FEBRUARY 2013
Ekklesia Project News

 

In This Issue
  • Gathering 2013: 
  • New Endorsers
  • New on bLOGOS 
  • Meet the EP
  • Update from the Board

 

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 "Look toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them . . . So shall your descendants be."    

Genesis 15:5

 

The appointed Old Testament reading for the Second Sunday in Lent from the Revised Common Lectionary and the Lectionary for Mass, Year C

 

 

 

 

 

 
Latest News on Gathering 2013

Practicing the Peace of Christ in Church, Neighborhood, and Country

 

Steve Fowl will team with George Kalantzis to co-present on peace among nations. Steve served two terms on the EP Board and  co-edited the Eerdmans Ekklesia Series for many years.

 

Workshop leaders include 
  • David Jantzen, will focus on 'Extending the Mission of the Church through Intentional Christian Communities" by bringing in three intentional communities in the Chicago area (Reba, Parkside, Kedzingdale) to share their experience and reflect together on the way their life together impacts neighborhoods and local congregations. David recently published, The Intentional Christian Community Handbook.
  • Ted Lewis, "Restorative Justice: Ecclesial Roots, Ecclesial Applications." Ted is Executive Director of the Barron County Restorative Justice Programs in Wisconsin.
  • Matt Morin and TBA will engage "The Abolition of War"
  • Peter Mommsen, ecumenical director for the Bruderhoff, on that community's response to WWII and the way those practices continue to shape their commuties today.
 
John Nugent will preach at the opening worship service. John and fellow members of Delta Community have been very regular Gathering attenders. Particularly relevant to this year's theme is John's book The Politics of Yahweh.
 
Tim Ross will preach and members of Hopwood Christian Church will lead our closing worship service. Many EPers will remember the amazing contributions of Hopwood musician David Butzu to Gathering 2007.
 

 

July 11-13, campus of DePaul University (Lincoln Park), Chicago.

 

  

NEW ENDORSERS:

Here are the names of those who have endorsed The Ekklesia Project in the last month. If you don't know what endorsing signifies, read the Declaration and Invitation of EP, or its summary as a fourfold claim.  

 

The new Endorsers are:

Christopher Montgomery (Pennsylvania)

Drew Tessler (Evanston)

Aaron Brittain (Virginia)

Jim Robertson (Edmonton, Canada)

New on bLOGOS: 
 

A Healing WordStarry Night, Van Gogh

Debra Dean Murphy 

 

The gospel reading for the Second Sunday in Lent differs significantly for Protestants and Catholics. The Revised Common Lectionary appoints four pithy verses from Luke 13 which reveal a rather astonishing range of reactions in Jesus as he reckons with both his imperial pursuers and his faithless kinsmen.

 

To Rome's proxy ruler, Herod, he sends a message of combative confidence
("go and tell that fox for me . . ."). To Jerusalem

, "the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it,"

he speaks with surprising, maternal tenderness: 

 

"How often have I desired to gather you children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings . . . "

The fox and the hen. Herod the stealthy predator; Jesus the protective mother. Power versus vulnerability. And we know where this confrontation is headed . . . .

 

To read the rest click here.

 
MEET THE EP: 
Matthew Dodrill 
 
Matthew writes about himself and his wife, Abi:  "We are both from Baptist backgrounds, though we care deeply about the Baptists' place in the broader catholic tradition. Although we grew up Baptists, we went through the Reformed tradition and Episcopalianism to make it back around to the Baptists (it's a long story). We are now members of Watts Street Baptist Church in Durham, NC, and I am a seminarian at Duke Divinity School in preparation for ordained ministry. Abi has a degree in social work, and she cares deeply for the ways her vocation allows her to practice Christian hospitality for the widows and orphans (and that means she receives a lot from them, too!). I played baseball for the majority of my upbringing all the way through college, and since giving that up I have taken up the hobby of home beer brewing (and I plan to take up field archery soon). Abi was a dancer growing up, and she enjoys cooking and photography. We were blessed to welcome our twin daughters, Paisley Ruth and Adeline Jane, into the world on October 11 (10/11/12!). Although they are a huge joy, the sanity of new parents-to-twins requires a lot of humor and the occasional nervous consumption of my newly-brewed beverages (oh, and prayer) ;)
UPDATE FROM THE BOARD
 
On February 9 and 10 the Church of the Servant King in Eugene, Oregon hosted the EP board of directors for their bi-annual meeting. The board also worshiped on Sunday morning at Wesley United Methodist, a CFI congregation. The board's business included evaluating the 2012 Summer Gathering and looking ahead at this year's Gathering; reflecting on the ongoing work of CFI; examining the state of our finances; assessing our various social media initiatives; determining the future of our book publishing endeavors and our pamphlet series; exploring some possibilities for grant funding; and deepening our friendships with each other. The hospitality of all our Oregon friends made the meeting a time of both productivity and great fun.