Chicago up/rooted

up/rooted

1. April 27th Meeting in Wheaton
   Just a reminder that up/rooted.west will be meeting at Muldoons Pub in Wheaton, IL on Monday, April 27th at 7pm. Please do RSVP so we can save you a seat!! There is no set discussion topic - we will just be having some community time! Thank you Randy for hosting last month's group as I was buried with grad school homework assignments.
   
   Be prepared for some upcoming changes for up/rooted.west. We're sensing a need for a change in what we're doing. The time for discussion seems to be fading and we're gearing up for some action. If you are jazzed about the idea of an interfaith/nonfaith group of people coordinating their efforts towards building community and meeting local needs, let me know! We'd love to invite you into the planning discussions!
   
   Also, if you haven't yet heard about what Andrew Marin is doing in Chicago, I highly recommend checking out his foundation and newly released book by IVP, called Love is an Orientation. If you're in the burbs, he'll be speaking at Wheaton Academy the next two Thursday nights at 7pm. Registration is requested (it's free to attend). Hope to see you there!!
   
   Many blessings on your journey!
   Kris Socall
   up/rooted.west co-coordinator
   navigating the complexity of simplicy
   
   
   
2. Worth a read
   I want to draw your attention to a discussion going on over at Erika Haub's blog (a daily read of mine). Until very recently, when she and her family made the very difficult choice to move, Erika has been living in South Central LA, trying to obey God by giving up her wealth and follow Jesus into the midst of the poor. Her gifted insight communicated with the immediacy of the blog makes the intense joys and struggles of that kind of commitment more real than any retrospective memoir could ever be.
   
   Recently, she wrote about folks she knows who do not feel at home in traditional churches. The comments this has elicited are worth every minute you spend with them.
   
   The community that has formed around Erika is like the best of what I envision up/rooted meetings to be. Familiar folks and strangers feel safe enough to tell their stories, support one another and ask questions that propel all of us further along whatever we're on.
   
   I'll be back soon with a date for the next up/rooted.city meeting. I miss you guys!
   
3. What has up/rooted.city been up to?
   So, we've had three gatherings of the up/rooted.city type and I haven't told you about any of them.
   
   
   Yet.
   
   
   First, let me tell you that we're going to meet again on Monday, December 8 at 7:00 at Wicker Park Grace, which can be found at 1741 N. Western. We'd love to see anyone who has an inkling of interest in meeting up with folks who are interested in talking about opening up God's kingdom to all people, not just the ones who believe the same things we do.
   
   
   Now, I'm going to give a list of quotes from our various gatherings, since I really should be doing my homework.
   
   
   September discussion:
   
   
   "I used to have a passion for being an evangelical Christian and then I had a passion for being a post-modern Christian and now I wish I could just reclaim some of that passion."
   
   
   "The way the faith has been presented is shallow. So the way I see emergence is looking back into the depth of tradition."
   
   
   "Yearning for a deeper or more real experience of God and community and how this covenant is played out in real life.
   
   
   "Young folks already believe they can pick and choose and would never dream of feeling oppressed by a "modern" church who insists on all or nothing belief."
   
   
   "If Jews interpreted the New Testament you would pretty much have Unitarianism."
   
   
   Brian McLaren:
   
   
   Emergence arises from two impulses: anxiety over the decline of Mainline Protestant, Catholic and Evangelical communities and folks who just stopped liking going to church.
   
   
   When Bolger and Gibbs looked at churches that seemed to be attracting young people they found that style of worship was not the most dominant common characteristic. Instead, most shared a desire to fulfill the idea of "on Earth as it is in Heaven."
   
   
   Phyllis Tickle defined emergence as a desire to share spiritual resources.
   
   
   Emergence can be viewed as the new outer ring of a tree rather than just another slice of a finite pie.
   
   
   Pre-modern, Modern and Emergent can be defined by the evolution of literacy: Pre-modern is a time of no books (no literacy), Modern has books (literate), Post-Modern has screens and hyper-text (multi-literate).
   
   
   "This building [Fourth Presbyterian in Chicago] evokes continuity with the medieval era."
   
   
   Modern Christianity has been getting less and less formal, like digging a basement - Eastern Orthodox to Roman Catholic and Anglican to Lutheran, Presbyterian and Methodist to Baptists to Pentecostals to House, cell and storefront churches. Interestingly, the early church started in the basement.
   
   
   Theology Pub:
   
   
   Actually, I don't really have any quotes from the Theology Pub. It was a loud, hot and crowded event full of people that wanted to talk about opening up God's kingdom to all people, not just the ones who believe the same things we do. It was pretty cool. I ended up buying a copy of Nadia Bolz-Weber's book and I'm looking forward to the end of the quarter so I actually read it.
   
   
   So, join us on December 8. Bring some cookies. Or celery. Or just your soul. We'll talk about stuff. It'll be good.
   
   
   Go Gently,
   Rebecca
   
4. busy lately? take some time out with us for dinner and discussion!
   Spiritual disciplines, grad school homework, funerals, hurting friends, a full-time job, working out, serving projects, family drama, and my own personal drama sure do keep my time occupied - as I'm sure for you as well! I'm not sure how Americans stay sane considering our lifestyles that keep us hopping and always occupied - sometimes even good spiritual activities just seem like another appointment block on my Outlook calendar. It's one of the reasons why the regular practice of Sabbath has been crucial for my life. There is a time for work, for play and for rest and God is with me through all the sacred ordinariness of life. Although, at times, I am simply overwhelmed with the world's crises and injustices that just seem to be never ending and there is still much work to be done. Learning how to recharge and find balance is critical!
   
   I heard a woman speak last night about an experience she had in an orphanage in Ghana. She walked into a concrete warehouse open room filled with hundreds of crying, crawling and walking infants under 3 years old. Being overwhelmed with the desire to pick one up, to comfort at least just one affection-starved child, she asked if she could hold one. She was stunned by the response - "No, don't! They'll get used to being held and they'll cry even more and it will make it even worse! But, come here, let us show you something."
   
   They took her to a room off to the side of the open warehouse where she could smell sweet perfume coming from under the door. They cracked the door open where she could see an older white-haired woman sitting on a mat on the floor, surrounded by candles and sweet perfume oils. This woman was holding one baby, massaging its back with perfumed oil and the baby had a wide-eyed look of ecstasy - soaking it all in! She was told that each baby gets two hours each week in the "holding room of intense compassion".
   
   You may not have the capacity to hold the entire world's pain in your arms, but to whom are you called to offer love, compassion and holding? To whomever that is, I encourage you to do it intensely and surround yourselves with people who will support your arms when they become too heavy to hold anymore!
   
   up/rooted.west will be meeting on the third Tuesday, Nov 18 and Dec 16 at 6:45pm, hosted at Randy Harper's home: 1950 Manchester Rd., Wheaton. We'll offer a free dinner, so please RSVP if you'll be able to make it so the cooks can be prepared. November's discussion will be an open forum and in December we'll tackle 1/3 of Phyllis Tickle's new book, The Great Emergence.
   
   We hope that our discussion group and community of friends can offer hope and encouragement to despairing or weary Kingdom laborers, stimulate theological thought, inspire you with new ideas for how to be the church in your context and that our dreams and visions of what is possible will bounce off each other and grow exponentially as we share!
   
   I pray that you are enjoying God and the divine work He has invited you into and that your life is filled with fellow God-lovers and laborers who will encourage your journey when you become weary! Wherever the disciples went, they encouraged one another. May we strive to do the same today as we are no less in need of encouragement!
   
   Blessings on your journey,
   Kristine Socall
   
   …navigating the complexity of simplicity @
   http://gifteddreamers.blogspot.com
   
5. 
   Instead of meeting to have a discussion this month and next, the city branch of up/rooted is going to attend some speaking events en masse. Of course, everyone from anywhere in the Chicagoland area is invited.
   
   Tonight is Brian McLaren and Diana Butler Bass speaking at 7:00 at Fourth Presbyterian Church of Chicago. More details are available at http://www.mccormick.edu/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=536&Itemid=583
   
   
   Next Sunday, November 2nd we'll be meeting for a "Theology Pub" at the Bar Louie on Printer's Row (47 Polk St.) from 6:00 to 8:00. Join hostess Nadia Bolz-Weber (House for All Sinners and Saints, Denver, Co. Author of Salvation on the Small Screen? 24 Hours of Christian Television) for a Theology Pub featuring Becky Garrison (Religious satirist and author, Rising From the Ashes: Re-thinking Church), Doug Gay (University of Glasgow, Author, Alternative Worship: Resources from and for the Emerging Church), Nannette Sawyer (Wicker Park Grace, Author Hospitality: The Sacred Art), and Ryan Bolger (Fuller Seminary, Author Emerging Churches: Creating Christian Community in Postmodern Cultures). Meet these folks. Chat. Have books signed. Drink beer.
   
   
   I hope I'll see many of you at one of these events.
   
   Rebecca