Nashville Cohort

Nashville Cohort

1. Cohort This Thursday
   
   This Thursday the cohort welcomes Fritz Gutwien. Fritz is from the National Council of Churches Eco-Justice Program takes through a conversation regarding Christian environmentalism and how our 'advocacy' for creation care is a spiritual discipline. He's also a friend of Sam Davidson, but we won't hold that against him;)
   
   Here's his Fritz's Bio:
   

   Fritz Gutwein is currently Field Coordinator of the Climate and Energy Campaign at the National Council of Churches, Washington, DC. Prior to joining the NCC, Fritz was the Farm Bill Reform Organizer for the Presbyterian Hunger Program (USA) and Director of Crossroads Ministry of St. William Catholic Church in Louisville, Kentucky. An ordained Baptist minister and Presbyterian elder, Fritz is educated in international and religious studies from the University of South Florida and theology and ethics from Southern Seminary. His travels to Latin America and Africa as well as his experience as a therapeutic foster parent have opened Fritz's eyes to the needs of people living in poverty and have helped to make the spiritual practice of doing justice his life's passion.

   
   Check him out: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/5/123/9B8
   
   
   As usual we will meet in the pool room at the Flying Saucer from 11:30-1:00.
   Call in your lunch orders to 259-3039 by 10:30am if you're able.
   
   See you there,
   Dixon
2. General Conference Blogging
   I'm doing some daily blog commentary on the UMC's General Conference (our version of a Synod or Council). My latest post regarding the cell phone gift issue has generated some heat, apparently. Feel free to check it out on "The Truth As Best I Know It".
   
   Grace and Peace,
   Matt...
3. April Cohort and Summer Schedule
   
   Greeting all,
   Tomorrow at the cohort author David Dark shares material from his new book The Sacredness of Questioning Everything. Should be sharp indeed!
   Bring your thinking cap and we'll get after it tomorrow at the Saucer!
   
   As usual we will meet in the pool room at the Flying Saucer from 11:30-1:00.
   Call in your lunch orders to 259-3039 by 10:30am if you're able.
   
   Beyond tomorrow here is our schedule through the summer:
   
   May 8: The Spiritual Discipline of Eco-Advocacy
   Fritz Gutwien from the National Council of Churches Eco-Justice Program takes through a conversation regarding Christian environmentalism and how our 'advocacy' for creation care is a spiritual discipline.
   
   Here's his Fritz's Bio:
   Fritz Gutwein is currently Field Coordinator of the Climate and Energy Campaign at the National Council of Churches, Washington, DC. Prior to joining the NCC, Fritz was the Farm Bill Reform Organizer for the Presbyterian Hunger Program (USA) and Director of Crossroads Ministry of St. William Catholic Church in Louisville, Kentucky. An ordained Baptist minister and Presbyterian elder, Fritz is educated in international and religious studies from the University of South Florida and theology and ethics from Southern Seminary. His travels to Latin America and Africa as well as his experience as a therapeutic foster parent have opened Fritz's eyes to the needs of people living in poverty and have helped to make the spiritual practice of doing justice his life's passion.
   Check him out: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/5/123/9B8
   
   
   June 5: Spiritual Disaster Preparedness - Jesus and Nuclear Crisis
   Tyler Wigg-Stevenson will take us through what needs to be the next "big" issue Christians take up - nuclear disarmament. Tyler is the Coordinator of the Biblical Security Council here in town, and like Fritz, he's trying to connect Christians to advocacy on this issue as a spiritual discipline. Tyler and I met last month and I was blown away with the opportunity the church has to not lay catch up on tackling this very real crisis. Please come out for this one.
   
   
   July 3: Break
   
   
   July 26: The Church Basement Roadshow Cohort Gathering *(tentative)*
   This summer Tony Jones, Doug Pagitt and Mark Scandrette are doing a group book tour tounge-in-cheekily called the Church Basement Roadshow (http://www.churchbasementroadshow.com/). St. Bartholomew's is hosting the tour's Nashville stop and I am trying to pull together a late night, beer soaked Cohort "hang" at the Saucer afterward. I'll have more details as they become available.
   
   August 7: TBA
   
   
   Peace,
   Dixon
4. Emerging Ordination Today at the Cohort
   
   Greeting all,
   This Thursday, March 6 the Cohort jumps feet first into a conversation about ordination and the emerging church. Using a panel discussion format with John Plummer Thomas McKenzie and Dixon Kinser to kick start the conversation, we will explore what ordination is, how it's manifest in communities of faith and what it's place is in the emerging church.
   
   Bring your own questions and we'll get after it tomorrow at the Saucer!
   
   We will meet in the pool room at the Flying Saucer from 11:30-1:00 as usual.
   Call in your lunch orders to 259-3039 by 10:30am if you're able.
   
   
   Peace,
   Dixon
   
   
   -------------------------
   Dixon Kinser
   Nashville Cohort
   www.nashvillecohort.blogspot.com
5. Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove at Otter Creek Church, Thursday, February 28
   Hi all. This is the event that I mentioned at the February Cohort. It's open to anyone.
   
   The Otter Creek Church invites you to hear from Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, a founding member of the Rutba House in Durham, North Carolina, on February 28, 2008, at 7:00 p.m. Jonathan, who spent time in Iraq with Shane Claiborne as part of a Christian peacemaking team, will be discussing "Signs of the Times & a New Monasticism." He will touch upon several aspects of the new monastic movement, including the contemplative tradition, service to the poor, nonviolence, and practices of intentional community.
   
   Otter Creek is located at 409 Franklin Road, in Brentwood. You can call the church for more information at 615-373-1782.
   
   Hope to see as many of you there as can make it.