|
Advent Blessings!
Dear Friends:
In this holy season of watching and waiting, many
of us are experiencing the expectant journey that
leads to the Bethlehem manger within our faith
communities. Our worship will be enriched by
shepherds in bathrobes, magi in sneakers, as the
old, old story is made new once more and we pray
fervently for God's renewal of this torn and weary
world through the coming of the Christ-child.
We rejoice that although we may be separated by
many
miles and experience this season in many different
church settings, we remain precious friends through
Christ. May the hope and peace of this season be
with each of you!
John McFadden,
newsletter editor
Wirzba on the Sabbath
Our featured book this month is Norman Wirzba's
Living the Sabbath, the most recent addition
to the Ekklesia Project's "Christian Practice of Everyday Life" Series
published by Brazos
Press. In this provocative volume, Wirzba
attempts to lead us into a holistic interpretation of
what Sabbath-keeping can mean in our lives today.
Wirzba teaches that Sabbath is ultimately about
delight in the goodness that God has made - in
everything we do, every day of the week.
Is Wirzba
convincing? Does his argument succeed? Find out by
joining the currently ongoing forum discussion
of this interesting book on the EP
website.
Meet the EP
Like many endorsers, Jeff Rogers’ wrestling
with questions of faithful discipleship has led him to
find in The Ekklesia Project a group of “mutually
minded followers.” Having studied philosophy at
Western Kentucky University and religion at Louisville
Presbyterian Seminary, Jeff was compelled to revisit
the work and thought of John Howard Yoder in the
wake of September 11th, 2001. In 2004, Jeff and his
wife served in the Dominican Republic where Jeff
continued to seek out models of radical discipleship,
and to explore these ideas with a group of friends
after his return to the United States. This journey of
reading, discussion, and reflection eventually led him
to The Ekklesia Project. He has endorsed EP in the
hopes that it will continue to be a context in which
he can build relationships and be challenged by fellow
disciples of Jesus Christ.
Beth Newman has enjoyed the
support
and
challenge of The Ekklesia Project since its beginnings.
She is particularly drawn to EP’s focus on radical
discipleship and the unity of the Body of Christ.
Having taught theology and ethics for twelve years
at Saint Mary’s College (Notre Dame, IN), she is now
a professor at the Baptist Theological Seminary at
Richmond. She lives in Virginia with her husband, Jon,
and their two children, Jessica (8) and Jacob (5).
She has recently written on the practice of
hospitality and her book, Untamed Hospitality:
Welcoming God and Other Strangers will be out in
April in our Christian Practice of Everyday Life series
(Brazos Press). Beth is a member of the EP Board,
and is one of our "Meet EP" writers.
Gathering News
Who comes to EP Gatherings? In 2006, we had 186
registrants, including 59 women and 127 men. Forty
came from Illinois, the rest largely from the
continental US. We had sizable groups from Grace
Fellowship Community Church in San Francisco,
Church of the Servant King (Eugene
and Portland), Reba Place Fellowship in Evanston,
and Englewood
Christian Church of Indianapolis. A number of
participants are currently associated with, or recent
graduates of, Milligan College, Duke Divinity School or
Baylor (three schools with strong EP endorsers on
faculty). But don’t think the Gathering is only
religious academics and ‘bookish pastors’—what
Steve Long calls the ‘professionally religious.’ We
also
had (at least) two farmers, an attorney, a physician,
a carpenter, an actor, a journalist, a bluegrass
fiddler, a librarian, an office manager, a dozen or so
book publishers and the best barista west of the
Mississippi, not to mention nine
traveling troubadors. Conferees ranged from high
school students to retired persons, with more folk in
their twenties than ever before. We a remarkably
diverse group, even before taking note of our
amazing variety of church life and denominational
background (more on that in a future newsletter).
EP Finances
This month, we would like to give you information on
the finances of the Summer Gathering. For
summer 2006 we can report the following:
Fees and Scholarship
Donations..........$24,107.00
Expenses..........................................$22,
473.00
We have been grateful that the generosity
of
Gathering attendees enables us to offer reduced or
free registration to more than 30 attendees who
needed assistance.
We are also pleased that the Summer Gathering
continues to be self-supporting. Thank you for
helping us to achieve this goal.
|
|
|
 |
As always, we welcome your feedback and, more
importantly, your participation. If you have ideas,
time, or a willingness to serve, email us.
|
|
|
