Doug Pagitt returns to up/rooted!

Doug Pagitt, pastor of Solomon's Porch and author of Church Re-Imagined, will be visiting us again at up/rooted on Tuesday, February 27th. up/rooted.north will be hosting him this time at Life on the Vine in Long Grove at 7pm.

You may remember that Doug was with us this past September at our up/rooted.west location in Winfield. We had a great conversation and we look forward to chatting with him further. I hope you can all make it.

BTW, due to a scheduling conflict Brian McLaren will unfortunately not be visiting up/rooted in March. However, he will be speaking at the Brady Lectures at Northern Seminary on March 28. Cost for the lectures is $60. Click here for details.

up/rooted.south

We had a great time at the inaugural meeting of up/rooted.south last night. Eight of us gathered for good pizza and good conversation in downtown Mokena. Pictured below are the guys that were there. Two other young ladies from Trinity Christian College had to leave before we got around to taking pictures.



I'm excited to see how this new up/rooted branch will develop. John Morlan, the coordinator should be posting a summary of the night soon, and letting you all know when the next .south gathering will be.

Kendall Environmental Coalition

My church, Via Christus, has recently gotten involved with a local Environmental Coalition in Kendall County. This really fits with our desire to be missionally involved in our community, and especially related to issues of social justice like caring for God's creation. We've taken an active role and we're helping to plan several events coming up over the next two months. In particular, our church is the spearhead for the Faith & Our Environment Forum on March 5. It's a follow up to the Faith & Immigration Forum we did back in October. We hope to do a number of similar "Faith & Politics" discussions over the next few years together in partnership with other area churches.

Below are all the Coalition events going on in the next few months. If any of this sounds interesting and Yorkville isn't too far to drive, you should come on out!

February 18, 2007
An Inconvenient Truth

Watch the movie that has sparked an important discussion about Global Warming and the future of humankind. Time: 6:30 p.m. Yorkville Congregational Church 409 Center Parkway Yorkville, IL 60560 Contact: 553.5073 / 553.5188

March 5, 2007
Faith & Our Environment

Local pastors, scientists & activists share a discussion about caring for God's creation. 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. Yorkville Congregational Church 409 Center PKWY Yorkville, IL 60560 Contact: Mike Clawson 630.742.4062

March 24, 2007
Environmental Fair

- Building awareness of local recycling programs - Teaching energy efficiency - Exploring new technology - Local recycling programs and you - Cars and fuel for the future - Children and families: tour the nature museum - Electronics recycling drop-off 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 noon Old Kendall Courthouse 110 W. Madison St. Yorkville, IL 60560 Contact: Danielle 630.553.4111

Technorati Tags: Kendall Environmental Coalition, faith and environment, Inconvenient Truth

A few new blogs

I've come across a few cool new blogs lately. The first (thanks to Tripp Hudgins for the link) is presbymergent, a blog for those involved in the Presbyterian Church (USA) and the Emergent conversation.

The second is Theolog, the official blog of The Christian Century magazine. Thanks to Jason Byassee, an editor at The Christian Century, for the heads up on that one.

up/rooted.west update

Hey up/rooted friends!

Last week up/rooted.west gathered in Winfield to watch the 30 Days episode "Muslims & America" and discuss the issues with the help of Pastor Fred Nelson from Redeemer Lutheran. The show was provocative, and the conversation was wide-ranging. Fred pointed out that there are big difference between Muslims living in Western countries and Muslims in Islamic countries. We discussed some of the differences of belief between Christians & Muslims, including the big question of whether or not we worship the same God (interestingly, we learned that Muslims don't believe we can know God's character at all, only his will as expressed in the Koran - so it's difficult so say whether Allah and Yahweh share similar characteristics ). From there the conversation ranged into how to reach out to Muslims and whether a Muslim-Christian convert could continue to pray at the mosque while directing their prayers to Jesus instead. While we didn't settle on any definite answers to these questions, I think we all learned something new.

We have a lot of exciting up/rooted gatherings coming up. Don't forget about the innaugural meetings this week of up/rooted.north (Wednesday, Jan 31, 7pm at Life on the Vine in Long Grove) and up/rooted.south (Thursday, February 1, 6:30pm at Aurelios in Mokena).

We'll also be having a special joint gathering in February with Doug Pagitt (pastor of Solomon's Porch, founder of Emergent Village, and author of Church Re-Imagined), who was with us back in September as well. This time we'll host him in the north suburbs at Life on the Vine on Tuesday, February 27, at 7pm.

Also, towards the end of March up/rooted.west will likely be hosting another gathering with Brian McLaren out at Northern Seminary. We're still finalizing the details on that, so stay tuned.

And we've been talking with a representative with Bread for the World and the ONE Campaign about speaking with us sometime in the next few months as well. She'll be able to share with us more about the Millennium Development Goals and give us practical action steps that we can take if we're concerned about those kinds of justice issues. We're still working on finalizing the dates and location for that event as well.

Oh, and ladies, don't forget to register for the Emerging Women Midwest Gathering coming up March 16-18 out at the Stronghold Conference Center in Oregon, IL (only about 2 hours west of Chicago). This will be a great experience that you won't want to miss.

So yeah, it's going to be a great couple of months. Hope you all can make it out for at least a few of these events. See you there!

Blessings,


-Mike Clawson
up/rooted co-coordinator

up/rooted.south - Inaugural Meeting!

A discussion of the Church in the south suburbs

Thursday, February 1, 2007
6:30pm
Aurelios Pizza
19836 Wolf Rd
Mokena, IL

4 years ago, a discussion began in the northwest suburbs of Chicago about the Church and how we should interact with the culture and world around us. Since that time, up/rooted has spawned another group in the west suburbs and is now spreading to the south/southwest suburbs. We are open to anyone, regardless of church affiliation or theological views. Our first gathering will be at 6:30pm at the Aurelios in downtown Mokena.

Contact Matt Cavanaugh (mattthetroll@hotmail.com) with any questions. Also, please RSVP if you can so we can make sure Aurelios has enough room for everyone to sit comfortably.

Need Help with Brian McLaren Conference

Thanks to all of you who sent me suggestions for our Emergent Midwest Gathering this coming summer. Now I need help planning another conference. Brian McLaren contacted me to see if we might be able to find a venue for his "Everything Must Change" conference that will be coming to Chicago sometime between January-May of 2008. The conference would be a Friday evening to Saturday afternoon (so not very long), and they need an auditorium that will hold 500-1000 people. They will also need additional break-out rooms and food service for a meal or two. Brian is asking that the host institution sponsor the event, which means they would offer their facility and help for free. Also, needless to say, whoever hosts will need to be okay with being associated with Brian McLaren (keeping in mind that they could potentially take a lot of flak for doing so).

Do any of you have ideas or suggestions for a venue that can accomodate that many people? Any schools or churches large enough that wouldn't mind associating with Brian? What about you folks from Christ Church of Oakbrook? I think you have the space, right? Is this something your leadership would welcome? Anyone from Willow know whether they'd be willing to host someone like Brian? How about those of you from various academic institutions? I know Northern isn't large enough. What about Judson? Or Garrett? Or North Park? (I'm assuming that Wheaton and Trinity aren't Emergent-friendly enough to foot the bill for something like this... but I could be wrong.)

Are any others of you from large churches that might be open to this?

Help me brainstorm and let me know if you have any options I can look into.

Thanks,

Mike Clawson
up/rooted co-coordinator

Ray Aldred comes to up/rooted

up/rooted.north starts up again!

Up/rooted is branching out to an old location in the Northwest suburbs. (If you remember back that far, cause I sure don’t.) We will be having quarterly meetings with emerging-style theologians, and monthly regular gatherings in-between. Expect reflective, theological conversations engaging our post-Christian culture.

I’d like to extend a special invitation to all of you in the northern parts of Chicagoland who find the drive down to up/rooted.west daunting, but everyone is welcome and encouraged to come.

Our first gathering will be on Wednesday, January 31^st at 7pm at Life on the Vine Church in Long Grove. We will be joined by Ray Aldred, speaking on Christ and Culture, and what the Native American Theologies teach us about community, justice and living for peace in the world. Ray is the founder of My People International, a cross-cultural ministry to Native North-Americans. If you’d like to get a handle on Ray’s thought, check out the transcript of his keynote speech at the Urbana ’03 Mission Convention. I think you’ll find his stuff thought provoking.

Hope to see you on the north side!

-Jon Berbaum

This past Saturday I had the privilege of being interviewed on a community radio program in the Nashville area called "Brightly Speaking". "Bright" is a new euphemism that some atheists are trying to appropriate for themselves, and "Brightly Speaking" is a radio talk-show done by an atheist friend, Wendell, that I met this past year through the Off the Map message boards.

You can read more about my experience here, or download the podcast of the interview by clicking here.

Technorati Tags: atheism, Brights, Brightly Speaking

Emerging Women Midwest Gathering

Emerging Women Midwest Gathering
Beyond the Castle Walls—Re-Imagining the Kingdom
March 16-18, 2007
Stronghold Conference Center
Oregon, IL



Emerging Women are gathering again this March in a castle retreat center outside of Chicago to “Re-imagine the Kingdom.” This gathering is open to women of all ages and cultures, ministers and lay-persons, from all denominations, and at all points on their journeys of faith. You are invited to a weekend of reflection and worship, theology and praxis, teaching and learning, and (of course) friendship, food, and fun.

We will explore the stories of women who re-imagined the kingdom by challenging the dominant assumptions of their cultures in order to serve God. We will re-imagine our worship as we explore our spiritual voices and how we connect with God. We will examine how the church is being re-imagined in our emerging, postmodern world. Our time there together will refresh us and give us a vision (a new imagining) for our spiritual lives as we serve in God’s Kingdom.

We invite you to add your voice to the conversation. We expect to learn from and encourage each other – through our stories, our knowledge, our questions, and our passions. This is a gathering of community and its outcomes will rest on what the community has brought to it.

The Emerging Women Midwest Gathering will be held March 16-18 (Friday evening til noon Sunday) at the Stronghold Conference Center in Oregon, IL. Oregon is in NW Illinois, about two hours from Chicago. Limited airport runs from the Chicago area airports (Rockford, O’Hare, and Midway) will be provided. We will be staying in dormitory-style housing in a modern-day castle. The cost for the gathering is $140, which includes the registration costs, 2 nights lodging, 4 meals, and snacks. There are a very limited number of private rooms and family accommodations available (at extra cost), so please contact us as soon as possible if you require either. Some scholarships and student rates are also available.

To register click here.

Get the word out, tell your friends, help us let others know about this gathering. If you would like to be sent a file of the event brochure to print out for your church, cohort, school, or friends please let us know.

We hope to see you at the Castle!

For more information contact –
Julie Clawson –
630.742.7443
emergingwomen@gmail.com

Sarah Notton
sarahnotton@hotmail.com

next up/rooted: Becoming Conversant w/Islam

Hope you had a happy Christmas!

I wanted to let you know that our next up/rooted gathering will be Monday, January 22 from 7-9pm at Kristine Socall's home (26w325 Torrey Pines Ct, Winfield, IL 60190) to learn about and discuss Muslim and Christian relations. We will begin by watching the "Muslims and America" episode of Morgan Spurlock's (creator of Super Size Me) TV series, 30 Days, and then discuss the issues raised by the episode with the help of Pastor Fred Nelson from Redeemer Church, who spent 15 years lecturing at churches on this very topic of Islam and Christianity.

If you want to know more about Islam, and would like to talk openly with other missional, emerging Christians about we should think about the current tension between the Muslim world and the vestiges of Western Christendom, you won't want to miss this stimulating event. Hope you can make it!

Peace,

Mike Clawson
up/rooted co-coordinator

Bob Francis on God's Politics blog (again)

Our friend, Bob Francis, has had another chance to post an entry at Jim Wallis' "God's Politics" blog entitled "Religious Correctness on Campus" responding to Mark C. Taylor's New York Times op-ed, "The Devoted Student". Check it out!

Technorati Tags: Bob Francis, God's Politics

Another "Mary" review

My wife, Julie, has posted her own reflections of our discussion the other night about the "real Mary". Her thoughts focus mainly on how Mary is depicted in art.

A Call for Links

I'd like to update and expand our links section here at this blog. If you are connected to up/rooted in some way (i.e. you've joined us at an up/rooted gathering sometime in the past four years, or you're a regular reader and identify with the emerging church here in Chicagoland, even if you haven't made it out recently) and would like me to post a link to your blog, church, organization, etc., please let me know, either in an email to mike(dot)clawson(at)gmail(dot)com, or in the comments of this post (don't forget to include the URL of the site you want linked to).

Regarding churches, please let me know if you want it listed as an "emerging church" or just as an "other chicagoland church" (a new category I'll be adding). I'll trust your own judgment as to whether it is truly an emerging church, but if you're uncertain, a good rule of thumb might be to consider whether or not the leadership of the church would consider it a compliment to be called an emerging church. We don't want to cause any trouble by inadvertently identifying a church with a movement that they don't really support. :)

I'm hoping by including more links to what you all are involved in we will be able to expand our network of connections here in Chicagoland and provide more resources for each other to benefit from.

Thanks!

-Mike

(Finally!) my own up/rooted update

We had an excellent time this past Monday with Scot McKnight and about 25 others out at Redeemer Lutheran Church in Park Ridge. The first half-hour we spent mingling and connecting with all the new faces. Having up/rooted on a totally different side of the city brings a lot of new people out of the woodwork. Among many others, I was especially excited to connect with John Armstrong from Act 3, Nanette Sawyer from Wicker Park Grace, and Helen Mildenhall from Conversation at the Edge. I also enjoyed meeting Michelle Van Loon, an author and playwright who actually named one of her books after up/rooted!

Pastor Fred was making some excellent coffee on his church's espresso machines, and there was a full spread of Christmas cookies and other snacks provided. After we filled up our plates we migrated from the lobby to the back of the sanctuary which was set up with round coffee-shop style tables. As we were there to discuss Scot's new book, The Real Mary, we began with some opening thoughts from Scot about the book and why he wrote it. He says he consistently gets the question of why a Protestant would want to write a book about Mary. He responded by asking why evangelicals are so afraid of Mary.

Much of his comments and the subsequent Q&A revolved around the Magnificat, Mary's song recorded in Luke 1:46-55. He suggests that, in contrast to the passionless, pensive, pious, passive, ponderous... Mary that we see in Christian art and popular conception, the Magnificat actually paints for us a picture of Mary as a woman with fire in her eyes. She was a woman who longed for justice and liberation for her people, and agitated for the overthrow of the established political and religious order. Her words were revolutionary, and it is likely that she had a huge influence on Jesus and his brothers/cousins (e.g. James, John, etc.)

One of the more interesting points that came out, however, is that Mary had to undergo a transformation in her own faith in her son, and her expectations for what the Messiah was supposed to be and do. She believed that the Messiah would lead a violent overthrow of the Romans and reestablish the political kingdom of David. When Jesus started deviating from this script Mary began to fear that he had lost his mind, and even showed up with his family to "intervene" in his ministry at one point. However, as Scot reminded us, later on we see Mary at the foot of the Cross, and Acts 1 portrays Mary as part of the earliest gathering of believers at the day of Pentecost. Obviously she had to go through her own process of re-discovery in her faith. As an emerging Christian whose own faith has undergone a radical transformation in recent years, I can really identify with and take inspiration from Mary in this regard.

The conversation naturally got a little bit into the controversial aspects of the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox views of Mary. I think the comments were very respectful of differences for the most part, as was Scot's own book in the chapters where he discusses these issues. We also talked about the implications of Mary's example and role in the early church for women in ministry in the evangelical church today. Helen asked the best question of the night when she wondered what would happen to women in evangelical churches who have the same fire in their eyes that Mary did. Though it of course depends on the particular church, sadly the answer often turns out to be that they are squashed, forced out, or otherwise supressed.

We also asked what benefit Mary can have for us as Protestants. What can we learn from her? How can she inspire us? Scot and others gave us some great suggestions. I would open that question up to all of you as well. What has (or could) Mary do for you? Feel free to talk about it here.

BTW, several others have written reviews of the event already as well, including:
Helen Mildenhall
John Armstrong
Scot McKnight

Check them out!

We haven't decided yet on the time, location or theme for our next up/rooted gathering in January, but I'll let you all know as soon as we figure it out.

Happy Christmas!

Mike Clawson
up/rooted co-coodinator

Scot McKnight's review of up/rooted

And now Scot has posted his review of the evening. I'm guess I'm the only slacker left. ;)

Another review of up/rooted

John Armstrong has also blogged about our evening with Scot McKnight at his site. Check it out.

Helen's review of up/rooted with Scot McKnight

Helen Mildenhall from Off the Map's Conversations at the Edge blog has posted a great review of our up/rooted gathering with Scot McKnight this past Monday. You can read it here.

I'll be posting my own update on the event soon. Stay tuned.

Directions to Redeemer Church

I'm sure you all remember that we're meeting this Monday (December 11th) from 7-9pm at Redeemer Church in Park Ridge to talk with Scot McKnight about his book, The Real Mary. Before you come, I need to give you some important instructions on how to get to the church.

On your way to Redeemer Church, do your best to avoid the O’Hare toll plaza on I-90 East. It’s currently undergoing pretty extensive construction, and is a mess. Depending on how you're coming, Mapquest will tell you to get on I-90 East to the North Cumberland exit. DO NOT do this. It will take you at least 30 minutes to an hour just to get through the toll plaza.

Instead, if you’re heading north on I-294, take the exit to River Road. When you come off the ramp, take a left (north). Head north on River Road until you come to Devon Ave. Take a right (east), and follow Devon until you come to Cumberland Avenue. Make a left onto Cumberland (you’ll now be heading north). Go one block until you come to a Shell Station at Talcott Ave. Continue north on Cumberland, crossing Talcott Ave. Go about 7 or 8 houses, and make the first left onto Gillick Street. The street signs in Park Ridge are lousy, so pay attention! Go one block until you come to Clifton Ave. You’ll see the church. Just park on the street.

If you’re coming south on I-294, you may want to exit on Golf Road, head east on Golf, and then head south when you get to Greenwood Avenue (a Best Buy will be on your right). Follow Greenwood into Park Ridge, crossing Touhy Ave. Continue south on Greenwood until you come to Gillick and make a left (east). Go 1 1/2 blocks until you come to the church. Again, just park on the street.
Hope to see you then!

Scot McKnight interview on CBS 2 Chicago

Hey all, you can see an excellent 15-minute interview with Scot McKnight on Antonio Mora's Eye On Chicago program from CBS 2 Chicago by clicking here. The discuss both McKnight's new Mary book as well as the emerging church. Check it out!