Wednesday, April 1, 2009

April Cohort Gathering

Hello Everyone,

Well we missed our March meeting and that is my fault but I'm back on top of my life (as much as that is possible) and hope we can pick up in April. Also, please invite someone if you think they'd enjoy the conversation.

Recently, Mike C. posted an interesting post on the "Restless Church" website in which many of us are members. I think this will be a great discussion starter for the next couple gatherings. I've included an excerpt below and also a link to the whole post here:
http://www.mendingshift.com/2009/03/25/the-remerging-church/

As usual we're meeting at the following:

Hope to see you there. Please let me know if you're coming since the place we gather is quite small and if we add a few more we might need to move locations down the street to a different Starbucks.

Gathering Specifics:

8 pm - April 13, 2009
Starbucks at Falls Plaza
1218 W Broad St, Falls Church, VA‎ - (703) 534-3111

Orange Line Accessible - West Falls Church Station

Excerpt:

Jeromy Johnson, in a short, beautiful essay, captures precisely what I hope this "restless church" thing is about - or could be about, if it ever really gains momentum. Here's an excerpt:

A remerging of the willing. This is how I believe history will define this time.

A remerging of those who don’t want to put aside their differences for unity’s sake, but want unity to be found in recognizing and embracing the beauty in all of our differences. (Paul’s description of the Body comes to mind for me here).

A remerging of those who realize they don’t need to seek permission from the “top” to unite and walk together in love, but now see that Jesus already gave them permission to unite and then prayed that they would.

A remerging of those who choose reconciliation, healing, and forgiveness over entrenchment, division, fear, and anger.

A remerging of those who choose to toss aside the rules and theologies that divide, and choose to embrace the healing freedom that really does exist in Christ.


Amen, and amen, and amen.

Monday, February 2, 2009

February Cohort Gathering

Hi folks! It's Mike Croghan, filling in for Tom this month with updates - we usually meet on the first Monday of the month, but...well...the first Monday sort of crept up on us. So why don't we meet on the second Monday instead?

8 pm - February 9th, 2009
Starbucks at Falls Plaza
1218 W Broad St, Falls Church, VA‎
(703) 534-3111
Orange Line Accessible - West Falls Church Station

Discussion Topic - Tom suggested "Stories of Prayer" - people sharing times of meaningful prayer and what that looked like. I'll add this spin to it: I, personally, would be particular interested in talking about times of prayer that were helpful in contexts of ministry, discernment, and/or community. But, as always, we will of course talk about whatever we want to. :-)

Hope to see you there!

Thursday, November 20, 2008

December Cohort Gathering

We had a wonderful talk last time about McCain/Obama and the Church. There was some helpful conversation about peace and violence that reflected the thoughtfulness of those present for the gathering. Well this is a "save the date" for our next gathering which will be as follows:

8 pm - December 8, 2008
Starbucks at Falls Plaza
1218 W Broad St, Falls Church, VA‎ - (703) 534-3111
Orange Line Accessible - West Falls Church Station

Discussion Topic - The Great Emergence: "Hearing Stories From Those That Attended"

If you're going and willing to share thoughts from the two day event can you email me so that I know we have a "storyteller?" If we don't have any storytellers we'll be discussing the changes at Emergent Village and our local cohorts response to them. Listen to the new emergent village podcast or check out the emergent village website for more info.

Let me know if you're coming! It is nice to know how many seats to pull together.

Friday, October 31, 2008

Cohort Meeting (New Location)

So we're hoping that we can get a good showing this coming Monday night for a conversation. Our friend Mike C. has proposed a couple conversations and I think one of them is perfect for this coming Monday.

"The Emerging Church in [McCain/Obama]-led America"

We are changing locations to hopefully draw a few more people. We will be meeting at:

Starbucks at Falls Plaza
1218 W Broad St, Falls Church, VA‎ - (703) 534-3111
8 pm, Monday, November 3, 2008

Orange Line Accessible - West Falls Church Station

Monday, September 22, 2008

Cohort Gathering and More

Hey Everyone,

Here are some upcoming gatherings that you all may be interested in. Hope to see you there.

Tom
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Northern Virginia Cohort Gathering
October 7, 2008; 8 pm
Glory Days Grill
3059 Nutley Street
Fairfax, VA 22031
Phone (703) 204-0900
http://www.glorydaysgrill.com/locations/fairfax/index.htm
Vienna Metro Accessible
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MBC Coffee House with Tracey Howe
Social Justice and Spirituality
Saturday, Oct. 4, 2008; 7 pm (Free)
3455 N Glebe Rd Arlington VA 22207
http://www.restorationproject.com
Sponsors:
Memorial Baptist Church
Convergence
John Leland Seminary