Thanks to all the U of A students, Join the Living supporters, and friends who participated in the Learning Party on Saturday. It was a wonderful conversation.
We forgot to take any pictures. The moment is often more compelling than documenting it to me. But the exhibits included a wheelbarrow full of what we are currently planting and growing, corrugated sheet metal full of photos, micro-brew beer boxes for the "taking church out of the box" interactive station and a giant map documenting our travel route.
For taking church out of the box we placed photos and quotes and items inside the micro-brew beer boxes. Each box "held" a church we studied on the tour: The Refuge, Church of the Beloved, Church of the Apostles, SEVEN Community, and Thad's. The micro-brew boxes was a nod to Dave in Flagstaff who describes his church start as more of a micro-brew endeavor than a factory, industrial sort of project.
COMING UP FOR JOIN THE LIVING...
Hiking Church will meet at Sabino Canyon from here on out. Our last Sunday will be May 4. Meet us at 9 am at the welcome map in front of the main center. Let us know if you'd like to carpool.
Soul Lullaby: The final Soul Lullaby of the Easter Season will be Friday, May 2, at sunset which is at 7:06 pm that day. We'll fill the courtyard of St. Andrew's with candles and luminaries. This coming Soul Lullaby will focus on women mystics and the sacred feminine, because several of them are remembered around this time of the year on the church calendar. There will be music, some readings, silence, and time to ease into the weekend. And each Soul Lullaby actually ends with a sung lullaby blessing.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Tour Party & Hiking this weekend
Coming up this weekend for friends of Join the Living in Tucson are:
• Saturday afternoon come-and-go learning party, April 19, 4 to 6 pm, St. Andrew's Episcopal Church parish hall, 545 S. 5th Ave. Come learn what we discovered on our fall research tour. Interactive learning stations, snacks, conversation. Kate and Carol will give a brief presentation around 5 p.m. that will expand your mind and make you look at the world, your community and your spiritual life differently.
• Hiking church returns to Sabino Canyon this Sunday, April 20. Meet at the Welcome Center map at 9, or let us know if you'd like to carpool from the university area.
Spending Sunday mornings in the desert has been soothing to the soul. We take only easy hikes, for about 30 minutes to an hour. There's something about not trying to domesticate the Sacred inside and instead encountering the Divine in the wilds that is grounding and provocative.
After we shared communion on the first hike we saw a bright red cardinal in the tree beside us. It reminded us of the cardinal we saw when we were about to begin this journey several months ago. (See one of our very first blog posts for more on that). The next Sunday we talked about the gospel reading as we walked. The gospel for the day was the walk to Emmaus, where two of the disciples figure out they are walking along with Jesus, they just didn't recognize him. And last Sunday we had a great discussion about the divinity of Jesus as we sat on a rock and watched lizards scamper by.
We hope you'll join us and feel free to bring some friends.
• Saturday afternoon come-and-go learning party, April 19, 4 to 6 pm, St. Andrew's Episcopal Church parish hall, 545 S. 5th Ave. Come learn what we discovered on our fall research tour. Interactive learning stations, snacks, conversation. Kate and Carol will give a brief presentation around 5 p.m. that will expand your mind and make you look at the world, your community and your spiritual life differently.
• Hiking church returns to Sabino Canyon this Sunday, April 20. Meet at the Welcome Center map at 9, or let us know if you'd like to carpool from the university area.
Spending Sunday mornings in the desert has been soothing to the soul. We take only easy hikes, for about 30 minutes to an hour. There's something about not trying to domesticate the Sacred inside and instead encountering the Divine in the wilds that is grounding and provocative.
After we shared communion on the first hike we saw a bright red cardinal in the tree beside us. It reminded us of the cardinal we saw when we were about to begin this journey several months ago. (See one of our very first blog posts for more on that). The next Sunday we talked about the gospel reading as we walked. The gospel for the day was the walk to Emmaus, where two of the disciples figure out they are walking along with Jesus, they just didn't recognize him. And last Sunday we had a great discussion about the divinity of Jesus as we sat on a rock and watched lizards scamper by.
We hope you'll join us and feel free to bring some friends.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Finger Rock Hike this Sunday
On Sunday, April 13, we're taking hiking church to Finger Rock.
We plan to hike about a mile on the easy part, read the gospel for the day and talk about it, share some communion and hike back. The trail is free.
If you'd like to carpool from Epic coffee house on 4th Ave, let us know. We'll leave there at 8:25 am.
To get to the Finger Rock trailhead:
We plan to hike about a mile on the easy part, read the gospel for the day and talk about it, share some communion and hike back. The trail is free.
If you'd like to carpool from Epic coffee house on 4th Ave, let us know. We'll leave there at 8:25 am.
To get to the Finger Rock trailhead:
From Skyline Drive go north on Alvernon Way until it dead ends into the parking lot and trailhead. Alvernon Way is between Campbell and Swan. Click here for a map.
Friday, April 4, 2008
Sunday Hike
Sunday, April 6, 9 am.
We'll hike the Pima canyon trailhead.
Either meet us there at 9 am or call to carpool.
Directions: head north on 1st ave until it comes to a T; turn right; trailhead at end of road.
We'll hike the Pima canyon trailhead.
Either meet us there at 9 am or call to carpool.
Directions: head north on 1st ave until it comes to a T; turn right; trailhead at end of road.
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Soul Lullaby
Next up is Soul Lullaby and hiking church.
On Friday, April 4, we launch Soul Lullaby. This Friday is also the 40th anniversary of the murder of Martin Luther King, Jr. We'll remember MLK and the ongoing work of justice and racial equality through personal stories, conversation, and readings.
The candle-lit service will happen in the courtyard of St. Andrew's Episcopal Church at sundown. It's located at 545 S. 5th Ave. You are invited to gather at 6:30. We'll begin with silence. After it's over there will be some light food and drinks available. Entrance is on 16th street. Look for the Luminaries.
The Soul Lullaby series will continue at least to next month's, first Friday, at sundown. On May 2, we'll honor the sacred feminine. Sundown on May 2 is 7:06, silent meditation will begin 30 minutes before. Also to be in the St. Andrew's Courtyard.
Starting this Sunday morning we are going to hike in Sabino Canyon and do church.
If you'd like to join us, meet at the Sabino Canyon welcome center map at 9 am. Kate will probably have her giant straw hat. So that will be hard to miss. We'll hike for about 30 minutes, find a shady, quiet spot and talk about the gospel reading for the day, share some communion, and hike back. We'll go to brunch afterward. We'd love for you to join us. We'll do this every Sunday morning through May 4.If you'd like to carpool to the site, email us: jointhelivingATgmailDOTcom. If you don't have a pass, the cost to get into the parking lot is $5.
And finally, a big thanks goes out to all the folks who made the Uprising happen and who came and participated. To me it was a quietly powerful experience to watch the moon arc over us all night, to talk about death around the fire, to hold bones, to walk the labyrinth by luminary light, spontaneously sing songs at first light and to remember to not be afraid. Life is stronger than death.
We look forward to inviting even more artists and musicians into the mix for next year. Thanks to Aldea, Cary from Icon, Church of the Apostles in Oro Valley, and music master, Fred Bevins for helping plan, set up and host. Thanks to St. Phillips who gave us a gift of $200 which we used to buy supplies and food for Uprising. It was truly a collaborative event, and we are already imagining ways to creatively expand things for next year: Easter 2009~April 12.
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Uprising
Well, tonight is Uprising.
The Uprising is our first collaborative liturgy party. We've joined forces with Tucson's Aldea Spiritual Community, an artist from the Icon Collective in Belfast, and Church of the Apostles in Oro Valley.
Uprising starts with the ancient liturgy of the Easter Vigil and dances on from there.
At 10 pm we'll kindle the fire and continue all night until Eucharist at sunrise and then breakfast. Fred Bevins is mixing the music. There's a tent set up for artmaking. Plenty of food and drink. Chances for spontaneous communal music making. Because it's pretty isolated in the desert, we can play drums and strum all night under the fullish moon. Low temp tonight is expected to be around a lovely 50.
Setting up luminaries last night at the site, I watched the full moon rise from the mountains. As she rose and lit up the Catalinas with a soft glow she spread her blessing onto us and the ground we will walk tonight.
Uprising:
Where: In the desert scrub around Church of the Apostles: 12111 North LaCholla, (just north of the light at Tangerine, the entrance is on the left)
When: 9:30 pm until breakfast
Why: To celebrate the force of life that cannot be stopped
What to bring: If you'd like, food and drink to share, sleeping bag, musical instruments, kids, dogs, friends, and whatever the force of life that cannot be stopped compels you to.
The Uprising is our first collaborative liturgy party. We've joined forces with Tucson's Aldea Spiritual Community, an artist from the Icon Collective in Belfast, and Church of the Apostles in Oro Valley.
Uprising starts with the ancient liturgy of the Easter Vigil and dances on from there.
At 10 pm we'll kindle the fire and continue all night until Eucharist at sunrise and then breakfast. Fred Bevins is mixing the music. There's a tent set up for artmaking. Plenty of food and drink. Chances for spontaneous communal music making. Because it's pretty isolated in the desert, we can play drums and strum all night under the fullish moon. Low temp tonight is expected to be around a lovely 50.
Setting up luminaries last night at the site, I watched the full moon rise from the mountains. As she rose and lit up the Catalinas with a soft glow she spread her blessing onto us and the ground we will walk tonight.
Uprising:
Where: In the desert scrub around Church of the Apostles: 12111 North LaCholla, (just north of the light at Tangerine, the entrance is on the left)
When: 9:30 pm until breakfast
Why: To celebrate the force of life that cannot be stopped
What to bring: If you'd like, food and drink to share, sleeping bag, musical instruments, kids, dogs, friends, and whatever the force of life that cannot be stopped compels you to.
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Yes Ma'am I See Your Hand
On Sunday we decided to conclude our tour of churches by visiting one of the five largest churches in the country. Admittedly, lifechurch.tv differs from most mega churches in that it functions more like a denomination with satellites all over the country (although mostly in Oklahoma). So there were only about 800 of the nearly 20,000 members of this church at the one of seven "experiences" (which is what they call worship services) at this particular location.
For me, the experience was fascinating-- something like a cross between a rock concert, a movie, and a trip to the mall. Men in orange vests with glowing wands showed us to a parking space (which was really unnecessary-- the parking lot was half empty). Then we followed the sounds of Van Morrison into the building. Carol got coffee in the foyer so we were a little late getting in, but no worry-- a nice lady with a flashlight was able to show us to a seat where a cup holder was available on the arm of the plush theater-style chair.
There was no order of service, just a brochure detailing upcoming events and a place to fill in the blanks during the teaching, along with some take home notes. The lack of a printed order of service was probably due to the fact that there really was no order of service, just: music, teaching, pray for people to accept Christ.
The music was what you might expect: praise, rock band sort of stuff. The "teaching" was actually pre-recorded and resembled a music video, meaning that the pastor moved from park to city street to comfortable hotel room as he espoused the various benefits of the the Bible. You can watch it and other videos here, or by clicking "watch messages" from the main site
I did my best to participate in the service and take it seriously. Truthfully, I find rock music in church sort of fun. But when the music video sermon began with the man saying that we know that across the many voices and books of the Bible there is "absolute, 100 percent congruity" and I laughed out loud (assuming it was a joke only to realize that it wasn't), I knew there might be some problems. Still, I tried to follow along-- filling in the blanks on my worksheet and paying attention to the arch of the message.
It struck me sort of as an advertisement for Jesus. The initial part of the talk seemed to focus on how we were desperate, broken, etc-- without saying that explicitly. Then, came the convenient solution: the Bible in 5 easy steps. My hypothesis was best confirmed however, by the conclusion of the service.
At the end of the video, the pastor asked us to pray. Basically the prayer was for those of us who had accepted Christ to renew our commitment, and those of us who had not accepted Christ to do so. It seemed a very long prayer to me, and it talked a lot about how wonderful it is to accept Christ, how is the best thing you can do, how it will transform your life, etc. The praying pastor on TV moved seamlessly into a praying pastor in real life, who talked more about how great it is to accept Christ. Then, while our heads were bowed he asked people to raise their hand if they wanted to accept Christ. Much to my surprise and chagrin, he then simply acknowledged them by saying something like: "yes ma'am, I see your hand".
That in case you were wondering, is what life transformation looks like.
Now I have no idea what went on for the three or so people that did raise their hands, but I felt that the community and its leadership did very little to acknowledge whatever that was. They spent all this time talking about how great it was to accept Christ, and here was a chance to show us, here was an actual person actually doing it, and there was nothing but a simple acknowledgment from the stage, followed by a diatribe about how ashamed he was of this community for not having more people saved. The people who had decided to change their lives, who had taken this big step were worth little, because they didn't meet the quota.
I really am a different kind of Christian. I had heard tell of this other faith, this other world-- seen glimpses of it even, but truly, I had no idea.
For me, the experience was fascinating-- something like a cross between a rock concert, a movie, and a trip to the mall. Men in orange vests with glowing wands showed us to a parking space (which was really unnecessary-- the parking lot was half empty). Then we followed the sounds of Van Morrison into the building. Carol got coffee in the foyer so we were a little late getting in, but no worry-- a nice lady with a flashlight was able to show us to a seat where a cup holder was available on the arm of the plush theater-style chair.
There was no order of service, just a brochure detailing upcoming events and a place to fill in the blanks during the teaching, along with some take home notes. The lack of a printed order of service was probably due to the fact that there really was no order of service, just: music, teaching, pray for people to accept Christ.
The music was what you might expect: praise, rock band sort of stuff. The "teaching" was actually pre-recorded and resembled a music video, meaning that the pastor moved from park to city street to comfortable hotel room as he espoused the various benefits of the the Bible. You can watch it and other videos here, or by clicking "watch messages" from the main site
I did my best to participate in the service and take it seriously. Truthfully, I find rock music in church sort of fun. But when the music video sermon began with the man saying that we know that across the many voices and books of the Bible there is "absolute, 100 percent congruity" and I laughed out loud (assuming it was a joke only to realize that it wasn't), I knew there might be some problems. Still, I tried to follow along-- filling in the blanks on my worksheet and paying attention to the arch of the message.
It struck me sort of as an advertisement for Jesus. The initial part of the talk seemed to focus on how we were desperate, broken, etc-- without saying that explicitly. Then, came the convenient solution: the Bible in 5 easy steps. My hypothesis was best confirmed however, by the conclusion of the service.
At the end of the video, the pastor asked us to pray. Basically the prayer was for those of us who had accepted Christ to renew our commitment, and those of us who had not accepted Christ to do so. It seemed a very long prayer to me, and it talked a lot about how wonderful it is to accept Christ, how is the best thing you can do, how it will transform your life, etc. The praying pastor on TV moved seamlessly into a praying pastor in real life, who talked more about how great it is to accept Christ. Then, while our heads were bowed he asked people to raise their hand if they wanted to accept Christ. Much to my surprise and chagrin, he then simply acknowledged them by saying something like: "yes ma'am, I see your hand".
That in case you were wondering, is what life transformation looks like.
Now I have no idea what went on for the three or so people that did raise their hands, but I felt that the community and its leadership did very little to acknowledge whatever that was. They spent all this time talking about how great it was to accept Christ, and here was a chance to show us, here was an actual person actually doing it, and there was nothing but a simple acknowledgment from the stage, followed by a diatribe about how ashamed he was of this community for not having more people saved. The people who had decided to change their lives, who had taken this big step were worth little, because they didn't meet the quota.
I really am a different kind of Christian. I had heard tell of this other faith, this other world-- seen glimpses of it even, but truly, I had no idea.
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