Baltimore Emergent Cohort

Baltimore Emergent Village Cohort

1. No Baltimore Emergent Meeting for July 2010
   A Very Happy Summer to all of you! Just a quick note to say that the Baltimore Emergent Cohort will not be meeting this July due to numerous vacations and other summer activities in conflict with our regularly scheduled meeting on the first Tuesday of the month. So, please have a wonderful July, and we look forward to seeing you all back for our next meeting to be held 3 August. More details to follow
   
2. Baltimore Emergent Cohort Meeting - 1 June 2010
   
   Greetings all! Our next meeting will be Tuesday, 1 June 2010 at 7:00 PM. Remember that we've permanently moved things up a half hour to give us all a bit more time to chat, and just maybe get us home a little earlier as well. Even so, it's never a problem if you have to arrive a late. We're an easy bunch and generally spend the first several minutes catching up on each other's lives. Which, I would assert, is just as it should be.

   Also, over the past several months we've tried to change our monthly venue to Teavolve Cafe & Lounge, which is a terrific place to do this kind of thing, but Teavolve usually winds up hosting bands every Tuesday. Now, that's hardly a bad thing, but the music, as good as it may be, doesn't really allow for the sort of conversations we tend to have. Maybe one day we'll make it work but for now we'll hopefully continue to have great success meeting around the outside tables at Pasticcio Restaurant in the Can Company on Boston St. The weather has been dazzling the last couple of meetings and our waiter--who really does look like Harvey Keitel--keeps the food and drinks coming.

   We're starting a new series this month that will be running over the two meetings. Given that we are having an ongoing discussion on all things Emergent, it's only appropriate that we'll be reviewing and discussing Brian McLaren's newest book, A New Kind of Christianity. The book is subtitled, Ten Questions That Are Transforming the Faith. Specifically, we'll be looking at Questions 1 - 5, but the truth is, we could spend the entire evening on just one or two of these, which include topics on sexuality, and one of my favorite subjects, plurality. Brian's book, perhaps more than his last several books, is topical, fairly direct, and, of course, always provocative. Lots more to say, but I think I'll save any further comments for our meeting.

   So, grab a copy of A New Kind of Christianity, mark your calendar for the first Tuesday in June, and become part of the discussion. It should be a fabulous gathering, and of course, the best thing will be the pleasure of your company!

   Look very forward to seeing you all!

   
3. Baltimore Emergent Cohort Meeting - 4 May 2010
   A friendly reminder that our next Baltimore Emergent Cohort meeting will be Tuesday, 4 May 2010 at 7:00 PM. In fact, from this point forward we'll be meeting 30 minutes earlier at 7:00 PM, which will hopefully give us a bit more time to talk and get home a little earlier to boot. Please don't worry if you have to arrive a bit late--that's never a problem and we usually talk a while before we get started anyway.

   Also, while we were planning to meet at Teavolve Cafe & Lounge this month, to date we haven't received their Tuesday night schedule for May, so we're planning to meet at Pasticcio Restaurant in the Can Company, which just a few doors down from Austin Grill where we used to meet. During April's meeting we sat outside at Pasticcio, under a beautiful spring sky. We're still hoping to eventually migrate to Teavolve, however, in the coming months, so we'll keep you posted.

   Last month we took a brief look at an article by Sara Miles, who gave her fascinating, and somewhat provocative, viewpoint on what living within diverse communities should be. Given that we have a rather diverse group, however, the meeting highlights seemed to flow from the lively, yet always respectful give and take we had regarding some fairly candid discussions on the nature of God, and how we can know if God is actually working in our lives. And I think it's fair to say that each of us had our own take on what this means, and for some of us, whether it's even possible.

   This month we'll take a look at one of my favorite books from a uniquely relational author, Jim Palmer, a friend my wife originally met on THE OOZE, and whose. Divine Nobodies, subtitled, Shedding Religion to Find God (and the unlikely people who help you), isn't so much interested in developing a new emergent-based understanding of theology as it is in simply trying to understand God's work in his life, which Jim learns can be fathomed through his relationships with, well, some very unlikely people. Jim has fashioned a deeply personal series of essays that I believe both traditional and emergent perspectives can read and draw meaning from, and which have certainly had a very positive impact on my life through the years.

   Highly recommended! As always, we look forward to seeing you!

   
4. Maryland Cohort Meeting - 20 May 2010
   Here's the latest meeting notice from our good friends at the Maryland Cohort, who meet south of us in Columbia:

   Hello Maryland Cohort,

   As the season is definitely changing, and emergence is all around us, I would like to invite us to come together on Thursday, May 20 for an emergent cohort gathering, connection and discussion. Some of us heard Brian McLaren last month and we see that he has a new book out (how does he keep turning them out so fast?) I suggest that we take a look together at: A New Kind of Christianity: 10 Questions that are Transforming the Faith. If you aren’t able to get the book, take a look at the synopsis or first pages on Amazon. This book is getting some strong reactions from folks. I would like to hear what you have to say. Is this the forefront of a new kind of Christianity or is he completely in left field?

   We will be meeting at Donna’s Restaurant in Columbia at the intersection of Snowden River Parkway and rte. 108 just off of rte. 100. Here is the information:

   Donna's on Snowden River Pkwy. in Columbia. Address is 5850 Waterloo Rd., Ste. 100, 21045; website is www.donnas.com. We'll be discussing Brian McLaren's latest book, A New Kind of Christianity: Ten Questions That Are Transforming the Faith

   http://www.amazon.com/New-Kind-Christianity-Questions-Transforming/dp/0061853984/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1267027735&sr=8-1

   I look forward to seeing you then – and bring a friend who would like to explore their faith,

   Happy Earth Day,

   Rod

   
5. Baltimore Emergent Cohort Meeting - 6 April 2010
   Greetings on the beautifully sunny, and somewhat windy afternoon of the last day of March. Just a brief reminder that our next Baltimore Emergent Cohort gathering is scheduled for 7:30 PM, Tuesday, 6 Apr 2010. As most of you know we've been meeting at Austin Grill on Boston Avenue for some time now. With the beginning of warmer weather, however, Austin Grill has begun their open mic series on Tuesday evenings, the noise of which tends to overwhelm the Cohort discussion. So, for this month only we'll be meeting at Pasticcio restaurant in the Can Company, just a few doors down from Austin Grill.

   Starting in May we'll be moving the venue to Teavolve Cafe & Lounge in Harbor East (1401 Aliceanna St. Baltimore, MD 21231). Good space, yummy food, and a laid back atmosphere make this a terrific choice for our monthly event. More about this in our next update.

   Last month we looked at an article by Sara Miles, who gave her perspective on what living within diverse communities means, or should mean to Christians regardless of denomination. This month we continue our discussion of church and community with an article from Kathy Escobar, a co-pastor at the The Refuge, a rather eclectic faith community in north Denver. Kathy characterizes herself as "... passionate about community, the marginalized, healing, spiritual transformation, equality, justice, 'church', relationships, diversity, and learning to love and be loved." That probably sounds rather familiar given the sort of discussions we've been having about community, but Kathy has something to say when it comes to the differences between what we generally think of as church and alternatively, healthy communities, and she's fairly convinced that the latter is considerably more involved.

   http://kathyescobar.com/2010/01/14/the-difference-between-cultivating-communities-and-building-churches/

   We love to hear your comments on Kathy's article and any associated thoughts you might have on cultivating viable, long term Christian community. Hope to see you Tuesday!