of people, helps coordinate Emergent gatherings, and is beginning a new business with Shelly. I'm sure we will be able to discuss the new book "The Emergent Manifesto of Hope" with Doug while he's in town, so run to the local bookstore and pick up a copy.

Plan to join us at
Lighthouse Village
1110 Monroe
Grand Rapids, MI 49503

7pm

any questions? email Chad

Also!
On Thursday May 3rd - Tony Jones (National Director of Emergent Village) will be having coffee at JP's Coffee Shop in Holland, MI.
57th E. 8th St. Join us!

Remember that we are meeting with Sara Cook from the ONE and Bread for the World on May 8th at Gone Wired Cafe in Lansing!

Gatherings

2007-04-17T08:56:00.000-07:00

Friends,
We are gathering tonight at Gone Wired Cafe 6:30pm in Lansing

Dates coming up:

May 2nd - Meet with Doug Pagitt in Grand Rapids
May 3rd - Meet with Tony Jones at Western Seminary, Holland MI
May 8th - Meet with Sara Cook from the One Campaign and Bread for the Word at Gone Wired 6:30 pm

Also!

for details, click on image

Too much

2007-03-29T16:36:00.001-07:00

Lately things have been too much.

We've found out that too many people in our lives our sick. My brother-in-law has melanoma cancer so we are taking him to UofM hospital next Friday to get it cut out of his back. My great nephew is back at UofM hospital with heart problems, and was supposed to be released today but is backsliding. My mother-in-law needs a new hip, and to top it off someone very dear to me (who I promised I wouldn't mention their name) has vascular disease, diabetes and other complications.

Too many people have already died in this un-winnable war, and there doesn't seem to be a clear way to end it. It seems like we've lost our faith in our own government, perhaps for good reason.

It's in times like this that I have to ask God if He's forgotten us. I know that sounds heretical and all, but really, how much more? I know God loves everyone and all creation, I do. I also realize that He entrusts us to tend to all people and creation...but what about those in power who use their power to kill others? What about those who say that God has called them to kill Americans, for being American? It's too much.

I know that change starts with effort from myself to change things. I understand it, but feel powerless in the face of all that needs changing. Our state government is tedering on the brink of a shut down because two parties can't get along enough to approve the budget...which means that hundreds, thousands of people will be out of work, not getting pensions...and so on as of next Wed! That is too much.

Then, there's still an illegal slave trade in the world. There's a preventable AIDS crisis going on in the world. There are people in the world who don't have food to eat. Kids dying of cureable disease. There's so much consumption from the US that we are literally sucking poor countries ability to light their own homes, gas their cars, fuel their economy...and we don't change. This is all way too much.

But I have to believe that this isn't a surprise to God. I have to believe that this saddens the Creator and Sustainer of all things. I have to believe that God longs to intervene but can't understand (yet) why He doesn't. I choose to believe that the way of Jesus is a way to a better life for human kind...but I see Churches more interested in attendance and money than making positive change happen in the world around them. What good is it to fill a huge building with 10,000 people? What good does it do if all people see Church is a place of goods and 12 step programs to make them better rather than the arm of God for good in the world? If that's all there is than I'm out. To be honest, I've been "out" for many years. While I've started creating new space for spirit living and belonging, it isn't enough. There's way too much, but I have to believe as the Bride of Jesus, we could all make the war end, feed the kids, heal the world, and bring about a radical change to our land, and the globe.

Like Jeff Daniel sings, "If you're coming, Jesus...come on"

Gathering Tonight

2007-03-20T09:58:00.000-07:00

We are gathering for our monthly cohort tonight at 6:30pm over to Gone Wired Cafe.

6:30pm

Monthly Topic: God and Science

Bono in the Pulpit

2007-03-11T08:14:00.001-07:00

March Gathering - Science and God

2007-03-07T12:27:00.001-08:00

Friends, our March gathering is the 20th @ Gone Wired.

Remember that we agreed to read up on anything having to do with "Science and God" for this month's conversation.

See you all there!

Articles on God and Science: here

Chad

chadfarrand@gmail.com

Emergent Village, Cohort, Lansing

Emergent Cohort Gathering

2007-02-19T10:25:00.001-08:00

Friends, Just a reminder that our first cohort gathering of 2007 is tomorrow, Feb. 20th at Gone Wired Cafe (on michigan) in Lansing.

If you have any questions, contact chad.

Re-thinking Church

2007-02-04T01:54:00.003-08:00

I had a great time meeting with my friend Ben Ingebretsen over in Grand Rapids on Friday (thanks again Ben!). We shared stories with each other and laughed often.

One story he shared really hit me. Ben had recently traveled out to Los Angeles and attended a gathering at Mosaic (Erwin McManus' community). The space was approx. 500 church leaders and the first thing that was shown was a 10 minute video about a guys experience attending Mosaic (which I've tracked down as a guy named Carlos who blogs at ragamuffinsoul.com) - the video has been taken offline by request of some employees of Mosaic even though Erwin was big enough to play it AT mosaic.

Apparently, you see this guy's experience from his perspective as he holds a video cam and talks in the background. From what Ben shared, he was a bit less than flattering regarding how no one would come up to him and invite him in and had interesting comments about the forms of worship and so on. (It should be said that he also shares his love for Mosaic on his blog)

This really hit me as a person who is actively seeking a deeper ecclesiology in my local context which hopes to be embracing rather than protesting/against and hopes to be welcoming to all people. While I do believe that our "model" of a simple church is a great form for us, I do not believe that it is neither new nor the "right" or "better" form than any other existing form as God's Spirit continues to begin new works today in local communities, and that looks and feels different from town to town, and block to block.

One comment Ben graciously added was that our simple church form already circumvents the tension that Erwin is experiencing, it dawned on me later that we have the opposite tension in that while people will not engage our communities and find themselves not being "known," however it also will tend to scare away people who don't like the sociological atmosphere of close space community. This is something we've wrestled with for years. What do we do about the portion of the population who are terribly uncomfortable with what we've called "forced intimacy" (while we do not forced closeness nor do we understand intimacy as a room of 15 people).

Our idea is to provide access points for all types of people, in that we want to create more public spaces of belonging for people that seeks to belong with a larger form of community before getting uncomfortable with a smaller band of friends. (it should also be mentioned that we borrow much of our language of belonging from Joe Meyers book "The search to belong")

Now, here's the real rub. How do we re-think "Church" for our local context without throwing out what is beautiful about the contemporary ecclesiology and yet moves forward from and with this? How do we invite participants into this anciently new way of living out faith in community while shedding the "bait and switch" tactics of modernity? It is in the middle of this tension in which we live, and I believe that this tension is beautiful. For many, the word tension is negative. Yet, to the ancient Hebrews "tension" was celebrated and understood to be a natural way of understanding and experiencing the Torah from God. It was in the midst of this "mid-rash" (truth in tension) that they dialogued about the Truth in God's Word and how that moved them to live out their "with God" life.

So, we at Tapestry try to celebrate the beautiful mystery and depth of God's Word and struggle daily with what these things all mean to our living out this faith of ours locally/global.

We don't pretend to have it all figured out, nor do we say that our "way" is better than any other. In fact, we seek to develop close relationships with other local bodies of Christ people to learn, grow and celebrate with.

Peace to you...

Technorati tags: rethinking church, emerging christians, emerging churches, lansing michigan, torah, midrash

First Gathering for 2007!

2007-01-24T21:11:00.000-08:00

Dear friends,

It is official. The Mid-Michigan Cohort will be meeting on Tuesday, February 20th - 6:30pm @ Gone Wired Coffee House.

Address:

2021 East Michigan Ave.

Lansing, MI 48912

Website: http://www.gonewiredlansing.com/

See you there!

Chad, Eric and everyone else

emergent, emergent village, emerging church, churches in michigan, cohort, midmichigan cohort

Isaiah Washington Apologizes for Gay Slur

2007-01-18T21:04:00.000-08:00

Link to Isaiah Washington Apologizes for Gay Slur | Isaiah Washington : People.com

First off, I've never watched one episode of Grey's Anatomy. If someone were to refer to "McDreamy" or whatever, I'd think it was a new McDonald's foodish thing.

That being said, I saw the mentioned moment where actor Isaiah Washington made a crack about calling a fellow actor a 'faggot' at the Golden Globes earlier this week. This only a month after Michael Richards exploded on stage at the Laugh-in using terrible language towards some African-American hecklers in the crowd.

I am really saddened by all of this. What has happened to our decency? Regardless of your own views on homosexuality, it does not give anyone free license to publicly "out" anyone, especially while calling them a degrading name. This was the subject of the Office's season premier this fall when Michael Scott accidentally outs Oscar in the office.

To be honest, I have used the word "fag" or "faggot" when I was a young punk growing up...but never really thought about the words derogatory meaning. This transcends political correctness. It represents something under the skin of America. It brings to light the rampant prejudice which still lives within us. It brings to light the sad way that many people in the country judge others without meeting them, knowing their stories or anything. I know how it feels. I have had some experience with people taking something I've written, or said out of context and have slandered me publicly (either in front of me, or most often behind my back), and while I've learned to let it roll off my back it simply isn't a healthy way to live.

This all brings me back to Miroslov's book "Exclusion and Embrace" where he talks about us becoming 'embraciant" rather than 'protestant' as the root of the word 'protestant' partly comes from the word 'protest.' So, as a modern faith structure, we've built it upon what we are against rather than what we are for. We need to reexamine our intentions to work, live and behave in this world as image bearers of our Creator. Wouldn't it be nice for people to be known as "embracients?" Wouldn't it be nice for people to worry less about how God judges (or perhaps deep down how we speculate how God judges and take it upon ourselves to take his place) and more about how God calls us to love. Not to say that people shouldn't be called out for destructive behavior, nor to say that we can't see the fruit that one bears...only to say that our core should be love.

My prayer for the US is that we can move beyond the name calling and the tearing down and move toward a "building up" and "one another" life.

peace

Technorati tags: gays, lesbians, faggot, isaiah washington, protestant, love, Christian

Volf reflections

2007-01-18T20:31:00.000-08:00

Once again, it has taken me the remainder of the day to simply recover from listening to Miroslav Volf speaking at Calvin today. I don't think I was the only one, I was there with Ben Ingebretson and Randy Buist (and a local friend who's name I can't remember, sorry!). After Miroslav was finished, we all sat there and breathed in deeply. It was simply beautiful.

Miroslav mostly stood behind a podium and read his prepared address which was basically a summary of his book "Free of Charge" (referred to below). Interestingly, he was introduced by a theology prof from Hope College - this revelation is only really relevant to people who get the rivalry between Calvin and Hope.

He began by talking about a shift happening in Western medicine, in that doctors have begun to stop calling the people they treat "patients" and now refer to them as "customers." As he stated, this may seem trivial, but its ramifications are severe. When someone is treated as a "patient," they are cared for, listened to, talked with and the basic idea is that health of the patient matters. Conversely, when one is cared for as a "customer," they are seen as a 'sale' and it leads to the practioner to spend as little time as possible to maximize the bottom line for profit. It is this shift that represents our countries' seemingly loss of grace, love for others and selflessness.

He described three types of people interaction. One steals, one sells and the last gives. The first person takes with no regard to others. They take what is not their own for their own gain. The second barters for (hopefully) mutual benefit, but behind this tends to be a self-inflating desire...which lead to a critique on many pastors who leverage their churches as vehicles to swell their own ego through slick speaking when their "audience" has come hungry for authentic faith and healing. This leads the Church to be boiled down to a service for sale and worship becomes something that people pay for (tithe - refer to Doug Pagitt's article from like 5 years ago) goods and services rendered. The last is giving from a self-less expectation. One who gives, gives with no thought of return. (like one who sends a friend a new book for their birthday simply due to their friendship, and perhaps there's a deeper hope that the sentiment may be returned on their own birthday - but this is the nature of real relationships).

This is such a simplified representation of this talk, but I could write all night...

Anyway, he then talked about the nature of forgiving. How forgiving in the Jewish tradition was: the one who wrongs repents then forgiveness is given. From the Christian tradition, our view of forgiving is the exact opposite. We understand that God has already forgiven all humanity, and the Word that was evidenced fully in Jesus has been seeded in all mankind which gives us the capacity to forgive as Jesus did. He cited the healing of the paralytic. Pharisee's present stated that only God has the power to forgive sins - of course, suggesting that the mans illness was a result of an inherit sin and questioning Jesus' nature of divine - Jesus turns and heals the man in front of them to squelch this idea and shows them that he is, in fact, divine. Jesus then commands his disciples to forgive as He has done.

The Q&A was great. One women asked the nature of the relationship between repentance and forgiveness. Basically, he responded that repentance is the completion of the gift of forgiveness. He cites an example from his book when he says, "imagine I send my sister an expensive necklace as a birthday gift. when she receives this gift she thinks to herself "this is way too expensive, he can't afford this, what does he want from me?" and refuses to open it. so what happens to the forgiveness? I sent the gift, but it was never accepted." With this, he talked about how forgiveness becomes stuck or incomplete.

Anyway, please go to Calvin.edu and listen to it. You won't be disappointed. Better yet, buy the CD so you can listen to it over and over...

Technorati tags: miroslav Volf, calvin College, january series, forgiveness, giving

Amazon.com: An Emergent Manifesto of Hope (emersion: Emergent Village's resources for communities of faith): Books: Doug Pagitt,Tony Jones

2007-01-18T08:37:00.000-08:00

Link to Amazon.com: An Emergent Manifesto of Hope (emersion: Emergent Village's resources for communities of faith): Books: Doug Pagitt,Tony Jones

I wish I had time to type the top ten reasons you should pre-order this book, but I am on my way to hear Volf at calvin and do not have the time. Come to think of it, I don't really have time to write...

Technorati tags: emergent, emerging church, emergent manifesto

A Time With Friends

2007-01-17T19:28:00.000-08:00

Today, Eric and I spent some time with friends from Grand Rapids Classis South over at The Founders Brewery. It was the first time the two of us had been to a RCA event together. I was so glad that Eric was able to join me, it just made it even more enjoyable.

These are the type of gatherings that I've missed for the past three years since leaving "full-time" pastoring. There's just something special about meeting with friends who have your back (literally it turns out).

I'm reminded again on how God has guided this relationship from its inception. It's nice to be back in the Reformed family again (I once belonged to the Christian Reformed Church), our shared history of reinvention, challenging status quo and rethinking church - as well as a shared joy in deep theology, ecclesiology and so on - makes this a very natural fit.

Tomorrow, I (once again) get to hang out with Ben from the RCA and go hear Miroslav Volf speak at Calvin! I wasn't able to hear him last year at the Emergent Theological Conversation at Yale, so I am truly anxious to see him tomorrow! You can read his bio on Wiki. Eric lent me his copy of "Free of Charge: Giving and Forgiving in a Culture Stripped of Grace" on Sunday so I could read up on the topic for tomorrow. (thanks!) You should check out Calvin's site and listen to some of the great speakers from this year's January series. I would have to say, this was the best J-series I've ever seen.

Good folks, good food, great fun. What more could a guy ask for?

(A Mac, I guess!)

Technorati tags: Miroslav Volf, Calvin College, January series, Reformed Church of America, Christian Reformed Church, friends

Martin Luther King

2007-01-15T17:34:00.000-08:00

Link to Martin Luther King - Biography

Here is the full text of one of the greatest speeches ever uttered. Martin Luther King's "I have a dream."

(copied from here)

I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.
Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.
But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. And so we've come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.
In a sense we've come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the "unalienable Rights" of "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note, insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked "insufficient funds."
But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. And so, we've come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.
We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of Now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.
It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. And those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. And there will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.
But there is something that I must say to my people, who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice: In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.
The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom.
We cannot walk alone.
And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead.
We cannot turn back.
There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. *We cannot be satisfied as long as the negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their self-hood and robbed of their dignity by a sign stating: "For Whites Only."* We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until "justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream."¹

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. And some of you have come from areas where your quest -- quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive. Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed.
Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends.
And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.
I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
I have a dream today!
I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of "interposition" and "nullification" -- one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.
I have a dream today!
I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; "and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together."²
This is our hope, and this is the faith that I go back to the South with.
With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.
And this will be the day -- this will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning:
My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing.
Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrim's pride,
From every mountainside, let freedom ring!
And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true.

                And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.
                Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.
                Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of
                Pennsylvania.

                Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado.
                Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.
                But not only that:
                Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.
                Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.
                Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi.
From every mountainside, let freedom ring.
And when this happens, when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:
Free at last! Free at last!
                Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!³

*Text within asterisks was added on 3/31/06. Credit Randy Mayeux for bringing the omissions to my attention.

¹ Amos 5:24 (rendered precisely in The American Standard Version of the Holy Bible)

² Isaiah 40:4-5 (King James Version of the Holy Bible). Quotation marks are excluded from part of this moment in the text because King's rendering of Isaiah 40:4 does not precisely follow the KJV version from which he quotes (e.g., "hill" and "mountain" are reversed in the KJV). King's rendering of Isaiah 40:5, however, is precisely quoted from the KJV.

- My prayer is that his dreams come true. May all people regardless of race, religion, creed, disability, refugee status....find a time when they all can sing free at last!

February - Gathering coming!

2007-01-10T13:06:00.000-08:00

We are re-launching the Mid-Michigan Emergent cohort in

February 2007! We will be meeting at "Gone Wired" coffee house on Michigan ave in downtown Lansing.

Stay tuned for more details or write chad at:

chadfarrand@gmail.com

Miraslov Volf - January 18th 2007 - Calvin College

2007-01-08T05:27:00.000-08:00

Just a reminder, Miraslov Volf will be speaking at Calvin on the 18th at 12:30pm. (be there early! doors open at 11:30am)

His topic is "Free of Charge: Giving and Forgiving in a Culture Stripped of Grace"

Also: Try to join the West Michigan Cohort at the Bite on the 10th at 10:30am ! We will be talking about our experience with NT Wright. If you are interested in carpooling from Lansing, drop me a line!

See you soon!

Chad Farrand

N.T. Wright Wrap-Up

2007-01-08T05:21:00.000-08:00

Ok, we got up yesterday morning early and shortly after 7 received a call from our dear friend Katie who confirmed that NT was in fact speaking at Grace Episcopal Church in East Grand Rapids at 10am! So we frantically got around and drove over to participate.

We arrived 10 minutes early, and found that all the parking spaces were taken. So we ended up parking about four blocks away. We were ushered up to the front, in fact, right in front of the speaking pulpit! A minute later, a late-comer was ushered right next to me. As the stranger asked if that seat was taken, I looked up and saw my friend Nate Ledbetter (from the house church team at Mars Hill Bible Church)! It couldn't have been better!

It was a pretty typical service - if, you've been through a typical Episcipal service. When it was NT's turn to speak, he began by saying "I understand that you've had quite a week here!" (referring to the funeral of President Ford held in the same room we were in for worship) Some laughter, then he said how he wished to have been able to fly in a few days earlier to be able to pay tribute to the late President and the truthfulness that he stood for.

His message was brief, about 15 minutes total. He covered everything from the failed Iraq policies - on both sides of the pond - to living as a Christian in this post-Christian age. It was a brilliant little quip of time, but after hearing him speak for over an hour on Friday, left me wanting.

In any way, I was grateful to hear NT speak twice in three days. He is so gracious and a great orator. I look forward to hearing him agian. \

NT Wright, Calvin College, Grace Episcopal Church, East Grand Rapids, Speakers, Faith

NT Wright in Grand Rapids, still...

2007-01-07T04:54:00.000-08:00

January 07, 2007

I just found out that NT Wright is speaking at services held at Grace Episcopal Church in East Grand Rapids this morning. This is the same church that hosted the final family funeral for the late President Ford last week.

We will be at the 10am service with our dear friends in Grand Rapids.

Maybe we'll see you there!

NT Wright, Grace Episcopal Church, Christianity, Grand Rapids

N.T. Wright At Calvin College

2007-01-06T21:32:00.000-08:00

You can now go onto Calvin's site and listen to NT Wright's presentation from friday, Jan. 5th 2007. He cover's the main ideas behind his book, "Simply Christian." To listen, simply click here.