eBay Atheist coming to up/rooted June 18

Many of you will have already heard of Hemant Mehta, the eBay Atheist. Last year Hemant offered to "sell his soul on eBay" (really just go to church for the highest bidder), and our friend Jim Henderson from Off the Map took up on the offer. So last year Hemant visited ten churches around the Chicago area (including my own) and blogged about his experiences. He was kind of a "mystery shopper" for churches. Since then Hemant has been busy doing national media interviews about his experiences, maintaining his Friendly Atheist website, and writing a book about his impressions of Christian churches and how well they do at reaching people like him (appropriately titled, I Sold My Soul on eBay).

And now you have a chance to meet with Hemant in person to discuss his book and his experiences. up/rooted.west will be hosting a discussion with Hemant at the Socall home at 26w325 Torrey Pines Ct in Winfield on Monday, June 18 at 7pm. This is your chance to hear an atheist's first hand impressions of our best efforts to reach "seekers" like him. BTW, while not at all necessary, I'd definitely recommend picking up a copy of Hemant's book and reading it before the discussion. It's well worth the read.

Hope to see you there!

Technorati Tags: eBay Atheist, Hemant Mehta, atheist, up/rooted

Jubilee Grassroots Conference

2007 Grassroots Conference

Jubilee USA will hold its Second Annual Grassroots Conference and skills training on June 15 to 17 in Chicago, Illinois on the beautiful Loyola University Watertower Campus.

Democracy Now!’s Amy Goodman will be among the featured guests. The conference will include speakers from the Global South, skill-building sessions for grassroots economic justice activists (advocacy, media work, engaging congregations, etc.), and workshops that will deepen participants' understanding of debt and economic justice issues. And of course there will also be down time for networking and having fun with global economic justice activists from around the United States.

The cost of the conference is $35 before June 1 and $50 after June 1.

My wife Julie will be attending the conference and commuting in from Yorkville by Metra each day. If you are from out of town and would like to stay at our place and commute in with Julie, just email her at JulieClawson(at)gmail(dot)com.

For More Information Click Here.

To Register Online Click Here.

The Pulse Artist Gathering in Chicago

Larry Kamphausen from Reconcilers sent this invitation:

The Pulse Artist Gathering in Chicago

A city-wide gathering of Christians who are involved with the arts.
With Brennan Manning and Phil Keaggy.

Monday, May 21st, 7-10pm
at the Chopin Theatre
1543 W Division (1 block west of 94)
in Wicker Park
only $10

thepulsechicago@gmail.com

Hang-out, Network, Collaborate and Be Inspired!

up/rooted concert with the Psalters

You're invited to our next up/rooted.west gathering this coming Monday, May 14th at 7pm, the Socall house (26W325 Torrey Pines Ct. Winfield, IL 60190). We are again pleased to host the Psalters for a concert on their new tour with two new members joining the group.

You can find their music at http://www.psalters.com and http://www.myspace.com/psalters.

About the Psalters:
As followers of El Elyon, the Suffering Servant, we seek not to make music for music’s sake, but for God’s sake; hrough His Grace, for His Glory. We wanna be like the temple musicians who first performed the psalms over three thousand years ago. Occasionally scholars refer to these temple musicians as ‘psalters’. They were people intending to glorify God through music. They did not perform for the sake of entertainment, utility, or artistic expression. These functions, though important, were subordinate to the primary vocation of making prayers to the God of the Exodus. Prayers of lamentation over the various enslavements of this world; and prayers of praise to the God who liberates and will continue to liberate us out of our enslavement. The artistically entertaining social functions, which are usually the main goals of musicians, were merely welcome by-products of the psalter’s music. Their music was prayer and song united into one word: tehillah (translated as psalm)

We pray to be psalters rather than musicians.

Join us as we make music and dance for His Glory.

This will be our monthly up/rooted.west gathering for May. I hope you'll also join us on June 18 for a book discussion of I Sold My Soul on eBay with special guest Hemant Mehta, the author of the book and original eBay atheist! Location TBD. (BTW, I'd definitely recommend picking up a copy of the book and reading it before the discussion, but feel free to come even if you don't.)

See you soon!

Mike Clawson
up/rooted co-coordinator


P.S. Don't forget to register for the Midwest Emergent Gathering. You only have a few weeks left to get in at the reduced rate.