Pomomusings

Special Book Offer from Andy Root

Adam Walker Cleaveland — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 16:00:35 +0000

The following message comes to you from Andy Root – author of Revisiting Relational Youth Ministry, Relationships Unfiltered, and…well, too many books to mention here. He has a message for all of you in the youth ministry field and I wanted him to get a chance to share it with you all here at Pomomusings. So, here is the message from Andy:

Hello Youth Ministry friends, I’m sorry to interrupt your regularly scheduled blog reading, but I have broken transmission to offer you an opportunity.

I wanted to get before you the chance to get a free copy of my book Relationships Unfiltered. As the new school year approaches and you think about volunteer leader meetings and trainings I would like to suggest you take a look at Relationships Unfiltered. It’s written just for this setting with discussion questions and chapters filled with illustrations and stories–but also promises to get you and your team thinking theologically about your core practice this coming school year: forming relationships with young people.

Here’s what I can do: If you’ll email me (aroot@luthersem.edu) I’ll send you a free copy of the book so you can look it over and decide if it would be of help to you and your volunteers. If you’re interested in using it you can then go to Zondervan.com or Zondervan.com/ministry and type in the code 980752 in the “source code” box. Starting August 1 this will give you a 40% discount on as many books as you’d like.

And I’ll also offer this, if you do use the book with your team, I’m willing to do a select number of Skype or iChat conversations with you and your team after getting through the book.

This is a great opportunity to speak with a youth ministry theologian and get a great deal on some books – so I hope you’ll consider taking advantage of it.

Future of Mainline Protestantism

Adam Walker Cleaveland — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 16:00:09 +0000

Patheos is running a “Future of Religion“ series this summer that includes essays by people of a wide range of diverse faith traditions. I’m honored to have been asked to write an article for the “Future of Mainline Protestantism” section of this series. Here is the full list of contributors writing about the future of the mainline church: Sam Alexander, Jim Burklo, Rev. Jerry. D. Campbell, Philip Clayton, Adam Walker Cleaveland, Monica A. Coleman, James Calvin Davis, Kenda Creasy Dean, Bruce G. Epperly, Greg Garrett, Anne Howard, James J. Kang, J. Ryan Parker, Brian McLaren, David LaMotte, Anthony B. Pinn, Robert John Russell, Josef Sorett, and Peter Wallace.

Because of my involvement with Presbymergent, and my belief that Presbymergent has the ability to help the PC(USA) forge a new way forward, I highlighted Presbymergent in my essay, “Presbymergent: A Reforming Spirit from the Inside.”

Below is a paragraph from my article that gets to the heart of the issue for me:

For mainline churches and denominations to be able to withstand the ever-growing cynicism and questions of irrelevance, we need to be open to reform and new ideas. But that can no longer be restricted to simply reform of our theologies. I’m not suggesting we get rid of all traditions and rituals simply for the sake of relevance. However, we need to have the courage to place everything on the tables of critique and reform. Our ordination processes are just as in need of reform as our theologies of the atonement. When we take the step forward and embrace an inclusive reforming spirit in our churches, we present ourselves fully and completely open to the movements of the Spirit in our contexts.

Read the rest of the article here. I highly recommend all of these essays to you as there are some really great thoughts about what is required of the mainline church to have a valid and unique stake in the future of Christianity.

This is Doug Pagitt’s Next Book

Adam Walker Cleaveland — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 21:00:21 +0000

You are looking at Doug Pagitt’s next book, Church in the Inventive Age. It was found lost in The Local, an Irish bar in Minneapolis, close to the Minneapolis Convention Center, which just so happens to be where the PC(USA)’s 219th General Assembly is taking place right now. It’s not clear as to whether Doug might have lost it (if you don’t know, he lives in Minneapolis), or if someone had received an early copy and simply left it in the bar. Anyway, I got it. I’ve flipped through it. I’m really not sure if this is supposed to be public yet, but it’s the real thing, and here are all the details.

I know you can download Chapter 1 of Doug’s book here, but it seems like just putting up one chapter of a book is a little lame. Seems like since we are in the “inventive” age – we should be more creative with the way we share information and our ideas.

Here are a few excerpts that you might be interested in:

“I’m calling us to find our place in a swiftly shifting culture, to consider how we need to change what we think, what we value, what we do and how we do it. I’m calling us to be the church in the Inventive Age.

“We are not called to change for change’s sake. We are called to live faithfully in the time and place in which we live. Living faithfully may require us to make changes in what we do, but changing our practices is not the point. Change only matters if it’s based in an understanding of why that change is needed. If it’s not, the only change you’ll make is to trade one set of problems for another.

“When a culture changes, everything in the culture changes. Not all at once, but over time. The tensions we are seeing in American Christianity – declining membership in mainline churches, fractious relationships between evangelicals and mainliners, an untapped spiritual hunger among young adults – point to the discomfort change brings with it.

“We can’t pretend cultural change doesn’t impact the church. It does. It always has. Every church exists in the context of a culture. Every church has inherited a culture” (5-6).

And here is another excerpt from chapter 4:

“The implications for the church are just beginning to emerge. In the last 10 years or so, the values of the Inventive Age – the drive to create, the search for meaning, the sense of ownership, the open-source mentality that pushes the Inventive Age ever-faster into the future – have scattered across the landscape of American Christianity like seeds in the wind…

“The most obvious shift is the move toward smaller churches that facilitate connection. While the Information Age church gave us small groups as a means for developing deeper knowledge, the small communities of the Inventive Age come from a longing to find meaning through shared, self-generated experiences, to live out the faith in the company of a small community of friends…

“The role of the pastor is changing as well. The ability to teach and preach and lead is taking a back seat to the pastor’s capacity to create and facilitate open-source faith experiences for the people of the church.

“It’s far too early to know where all of this will lead. To be sure, the Inventive Age will have its share of mistaken notions, questionable practices, and bad ideas. But right now, at the dawning of the new age, it feels like a beautiful revolution” (32-33).

I knew the book was coming out this summer, but wasn’t really sure about the release date. I checked out the Facebook page for the book, and it says it is supposed to come out August 2010. I have a lot of respect for Doug, but seems like his ideas are worth being shared with more folks than might be able to pay for his book. I thought I’d put up some photos of the book so that you can get a look at some more of the content of Doug’s book.

I’m leaving for vacation in Hawaii in a couple hours, but when I get back, I might try and type up some more of the content. Until then – enjoy checking out these photos from the book (sorry the quality isn’t as good as it could be – I only had a few minutes this morning to snap a few shots).

American Religious Diversity Art Installation – How You Can Help

Adam Walker Cleaveland — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 18:41:46 +0000

I received word that Tim Mooney, a Presbyterian pastor and artist, is working on quite an interesting art installation for the SPACE Gallery in Denver. There are a variety of ways in which you can help – and I think there are many of you who could probably find some ways to help out. Here is how Tim describes his project:

THE IDEA: The installation is an American Flag made from bibles, torahs, talmuds, korans, vedic texts – basically composed of the scriptures/texts of all the major religions/belief systems in proportion to the percentage each religion/belief systems represents in our country’s population. The installation is 24 feet tall by 13 feet wide (the flag will hang vertically instead of horizontally due to gallery constraints). Through the installation I want to create a visual picture of who we are, and add to the ongoing conversation about religious, spiritual, and even atheistic beliefs that influence and affect us. The installation will be accompanied by a looping audio track with recorded prayers/hopes for our country based on the various perspectives.

Tim’s message continues with a call for help and there are a variety of ways that you can help. I hope you can support this really great endeavor. Below is the rest of Tim’s message:

I need your help! I’m constructing an art installation at SPACE Gallery in Denver for the Biennial Celebration (July) that needs nearly 4000 books! Here’s the idea and way you can help:

THE WAYS YOU CAN HELP:

Send old, used, worn out, discarded bibles (any variety, but hard back preferable), bibles with apocrypha, korans, talmuds, torahs, buddhist texts, hindu texts, etc. to 2055 Bellaire St., Denver CO 80207. I have a good size studio to store until we create the installation. There will be a great need for texts that are red or white in color for the flag’s stripes. But send them not matter the color! Based on the PEW reports latest statistics I’ll need about 2000 bibles (protestant Christians), 1000 bibles with apocrypha (catholic and orthodox), 70 books of mormon, 30 writings from Jehovahs Witnesses, 70 torahs or talmuds, 30 sutras or Tibetan books of the dead, 25 Korans, 15 vedic scriptures, 70 books on atheist writings, 20 new age books, and about 300 poetry or philosophic books that cover a percentage that are unaffiliated. I will be scouring used books stores and asking churches, synagogues, mosques, and other communities to help, but your help will be important.
Ask your friends if they would be willing to donate a book or two and send it along with yours.
Before sending, please email me and let me know the quantity and kind of book(s) you’re sending. At first I’ll need everything, but as books arrive I don’t want you to send what I have enough of. Any unused books will be donated to religious communities, libraries or used book stores.
If you have the capability, digitally record a 30 second prayer or hope for our country based in your own deepest beliefs, whether that is religious, secular, etc., and send it as an MP3 to timmooneystudio@aol.com.
The whole project will probably cost $1500-2000 including the materials for the structure, some design costs, and paying for some of the books that are not donated. Any monetary donations will all go toward the costs of the project, and any left over funds returned. The installation is designed to travel to other destinations and I hope it is purchased! Any money you donate to the project will be refunded if the installation sells unless you prefer to donate no matter what happens.

I am very excited about this project! It’s going to take a large group of people to make this happen and I’m grateful for your participation.

Thanks!
Tim Mooney

Top 20 Youth Ministry Blogs of 2010

Adam Walker Cleaveland — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 15:16:51 +0000

If you’re coming to Pomomusings for the first time from the Youth Specialties blog, welcome! You can find some basic information about me and the blog here. You can also find me on Facebook here and follow me on Twitter at @adamwc.

Youth Specialties published a listing of the Top 20 Youth Ministry blogs of 2010 yesterday. I’m honored to be on the list, because there are some really great minds in the field of youth ministry on the list. But I am a little shocked that apparently when they made a list last year (that wasn’t published), Pomomusings was the #1 blog. That ranking was based purely on stats so I guess I had some pretty good stats. But I know that Pomomusings certainly isn’t exclusively a youth ministry blog.

This year they added a level of “influence” to the rankings, which had an interesting effect. They asked those who were on the Top 50 list from last year to do a poll about the influence of youth ministry blogs. It’s a pretty great list that has some blogs that I currently read, but definitely some new ones to me. Be sure and check out the list – and they also created a Twitter list of the top bloggers that tweet.

Guess I need to start writing more about youth ministry. For those of you who read this blog and would like to read more about youth ministry topics, what would you like to see featured? Anything in particular?

Officially a Candidate with the Presbytery of San Francisco

Adam Walker Cleaveland — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 15:01:01 +0000

Last night I met with the Presbytery of San Francisco, and was finally officially accepted as a Candidate in the ordination process. For those who have followed along – this is, of course, the second time I’ve officially been accepted as a Candidate. Last night was a wonderful experience to be with the Presbytery, to be in worship with the group, and to end the evening with the report from the Committee on Preparation for Ministry and be welcomed into the Presbytery through questions, anointing with oil, prayer and celebration.

I was introduced by my CPM Liaison and then gave a short introduction of myself, highlighting a few points from my MEW (a document that is included in the Presbytery docket that highlights my Motive for Seeking Ministry, Experience of Faith and Work in the Church). Then came the question time. My liaison asked the first question about my desire to look for new ways to engage people today with the Gospel and mission. I talked briefly about Presbymergent, Theology Pub and alt.worship.

Leslie Veen asked the second question, which was about the line in my MEW that mentioned “the mystery and holy ambiguity found in a life of faith,” and how I saw that impacting the youth ministry work that I did. I was thinking I’d get off the hook with just one question, because it was very late and everyone was ready to go home.

But no. Who started walking up the center aisle? None other than Mr. Moderator of the General Assembly, the Very Right Rev. Bruce Reyes-Chow. I couldn’t figure out what question he had up his sleeve…and then he dropped it. “Why do you want to be Presbyterian?”

As I began to mention in my answer, this was the question on my application to become an Inquirer in 2004 that I struggled with the most. I didn’t know why I wanted to be Presbyterian – I just happened to end up being Presbyterian after going to a Presbyterian college, working at Presbyterian church camps, and serving a Presbyterian church. But as a good friend of mine, an Orthodox Priest in Twin Falls, Idaho once said to me, “Adam – that’s great. That tells me HOW you landed in the Presbyterian church – but doesn’t say anything at all about what is KEEPING you here.”

I don’t think I would have been able to answer that part of the question without having gone through my experiences over the past year. To say that this ordination process since my December 2008 Ordination Service was called off has been difficult and frustrating is an understatement. But it was during the times when I debated leaving the PC(USA), when I took a UCC Theology & History course to see if that was a path for me, that I eventually decided that there was something strange, something odd that kept pulling me back to the Presbyterian Church (USA).

Good friends of mine have helpfully given me the words for that feeling…a call by God. And as I mentioned last night in front of the Presbytery of San Francisco…of course there are issues I have with the Presbyterian church, it’s not perfect and to be perfectly honest, I think I’m still figuring out exactly why I have been called to be a Presbyterian. But I cannot shake the fact that I strongly believe that God has called me to this church.

That’s what I shared last night, and then I was voted in as a Candidate. My “effective” date was January 6, 2010 – so as of January 6, 2011, I’ll be able to go through the final stages with the Presbytery and then, assuming all goes well, would be ready to be ordained early Spring 2011. I’m very glad to have been accepted by the Presbytery of San Francisco, and am looking forward to nurturing the relationships with future-colleagues that I already have, and continuing to meet new folks.

Thank you to all of you who have been with me on this journey and I appreciate all of your prayers and support.

Doing Theology Means Waking Up!

Adam Walker Cleaveland — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 17:00:23 +0000

I just started reading “Doing Local Theology: A Guide for Artisans of a New Humanity” by Clemens Sedmak, and from page one I can already tell it’s going to be a great read. The book consists of 50 Theses for Doing Local Theology, in which he looks at the various ways in which local theologies are theologies created not by the educated elite, but by all who speak of God – by people enmeshed in local communities and thinking of God.

I think this would make a good read along with Philip Clayton’s “Transforming Christian Theology” – as they both seem to be making the move of taking theology out of the realms of the ivory towers of the academy and making sure that any good theology has legs – that any good theology IS a practical theology.

I love Sedmak’s very first thesis:

“THESIS 1: Theology is an invitation to wake up: to be mindful and attentive…In fact, being awake in a world full of wonders is the privilege of children. Doing theology in the spirit of children means seeking God in all things, being aware of God’s presence, listening to God’s voice, and being attentive to the signs of the times. We can do that only if we wake up.”

I love that definition of theology because it takes the intrinsic loftiness out of it. Theology isn’t something that comes off as a challenge, something that’s too hard for people of faith to do – but it becomes an invitation. An invitation to wake up – to become aware.

What do you think of this idea of theology as an invitation? Is it missing something?

How Pastors are like String Theorists

Adam Walker Cleaveland — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 17:00:03 +0000

For some reason I decided to read a book on string theory – “The Little Book on String Theory” to be exact. While I was in Princeton last month, I saw it and thought it was a really cool looking book – and so I’m trying to work/wade my way through it now. It’s proving to be difficult because I have extremely limited knowledge in physics. Tonight I read the following two sentences:

“But string theory is separated from our experience of the world – not by centuries of time, but by a similarly vast gulf in energy scales. Particle accelerators would have to be a hundred trillion times more powerful than the ones going into operation today to reach the range of energies where we think extra dimensions open up and stringy effects could be observed directly.”

I read them to Sarah with the following commentary: “Isn’t that crazy? I mean – the entire research field, books, journals, etc., dedicated to something they can’t even observe directly.”

With a smile, Sarah turned to me and said, “You know you basically described your entire career, right?”

I look forward to reading more about string theory (which is supposed to be the theory of everything) and looking for some possible connections to theology and the work that I do. But those sentences and Sarah’s comment do remind me of the craziness of this thing called ministry that so many folks who read this blog are involved in.

I’m sure it’s normal for those of us who are pastors and involved in ministry to want a “normal” job sometimes. Something we could go to an office and do from 9-5pm, and then come and lead “normal” lives. Something that was clear, concrete and comprehendible. Unfortunately, that’s not our calling.

Like string theorists, our work is in the world of things that can’t necessarily be empirically proven. It doesn’t mean our work is any less important. While not being able to prove many of our theories, they are still the things that drive us and frame our hopes for the world. In fact, faith, hope, love, community, relationships may be some of the most important things in our lives – didn’t the series finale of LOST teach us that?

Follow the Continuing Work Being Done in Haiti Relief

Adam Walker Cleaveland — Wed, 26 May 2010 21:42:32 +0000

There is a group of folks – many of whom you probably know – who arrived in Haiti today to continue assisting with relief work. You can find all the info about the team here, but the folks on the team are Mark Oestreicher, David Hayward, Doug Pagitt, Ed Noble, Tash McGill and Seth Barnes.

In addition, they are launching the Church to Church Partnership program. It’s an opportunity for American churches to have a 1:1 partnership with a Haitian church for prayer, encouragement, assistance and trips (to bring people to Haiti to help in rebuilding). They currently have about 1000 Haitian pastors in a database now, and will be working to pair up those who show a great desire to serve their communities. One of the major parts of this effort is their desire to raise $35,000 to fund the salaries of 3 Haitian church leaders who can run this program from the Haitian side.

If you want to follow their updates, you can do so from a variety of different sources:

The Giving Project – http://www.adventures.org/churchtochurch
Their Facebook Group (where our team’s individual blog posts will be aggregated) – http://www.facebook.com/churchtochurch
Their Twitter Feed – https://twitter.com/churchtochurch

A Brief History of Presbymergent: Part 3

Adam Walker Cleaveland — Wed, 19 May 2010 15:00:14 +0000

This is Part 3 of “A Brief History of Presbymergent.” You can find Part 1 here and Part 2 here.

Where does Presbymergent go now?

But I don’t think that means people have stopped rethinking what it means to be church in the PC(USA) this past year. I continue to have folks contact me and ask questions about Presbymergent this year. Mike Clawson’s paper is probably the most thorough, but I’ve done a couple email interviews with folks doing papers or research on emergent Christianity in the mainline. Folks are continuing to try new things, be creative with their theologies and liturgies and think outside the box. And even a self-proclaimed techie like myself can’t quite grasp the type of outside-the-box ministry that Neal Locke and others have been doing with Second Life.

Stuff is happening – there is still emergence occurring in the Presbyterian Church (USA). Perhaps it’s a good sign that folks who are committed to Presbymergent aren’t as much focused on maintaining or creating a structure for an organization, but are focused on actually getting out there and doing ministry. But perhaps it’s frustrating for those who do want to see a bit of organization on our part.

I’m not entirely sure where we go from here. But I’m confident in the amazing group of folks who self-identify as part of the Presbymergent community. I’m hopeful that there will continue to be ways that people find to “hack the Book of Order” and be able to do new and creative ministry in a time of mainline decline. I’m hopeful that the denomination may begin to realize that they need the loyal radicals and work harder to find ways to support those of us who want to try new things. I hope that there will be groups who are not afraid of failure and committees who are not afraid to put their trust in younger pastors. I pray that more and more seminarians will feel confident enough to continue asking “WHY?” when professors at our seminaries teach us the same old things and tell us what worship is “supposed” to look like.

“Welcome to Presbymergent. What’s the first rule of Presbymergent? You do not talk about Presbymergent.”

Sure there will probably be some organization at some point…sure we’ll have to talk about our goals and discern more what our purpose is in the church that is emerging. But for now…maybe we don’t need to talk about Presbymergent – maybe we just need to be Presbymergent…maybe we just need to be out there, engaging the world, being the church and perhaps the rest will follow.

Connect with Presbymergent

To learn more about Presbymergent, you can connect with us in the following ways:

Like us on Facebook
Follow @Presbymergent on Twitter
Check out our site at www.Presbymergent.org
Register to become a Contributor on our site here

Every 15 Minutes: Mock Crash Scenes at High School

Adam Walker Cleaveland — Tue, 18 May 2010 17:00:15 +0000

Today I received an email from our local group of youth ministers (who I choose not to get together with for a variety of reasons). They wanted me to know that this week at our two high schools in Livermore, the schools would be putting on the “Every 15 Minutes” program. I don’t know how many of you experienced these in your high schools growing up, but I remember when it was at my high school. I’m pretty sure I was a freshman – and while I do remember it, I don’t really remember what my reaction to it was. You can visit the Every 15 Minutes website for more information, or check out the information provided by the Livermore Police Department. Below is an excerpt describing some of what will happen over the two days.

The program has been structured to cover a two-day period in May 2008. At the beginning of the first day, a student will be escorted from his/her class Every 15 Minutes by the “grim reaper.” The student will be brought to a command post on the school campus where he/she will be made up with cosmetics to represent the living dead. The student will then be escorted to a mock cemetery where they will place their tombstone. A uniformed officer will escort the student back to class and read the student’s obituary to the entire class. To enhance the realism of the event the student will not respond to anyone the remainder of the school day. At the same time, police officers and chaplains will be making prearranged death notifications to the participant’s parents. By the end of the first day a total of 50 students will make up a core participant group called the living dead.

I’m not sure what I think about this. I find some aspects of it highly problematic. I don’t feel like scare tactics are the best teaching tools. They certainly don’t seem to work with sex education in our schools – so why do we think they’d work with teen drinking?

More specifically – these tactics remind me of what some conservative/fundamentalist Christian churches do when they put on “hell houses” around Halloween. If you aren’t familiar with these – you can check out this NPR report called “Hell House.” As the NPR report states, “The aim is to save souls through fear.”

Isn’t that essentially what the Every 15 Minutes program is doing? Trying to save kids through fear? Don’t we have any better methods than fear? Do we not have more trust in our youth so that we can have an actual conversation about this topic? Must we resort to scare tactics and trying to scare them into doing the right thing?

So, my question is simple: what do you think about this?

A Brief History of Presbymergent: Part 2

Adam Walker Cleaveland — Mon, 17 May 2010 17:00:00 +0000

This is Part 2 of “A Brief History of Presbymergent.” You can find Part 1 here and Part 3 here.

Presbymergent’s Momentum Slows

And then…well, I can’t really say. Ryan Kemp-Pappan walked away and went to the Disciples of Christ. Karen Sloan became Prior at Formation House. And me…? Well, I was having some ordination issues and wondered about my future with the PC(USA). People started to wonder what Presbymergent was up to. The blog got quiet. Like, really quiet. Like, dead. There was some conversation happening on our Facebook page, but while we had a fair amount of followers on Twitter, I wasn’t posting much. So what was going on…? What was happening?

I’m guessing we were facing what many who try to get communities/organizations/movements started have to deal with. We really didn’t have a strong organizational structure in place, and while we all would like to be organic and non-hierarchical, it’s clear there is a reason these structures are in place – it helps people get things done. Now we did have a few conference calls – but generally I’d hang up wondering, “What did we just accomplish? What was I supposed to do?”

So people have wondered what’s going on with us. And I think that’s a fair question. I think lots of really great people with creative vision for the church got busy – life happened. And we’ll all admit that we dropped the ball on some pretty cool things and pretty significant things (actually getting ourselves to be a real 501c3 non-profit so we could, you know, actually accept donations and have some money for events, etc.). We have some really great folks who are committed to the vision of Presbymergent: artistic folks, authors, musicians, poets, church planters, “traditional” pastors, etc. And they’re all doing really great and exciting stuff – but it just got a little side-tracked from “specifically” Presbymergent stuff this past year…

Continue on to Part 3.

Connect with Presbymergent

To learn more about Presbymergent, you can connect with us in the following ways:

Like us on Facebook
Follow @Presbymergent on Twitter
Check out our site at www.Presbymergent.org
Register to become a Contributor on our site here

A Brief History of Presbymergent: Part 1

Adam Walker Cleaveland — Thu, 13 May 2010 12:30:57 +0000

This is Part 1 of “A Brief History of Presbymergent.” You can find Part 2 here and Part 3 here.

Earlier this week Mike Clawson posted a 50-page final paper he wrote for his studies at Austin Theological Seminary entitled “Loyal Radicals: The Intersection of Mainline Denominations and Emerging Christianity” (you can download a PDF of it here). I knew about this because Mike had interviewed many of us closely connected to Presbymergent and done a lot of online research as well. This is probably the first research paper on Presbymergent, and I found it to be a very interesting experience to read an academic paper written about a community that I helped to co-found. If you have some time, I’d highly encourage you to read Mike’s paper because it provides a very interesting look at Presbymergent’s history and possible future viability (but would also be of interest to those who are part of other hyphenated groups like Baptimergents, Anglimergents, Methomergents, etc.).

Reading through it, however, made me realize that I don’t write much anymore about Presbymergent here on Pomomusings – and I thought I’d offer “A Brief History of Presbymergent” for those who are interested in such things.

Presbymergent: The Early Years

In 2007 a group of mainline folks met at Columbia Theological Seminary for the “Mainline Emergent/s” event. Karen Sloan and I were leading a workshop together and during our pre-conference conversations, we tossed around the idea of starting up a Presbymergent website. We launched Presbymergent.org during the conference and the site really started to take off. People were writing blog posts, submitting articles for the site and the number of folks signing up to be “Contributors” grew to a couple hundred. We began to work on our online presence both on Facebook & Twitter (along with the presbymergent.org website), and today we have about 272 Contributors to Presbymergent.org, 783 followers of @Presbymergent on Twitter and 1,472 people “like” us on Facebook.

But I’m sure most would agree that one of the ways that Presbymergent grew the fastest was with Karen Sloan’s effort to travel around the states as a Presbymergent Party facilitator. Karen and others made sure that there were Presbymergent Meetups at most of the biggest PC(USA) gatherings during that first year and a half and that really helped Presbymergent to gain some traction. Being able to have those face-to-face “parties” was really helpful as we began to imagine what role Presbymergent might have in the envisioning of the church. With the amazing help of Brian Wallace and folks up at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, we even threw our very own Presbymergent conference and had a great time gathering with folks and discussing the future of the church. We also had a booth and meetup at the 2008 General Assembly in San Jose.

Things were looking up – we had folks who were passionate enough about what we were doing to sign up to be on the Coordinating Group and we eventually (after WAY too long of a process) got ourselves a snazzy new logo courtesy of Paul Soupiset. In February of 2009 we got the Coordinating Group together and met in Louisville for a few days. Over the course of those days we prayed and tried to discern what Presbymergent was going to be. It was great to get folks together, we even came up with quite a few interesting projects to work on over the course of the next year…

Continue on to Part 2.

Connect with Presbymergent

To learn more about Presbymergent, you can connect with us in the following ways:

Like us on Facebook
Follow @Presbymergent on Twitter
Check out our site at www.Presbymergent.org
Register to become a Contributor on our site here

How to Train for a Half Marathon and Actually Do It

Adam Walker Cleaveland — Thu, 06 May 2010 01:04:31 +0000

On February 7 I began training for a half marathon. The idea came as I realized I was turning 30 and felt that I should do something worthy of a big birthday like that. Running a half marathon was the first thing that popped into my mind, and so I signed up for the American River Parkway Half Marathon. While I was a bit annoyed at the fact, I was as unsure as Sarah was that I would be able to keep training past week 3. But I did…and except for a week of being sick and a week of traveling in the middle, I pretty much maintained Hal Higdon’s Novice Half Marathon training schedule.

Last Saturday, May 1, I ran the half marathon with a time of 2:11:02 (which is a 10:00 min/mile pace – photos here). It felt great to be able to accomplish something like this, and here are a few thoughts about the process.

Training

There were times when the training SUCKED and when it was fun. I know some people decide to do these things (especially for the first time) with some friends, but I was solo on this one. Having a running group may have made some of the runs more fun or endurable, but that wasn’t really an option for me this time. I did find an amazingly supportive and encouraging community through www.dailymile.com friends (some of which I know in real life, others who I just met online). Dailymile is basically “Facebook for Runners/Athletes.” It was great to post my workouts there and get encouragement, motivation and very helpful advice.

I logged about 160 miles in preparation for the half marathon. Getting new running shoes was obviously important and I got to know the folks at Fleet Feet in Pleasanton very well. My last pair of running shoes were a pair of motion control shoes, but I moved to the much lighter Saucony ProGrid Omni 8 shoe which I love. They gave me the support I needed but were MUCH lighter than my previous pair. Throw in some good running shorts, a couple good shirts, some Bodyglide and Mountain Berry Clif Shot Blocs, and I was good to go with my training.

We live right along a great running trail which was super handy. I had a few set routes that I pretty much stuck to, but I think if I was going to train for another race, I’d need to mix it up more often and get onto some different terrain.

Effect on Body

I know that runners are very injury-prone, but luckily during this training and race, I didn’t have any major problems. There was one run in my 10th week I think that just really sucked. My shins started KILLING me about 2 miles in and I wasn’t sure I would be able to finish the run. The only consistent thing I’ve had is a little bit of pain in my right hip. I’m not entirely sure what it is, but it would normally go away after running on it for about 3-4 miles, and then it would be pretty sore again after the run.

The one effect on my body that I was HOPING for was that I might lose some weight. I figured running 4x/week might help me to shed a few pounds. Surprisingly that didn’t happen. Part of that was definitely connected to my eating. It’s funny – sometimes I felt like because I had worked out that day, that it gave me “permission” to eat more than I probably should (or eat things that I probably should have passed on). So, I’m guessing if I do better at watching my intake, portion sizes and what I eat, in addition to running regularly, I’d probably notice some weight loss.

Race Day

One of the best things I did during this whole training process was to run an actual race prior to the half marathon. I ran the Diablo Trails Challenge 5K which was a great experience. It helped me have a better sense of what “race day” might feel like for the big race and was actually a lot of fun too.

Going into race day for the half marathon, I had three goals for myself:

Finish the race.
Run the entire race. There is nothing wrong with walking, but I just wanted to be able to have run the entire distance.
Finish with a pace between 9-10 minutes/mile. This was the least important goal for myself, but in the back of my mind, I was hoping I could shoot for just around 10 minutes/mile.

I was using my RunKeeper iPhone App to listen to music and get updates on my distance/time/pace. The one thing I did that I wouldn’t recommend is that I gave myself a pace to aim for (9:45 min/mile). What that meant was that every 5 minutes, when I’d get the other updates, I heard a voice saying YOU ARE BEHIND YOUR TARGET PACE. So, it wasn’t as much “positive affirmation” – I felt like I was playing catch up the whole race instead of just enjoying the run. So, I probably wouldn’t do that again.

The American River Parkway Half Marathon is a great race. There were 2838 runners and they put on some great pre-race festivities. They do a really great job with aid stations along the way, and they also had bands (from street performers, to college jazz bands, and woodwind quintets) along the path of the run, which was fun. The course is pretty much flat the whole way and you get to run along a really scenic path, which helps when you start sucking air.

For me the last 3 miles were pretty hard. While the adrenaline totally kicked in for the last mile, I slowed down pretty noticeably for the two miles before that. But it was pretty great thought to run through the gauntlet of supporters and people cheering for you as you cross the finish line.

Now what?

So, I did it. And it feels good to be able to say that. But now what? I have never really viewed myself as a runner, but I’ve come to start to enjoy the sport through this process. Now, I’m still not one of those people who you see with a huge smile on their face when they’re running – I don’t *love* running. But – it’s something that I could see myself getting into. I think for now I’m going to look into some other races to do – maybe a 10K and then another half marathon.

Someone told me that doing a half marathon would just make me want to run a full marathon. Well, I can honestly say that I’m not there yet. When I crossed the finish line, having just run 13.1 miles, I couldn’t even IMAGINE that being the halfway point of a full marathon. So while I won’t rule out the possibility that someday I might try one, definitely not yet. Thanks for everyone who has been supportive of me throughout this process. I never thought I could run a half marathon, and now I have. If you’ve ever thought about doing one before, I’d encourage you to get out there, start logging some miles and see if it’s for you.

Anchored + Emerging…really?

Adam Walker Cleaveland — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 17:00:31 +0000

I forgot what site I was on where I first saw this ad for George Fox Evangelical Seminary. Now, I have many friends who are alums of George Fox and I’m pretty sure I know some folks who have gone through the seminary program there. I love the fact that George Fox was founded by Quaker pioneers and is still influenced by that tradition. But…as far as an ad campaign…really?

Anchored + Emerging. I get it. Ancient + Future. Creeds + Coffee. Yup – we got it. You’re rooted, but you’re also open to new things. Yet, what is that new thing…? A 30-something white male looking like he’s filled with postmodern angst, has a goatee, a semi-funky haircut and count ‘em, not 1, not 2, not 3 but 4 piercings (both ears, a stud under his lip and an eyebrow ring!). It’s like they were TRYING to fit the parody of “You Might Be Emerging If…”

Now we’ve all heard of the stereotype of Emergent being a thing for 30-something white males (and the “white problem” that has gotten a lot of publicity recently), so why continue to perpetuate that with the above image being the very first image we see on George Fox’s website?

Having been a part of the emerging church conversation for quite awhile now, I can safely say that it’s NOT just something for 30-something white males. Do we need to constantly be aware of issues of diversity and inclusiveness? You bet. But to say that only a small sliver of a generation is interested in rethinking church and being open to ever-progressing theological commitments? That’s just false.

From where I sit, I see the church is emerging in all its different forms – sometimes in big ways, sometimes in small ways. Evangelicals care about the environment now. Mainline Protestants are talking about evangelism. The United Methodist Church has just launched a new effort called RETHINK CHURCH and is rethinking the way it does church and structures its denomination. Presbymergents, Luthermergents, Anglimergents, Methomergents (though they really should pick a different name) and Baptimergents are all striving to be loyal radicals within their own traditions. During an alt.worship installation at my church during Holy Week, some of those who enjoyed the service the most were 70-80 year old women. And last week I sat in a bar with an 84 year old Presbyterian discussing faith and sexuality – and that was church.

So George Fox…do I applaud your effort to be anchored and emerging? Sure. I get that. But why do we need to continue to perpetuate a false image of “emerging” as being limited to a specific generation and ethnicity? Or am I just reading too much into this advertisement?

How I Fell in Love with a Game Called “Cornhole”

Adam Walker Cleaveland — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 16:00:36 +0000

I owe my new recent fascination with the sport (yes, I used the word “sport”) of cornhole to none other than Theology After Google organizer Tripp Fuller. I was a bit skeptical at first…a sport with a name like cornhole? Really?

Then I watched two videos that forever changed my perception of the game (I mashed them together for my youth group here). And then I played cornhole. Sure, it may have helped my passion for the game that I made it into the championship game at Theology After Google. But it’s great fun. And then Tripp started telling me how much his youth group loved the game.

So I bought a cheap set of cornhole boards/bags from AJJ Cornhole, built up some hype & excitement for a few weeks leading up to it, played the above video the night I introduced it, and now…just like Tripp said…the middle and high school youth at Asbury UMC LOVE cornhole. I mean. LOVE it.

I’ve even thought about using my 30th birthday money to invest in a set of official American Cornhole Tournament boards. It’s been a lot of fun – and we’ve played at youth group, with some friends and I even got Sarah to play a few frames with me. Now if only I could find a local cornhole league…perhaps it’s up to me to start one. If you’re interested in a little history of the sport, you can find some good information (including a LONG list of appropriate cornhole terminology) on their Wikipedia entry.

And with anything that is as odd as cornhole – of course – there is a moving coming out about it. Check out the trailer below for “Cornhole: The Movie.”

Celebrate Earth Day by Getting “Everyday Justice” for Free

Adam Walker Cleaveland — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 08:01:26 +0000

It’s Earth Day today and InterVarsity Press is celebrating by offering free Kindle edition copies of Julie Clawson‘s new book, “Everyday Justice.”

Julie’s book is a great way that each of us can find daily ways that we can attempt to live sustainable lives that are pursuing a type of “everyday justice.” It’s a great book and one I’d highly recommend to all of you.

And really…can you complain about getting an eBook for free? You don’t actually need a Kindle to be able to read this book – there are plenty of Kindle Apps for all sorts of smartphones and there are desktop versions of Kindle readers as well.

They are only giving away the book for free (normally a $9.99 Kindle book) from midnight to midnight on April 22. Download your copy now and start learning how you can celebrate, love and care for our environment.

Conversation with Andy Root about his book, The Promise of Despair

Adam Walker Cleaveland — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 17:44:59 +0000

[You can "click to continue" below so that you can pause the audioplayer]

Yesterday afternoon I had the privilege of having a conversation with Andy Root on his LiveBlog about his newest book, “The Promise of Despair.” I knew Andy a bit from my time at Princeton Seminary, and have since been increasingly impressed with both the rate at which this guy can turn out quality books, and the stuff that he’s been writing.

It was fun to get to talk with him about Chapter 3 of “The Promise of Despair,” which is entitled “The Attach of the Zombies: The Death of Belonging.” In Chapter 3, Andy talks about how, fundamentally, we just don’t know who are neighbors are anymore. Our old ideas of belonging and community are changing and so we have to rethink what that looks like in our faith communities today.

What Andy wants to suggest (and I’ll let him correct me if I’m misinterpreting it) is that we aren’t drawn together today through the usual ways of community, or by any sense of obligation…rather, Andy thinks that the way that communities will be formed and united today is through this promise of despair – through death (in its final form, but also in the many losses and deaths we all experience throughout our lives). What draws us together (in my own words) is that we’re all in this shit together.

I’d recommend this book to anyone interested in the church today and for a very different take on what community might look like. And if you’re interested, you can listen to the 15 minute conversation that Andy and I had yesterday by listening to the BlogTalkRadio player below.

Jennifer Knapp is Back

Adam Walker Cleaveland — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 04:25:25 +0000

“Undo Me” was probably my favorite Jennifer Knapp song for the longest time. I loved her energy, passion, guitar skills…she was GREAT in concert. I think I first saw her when I was a senior in high school at Creation ’98 at the Gorge at George, and then a couple times when I was in college. I still remember seeing her open for Third Day at a concert in Spokane that a bunch of us went to…

Her music was great – and then….she was gone. I don’t remember knowing much about what happened when she took off, but I just remember no more new Jennifer Knapp albums and being bummed.

Yesterday, on my 30th birthday, I received some wonderful presents from my wife, GLEE returned and I found out that Jennifer Knapp was coming back to the music scene with a new album to be released on May 11th. The interwebs were also all atwitter about another fact of Jennifer Knapp’s life that I hadn’t known: she’s gay.

If you want to read some articles with interviews that came out yesterday, you can check out The Advocate’s “Christian Singer Jennifer Knapp Comes Out” and Christianity Today’s “Jennifer Knapp Comes Out.” Here is a portion of the interview from The Advocate:

Knapp no longer feels like being gay and being Christian are in opposition, even if others do. “I’m quite comfortable to live with parts of myself that don’t make sense to you,” she says. She acknowledges that such peace is hard-won in her community. “I keep running across people living closeted, who have literally chosen one or the other,” Knapp marvels. And she knows she risks losing some of her biggest fans when word of her sexuality goes public. “I think it’s going to be shocking and feel like a betrayal to some people who live their spiritual lives through the music they listen to,” says Knapp. That’s part of why she’s decided to come out in advance of the record — she doesn’t want people to love her music and then discover that their own values won’t let them sing along full-throated.

After glancing at some tweets directed at Jennifer on Twitter, I suppose it’s to be expected….some are very supportive, applauding her bravery, courage and honesty. Others…well, you can guess what they are as easily as I can:

I’m just hoping that the supportive/encouraging tweets outweigh the ones where people who have never met Jennifer try to get her to “change” who she is.

I’m grateful for Jennifer’s honesty and integrity with this announcement and know that it couldn’t have been an easy decision. I guess the one thing that comes to mind amidst all of this is that I look forward to a time when a Christian artist can be honest and real about who they are and be fully accepted – when we as a community of believers can get to the point where it just doesn’t matter. I know we’re a long ways off from that…but I guess I do have hope that I will see that in my lifetime…

Update:

Jennifer Knapp just posted a blog post on her site that I find to be a beautifully written look into her life. You can find the whole post here, but I wanted to share this paragraph with you.

I share my life with a woman. I have approached this relationship with gratitude, joy and humility. I am honored to have the support of my loving family, a caring partner, friends and people of faith who have accepted me as I come, while encouraging me to become who I am meant to be. My loved ones – you have endured much, loved much and made full the lives of all those around you. I thank you as one who has been blessed by your generosity and gentle spirits.

The Importance of Story in My Life

Adam Walker Cleaveland — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 21:19:07 +0000

“Story” has always been something important in my life. I used to read ravenously. I used to write stories for the local Young Authors Conferences.

While I’m starting to get into reading more now – it’s been something that I’ve let slide in my life – as my time has gotten consumed by technology & social media. But that hasn’t changed the way in which I view “story” as something that’s incredibly important in my life. I especially appreciated reading Brian McLaren’s “The Story We Find Ourselves In” when it came out 2003 and the idea of understanding the Bible as a collection of stories in which we too find ourselves a part of.

The first sermon I preached when I started my position at Asbury United Methodist Church was entitled “Storytelling.” In the sermon, I pointed out that:

We tell stories because we are forgetful – and need to be reminded.
We tell stories because it is through stories that we cultivate our faith.
We tell stories in order to find out where we fit into God’s story.

When you think about the idea of story, what does it bring up for you?

In full disclosure, I wrote this post so that I could pick up a copy of Don Miller’s new book “A Million Miles in a Thousand Years.” Chris Brogan really liked it and is giving away copies for anyone who writes a post about the role of “story” in their life.