Shayne Moore in Vanity Fair

Co-Founder of up/rooted.west, Shayne Moore, is mentioned in this month's issue of Vanity Fair. This is their special Africa issue, co-edited by Bono, and a short article features the ONE Campaign, which Shayne has been very active with in recent years. Besides the mention in print, Shayne also appears in the magazine in this picture with Senator Bill Frist, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Ashley Judd, Pastor Rick Warren, Matt Damon, Ugandan mother Agnes Nyamayarwo and N.A.A.C.P. chairman Julian Bond. (Shayne is the one standing directly behind Matt Damon.) The One Campaign was highlighted for their hard work narrowing the gap between Africa's have-nots and America's haves. Way to go Shayne and keep up the good work!

up/rooted.west recap w/Hemant Mehta

up/rooted.west met last night with Hemant Mehta, the eBay Atheist. We had a great time chatting with Hemant and hearing his story. I think it gave a lot of the Christians there more insight into what it's like to be an atheist, and really encouraged me with the fact that atheists and Christians can have friendly conversations.

Helen Mildenhall, manager of the Off the Map blogs and an "almost atheist" herself also drove out from Oak Park to be with us. She has an excellent summary of the evening at her blog so rather than restating everything she said, I'll just encourage you to go read her reflections.

BTW, up/rooted won't be meeting separately next month since we are hosting the Midwest Emergent Gathering. It's not too late to sign up to attend (only $60), and we especially need volunteers to help with some of the behind-the-scenes work. Volunteers get to attend the rest of the conference for free, so if you'd like to help, please email me at emergentmidwest(at)gmail(dot)com.

Up/rooted.north recap with Pernell

A big thanks to Pernell and Matt from The Freeway for joining us at up/rooted.north last night, and the 20ish people who came out. Pernell talked a bit about third places in general (recommending Ray Oldenburg’s The Great Good Place): there must be no pressure to consume, there must be new people constantly, and there must be a consistent group of regular people. I confess, I kept thinking of Cheers through this whole section. Where everyone knows your name...

But the evening wasn’t as much about third places in general as it was about how the intentional third place of The Freeway is central to its life as a missional community. Seriously, if you want to know what being a missional church is all about, spend two hours with Pernell. The Freeway, in Pernell’s words, purchased a bank building on the busiest corner of Hamilton, Ontario that wasn’t for sale with no money. They turned it into a 5-days-a-week coffeehouse with volunteer baristas, regular showcases of local musicians and artists, and a growing involvement in their neighborhood. It is a place with no pressure to consume, created intentionally to be a third place in their community, where people can come and develop relationships. Community groups hold meetings there, people come in for coffee and wi-fi, the homeless come in for shelter from the cold and heat (and often are offered food and drink and to spend the night as well). The list goes on and on of the missional ways they are using this place.

Pernell said more than I can hope to summarize here, and I was just blown away at how the mission of Jesus to his people (or as Mark Van Steenwyk would say, the Jesus Manifesto) is driving all these creative ways The Freeway is responding to and serving their neighborhood.

Pernell stressed that a third place is not an add-on program, not a new fad for the church. It is central to the shape of The Freeway, and it can’t really be done any other way. But I can't help but think that those of us in churches not shaped around a third place can still learn from The Freeway. So for those of us in missional churches with traditional buildings (or no building of our own), what can we apply from the experience of The Freeway to our own local bodies? Can our homes or our local coffeeshops become third places of community on a smaller scale? What are creative ways to intentionally engage people in third places without buying and running your own coffeeshop?

Up/rooted.north gathers Thursday, June 14th with Pernell Goodyear.

Hey up/rooted-ers! Pernell Goodyear is coming to Chicago in the middle of June, and is spending an evening with up/rooted.north discussing third spaces. Third spaces you say? Eh? No way!

A third place is not a home, and not a business, but an informal gathering place that fosters friendships, discussions, and networking. Third places are incredibly important for churches who don’t want their front doors on a Sunday morning to be their only gateway in their communities. If our churches are to be missional and incarnational, third spaces are crucial ideas to understand and bring to life (or participate in) in our neighborhoods.

Pernell planted a church called The Freeway in Hamilton, Ontario, that has developed a coffeeshop as a third space, and will be speaking on what makes a good third space for community witness. We can also engage him on broader church planting issues/struggles. There is a fantastic write-up and podcast of an interview of Pernell by Allelon here.

I’d encourage you to read Pernell’s page on third spaces, and come on June 14^th to engage in the theory and practice of third spaces for our churches in the suburbs, where third spaces, like all forms of hospitality, face unique challenges. Don’t miss this critical conversation about being incarnate in the places where we live.

June 14^th, 7pm, at Life on the Vine Church. See you there!

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.

Bob Webber: Into your hands we commend his spirit

Bob Webber passed away late last week. I know many of you, like me, knew him personally, and many more knew him through his writings and tireless efforts for the church. He'll be truly missed. Dave Fitch has written a fitting post on his blog if you'd like a little more information and reflection.

Peace of Christ,
Jon Berbaum
-coordinator, up/rooted.north

Washington D.C. Events this Summer

If you're passionate about poverty and social justice issues and want to visit our nation's capital this summer, then the following events are for you:



The first is Sojourners/Call to Renewal's Pentecost 2007. For more than ten years they have been convening a major conference of church leaders, service providers, anti-poverty advocates and "emerging leaders" from across the country to mobilize the church in the fight against poverty. This year Pentecost 2007: Taking Vision to the Streets will be held from June 3 – 6 at National City Christian Church in Washington D.C.

There will be a presidential candidates forum with Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton & John Edwards at the event (candidates are not doing bi-partisan events yet, so a forum with the Republican candidates will be later in the year). This year they've also added an emerging leaders track with special guest Shane Claiborne.



Then, the following week (June 9-12), also in Washington D.C., Bread for the World will be hosting their annual Gathering: Sowing Seeds - Growing a Movement. From their site:

Activists with decades of experience will join with young people just beginning their public life and political involvement. Rural leaders—newly energized with a heart to help hungry people—will meet longtime urban anti-poverty workers. Parents will bring their children to show them that anyone has the chance—and the responsibility—to speak to their representatives in Congress.

Campaign leaders from developing countries will meet with development practitioners, to share stories and successes in fighting poverty worldwide. People will reach out across the religious spectrum—evangelical and Catholic, ecumenical Protestant and historic African American denominations, Latino Christians and other people of faith—and join hands with other people of faith at the Interfaith Convocation.

Everyone has a story to offer. Visionaries, theologians, academics, church social action directors, and leaders from student, grassroots and national movements are coming together to build and to strengthen relationships, and to learn from one another.

ONE Campaign & up/rooted - update

Annie Gill-Bloyer's presentation this past Monday at up/rooted was informative and challenging. As we talked about the reality of extreme poverty and what we can do about it, I was personally struck by the simplicity of the solutions. For a relatively tiny fraction of our federal budget we can save the lives of millions. Over 1 billion people live on less than $1 per day, and thousands die every day from the effects of poverty, hunger and disease. And these things are entirely preventable!

One of the key points that we discussed the other night was that the solutions to extreme poverty have to include both governmental and faith-based involvement. We all expressed our desire to see the church lead the way with giving and service and compassion for the poor. However, Annie also made the point that governments are too powerful of a tool to leave out of the equation - not to mention the fact that when it comes to things like debt relief and trade justice, there are certain structural/systemic things that have to be changed on the national and international level beyond what individuals and churches are able to do. As we learned, the Millenium Development Goals, which are the United Nations' blueprint for eliminating extreme poverty by 2015, include both issues of charity and justice - i.e. addressing both structural injustices and material needs. The eight Goals are:

Goal 1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger

Target 1: Reduce by half the proportion of people living on less than a dollar a day

Target 2: Reduce by half the proportion of people who suffer from hunger

Goal 2. Achieve universal primary education

Target 3: Ensure that all boys and girls complete a full course of primary schooling

Goal 3. Promote gender equality and empower women

Target 4: Eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education preferably by 2005, and at all levels by 2015

Goal 4. Reduce child mortality

Target 5: Reduce by two thirds the mortality rate among children under five

Goal 5. Improve maternal health

Target 6: Reduce by three quarters the maternal mortality ratio

Goal 6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases

Target 7: Halt and begin to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS

Target 8: Halt and begin to reverse the incidence of malaria and other major diseases

Goal 7. Ensure environmental sustainability

Target 9: Integrate the principles of sustainable development into country policies and programmes; reverse loss of environmental resources

Target 10: Reduce by half the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water

Target 11: Achieve significant improvement in lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers, by 2020

Goal 8. Develop a global partnership for development

Target 12. Develop further an open, rule-based, predictable, non-discriminatory trading and financial system Includes a commitment to good governance, development, and poverty reduction — both nationally and internationally Target 13. Address the special needs of the least developed countries Includes: tariff and quota free access for least developed countries’ exports; enhanced programme of debt relief for HIPCs and cancellation of official bilateral debt; and more generous ODA for countries committed to poverty reduction Target 14. Address the special needs of landlocked countries and small island developing States Target 15. Deal comprehensively with the debt problems of developing countries through national and international measures in order to make debt sustainable in the long term. Target 16: In cooperation with developing countries, develop and implement strategies for decent and productive work for youth. Target 17: In cooperation with pharmaceutical companies, provide access to affordable essential drugs in developing countries Target 18: In cooperation with the private sector, make available the benefits of new technologies, especially information and communications

To achieve these goals, every member of the United Nations (including the United States) pledged a certain portion of their national budget towards these projects. The ONE Campaign's purpose is simply to hold the United States accountable for actually doing what we said we would do, which is to devote an additional 1% of our federal budget towards these goals. (Right now less than 1/2 of one percent is given towards global poverty reduction.)

The good news is that even if you weren't at up/rooted this past Monday, you can still get involved simply by going to ONE.org and signing the petition to our government, as well as making your own personal contributions towards the goal of ending extreme poverty in our lifetimes. You can also obtain resources to inform others at your church or school about these issues at Bread for the World.

FYI

The Community Church of Wilmette
Invites You to Hear

Dr. Ghada Talhami
D.K. Pearsons Professor of Politics
Lake Forest College

“ Islamic Societies Here and Abroad:
The Challenges of Assimilation”

Please join us for an opportunity to gain a greater understanding of the ancient religion of Islam and a greater appreciation for the challenges faced by the American Muslim community in coping with the pressures of a secular and multi-ethnic society and outside calls for reform. Learn what life is really like for most Muslims, particularly women, in a world dominated by religious laws and strict traditions. Grow in your awareness of the common goals we must seek together to achieve a world where all views are tolerated and respected.

Wednesday, May 16^th
7:00PM

Community Church of Wilmette
1020 Forest Avenue
Wilmette, Illinois
(847) 251-4370
www.communitychurchofwilmette.org

Midwest Emergent Gathering

Finally, an emerging church conference is coming right here to Chicago! This summer up/rooted (with the help of several other Midwestern Emergent cohorts) will be hosting the first-ever Midwest Emergent Gathering. Here's what we said about it on the website:

A church of 10,000 people that meets in a mall...
A small urban community that meets in an art gallery...
An African-American church on the south-side of Chicago...
Web communities that connect tens of thousands of people...

What do all of these have in common? They are all emerging faith communities discovering what it means to be missional in their own unique context. AND they will all be represented at the first annual Midwest Emergent Gathering, July 20-21 in the suburbs of Chicago, IL. Come learn from Tony Jones (Emergent Village), Denise Van Eck (Mars Hill Bible Church), Spencer Burke (theOoze.com), Nanette Sawyer (Wicker Park Grace), Doug Pagitt (Solomon's Porch), and Alise Barrymore & James King (The Emmaus Community) and many other missional practitioners from a wide diversity of backgrounds as we learn together about "Creating Missional Communities".

Contribute to the conversation as we discuss, network, and learn in community together via fast-paced mainstage sessions, interactive workshops, and unstructured times for dialogue with old or new friends. Whether mainline or evangelical, emerging or traditional, high church or de-churched, you will find inspiration and ideas to help you and your faith community become more effective agents for the mission of God in this hurting world.

I hope all of you with up/rooted will consider attending. Cost is only $40 before June 1st and $60 after that.

Also, if any of you would like to be involved with helping us make this conference happen, please let me know, as we'll need plenty of volunteers during the event and before.

And please help us spread the word. Email other pastors and friends who might be interested, tell people at your church, and post an announcement and banner ad at your own blog/website. (You can get the code for our banner ads by clicking here.) We also have a poster/flyer available if you'd like to put it up at your church or school. Just let me know and I'll email you a .pdf to print.

Click Here to Register for the Midwest Emergent Gathering!

Technorati Tags: Midwest Emergent Gathering, emerging church, Emergent, Tony Jones, Doug Pagitt, Nanette Sawyer, Denise VanEck, Alise Barrymore, James King, Spencer Burke, Emergent Village, Solomon's Porch, Wicker Park Grace, theOoze, The Emmaus Community, Mars Hill Bible Church

Don't miss the ONE Campaign & Bread for the World!

Our upcoming up/rooted gathering on Monday, April 23rd is a really big deal. So big, in fact, that we've decided to offer it as a collective gathering of all the up/rooted branches. Not north, west, or south - just up/rooted. That's how big this is.

What's so big about it? I'm glad you asked. We've invited Annie Gill-Bloyer from Bread for the World and the ONE Campaign to join us and speak to us about how we can all be involved in the fight against global AIDS and extreme poverty. Over a billion people still live on less than a dollar a day, and millions are dying of the AIDS pandemic every year. These are issues that we can't afford to ignore as people who claim to follow the risen Christ. And you can't afford to miss this presentation if you want to learn more about the issues and more specifically about how to get involved.

In an effort to make this gathering as accessible to as many as possible, we've gotten permission to meet at Northern Seminary on Butterfield Rd. in Lombard, conveniently located off of I-88 & I-355. The presentation will be in the chapel at Kern Hall at 7pm.

Even if you rarely make it out to up/rooted gatherings, I hope you make it to this one. See you there!

Mark Van Steenwyk at up/rooted.north

Don’t miss a chance to be with Mark at Life on the Vine, Friday, April 20^th at 7pm. Mark is a part of Missio Dei, a missional, neo-monastic community on the West Bank of the Twin Cities in Minnesota. You can read about Missio Dei, their rule of faith, and their gatherings here. To quote them, “Missio Dei is committed to following Jesus' way of peace, simplicity, prayer, and radical hospitality.”

(this man must be taken seriously!!!)

Mark is also a consistent blogger at jesusmanifesto.com. I encourage you to check out a bit what he has to say.

Mark will be speaking on the Jesus Manifesto (and Manifesting Jesus), concerning how the church lives a missional, incarnate, and political (in the broader sense) community of Christ. So if you are interested in the life of the church as a missional, incarnational, and political community (is anyone not?), come and join us. Bring your experience, your critical ideas, and your idealistic hopes. It should be a fantastic time together!

Jon Berbaum
-coordinator, up/rooted.north

(Also, don’t forget the joint up/rooted on April 23^rd. It’s a full week for us!)

Re-Enchantment - Art & Religion Discussion

Caleb Spencer, a classmate of mine from Wheaton College and occasional attender of up/rooted, works for the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and passed along to me information about a really interesting event going on next week. He says:

There is an upcoming event at SAIC called Re-Enchantment that is all about the relationship between contemporary art and religious conviction. Some of the people in Uprooted might be interested in checking it out. There are two major events, a talk by the art historian and theorist David Elkins on Monday, April 16 (he wrote a great book called On the Strange Place of Religion in Contemporary Art), and then there is also a roundtable on the 17th from 10:00am-4:00pm with a panel of artists and guests talking about this topic. Anyway, just another possibility for those who are interested.

up/rooted.north recap

A really diverse group gathered Wednesday evening to reflect on Brian McLaren’s lectures. The breadth of viewpoints and backgrounds made for a great conversation. Thanks to everyone who came out.

Dave Fitch spent some time re-presenting a piece of Brian McLaren’s lecture from earlier in the day that dealt with possible responses of the church to globalized capitalism. Dave outlined how historically the church has existed through several shifts in the world: (I wish I had a cool diagram like Mike, but you'll just have to imagine).

1. In Medieval times, the church was the main power in the world, and states functioned within the realm of the church’s existence and power.
2. In Modern times, the nation/state was the main power in the world, and the church functioned within the realm of the state’s power.
3. In Postmodern times, the Theocapitalist Empire (McLaren’s term) is the main power in the world, and both the state and the church function within the realm of its power.

The Theocapitalist Empire represents, of course, multinational corporations who intentionally shape culture (particularly youth culture) and spend massive amounts of money and energy in politics. But it also represents the larger (and smaller) systems and subsystems of global capitalism that influence the world profoundly in terms of lifestyles, values, personal aspirations, family systems, international politics, and the list goes on and on.

The three negative responses of the church in such a setting according to McLaren are:

1. Dominance-Empire: The church seeks to influence those in power or gain power. Think Dobson or Falwell in relation to the nation state, and all the corporate mimicking and emphasis on successful CEOs, efficiency, and size in relation to the Theocapitalist Empire.
2. Revenge-Victimhood: Think terrorism. Shooting abortion doctors. You get the point.
3. Isolation-Abandonment: The church isolates itself, abandoning the larger culture. (Isn’t it helpful to use all the same words in the definition? I thought that one seemed pretty self-explanatory.)

Our discussion tried to address our “Now what?” response to these ideas. We shared our impressions of our own churches, and discussed what a fourth, “Kingdom” alternative would look like in our own settings, living between dominance and isolation in the subverting way of life shown to us and enabled in us by Jesus. Through a lot of great conversation, I came away very aware of how much thoughtful and critical reflection is necessary to identify and address the shaping forces we find ourselves living within.

So I pass on the conversation to the rest of you. What negative response does your own church lean toward or struggle with? How can we resist the shaping forces of global capitalism in our own lives and the lives of those in our churches without seeking dominance, revenge or isolation? Perhaps as an entryway into that huge question, what do you identify as the shaping forces of capitalism in your life and the life of your church?

Because knowing is half the battle! (G.I. J-nevermind.)

Blessings!

Jon Berbaum
-up/rooted.north coordinator

up/rooted.west recap

We had a great discussion last night at up/rooted.west as we discussed the three major streams of the emerging church, as well as many other streams that are feeding in to the conversation. About 14 of our gathered at Giordanos in Glen Ellyn and feasted on deep dish pizza as we talked about worship, ministry and theology (among other things).

I spent much of the time explaining my model for understanding the emerging church movement (which I describe in more detail here). Essentially I describe three streams (borrowed, in part, from Ed Stetzer): the Relevants, the Reconstructionists, and the Re-Envisionists.



Relevants are primarily concerned with how we can make the church and the gospel more relevant to a postmodern culture. The focus is often on worship styles and interacting with pop culture. Key influencers have been people like Dan Kimball and Bob Webber - and they have helped lead emerging churches in to being very experimental, creative, artistic, and willing to reclaim ancient and liturgical worship practices as well.

Reconstructionists are more concerned with how to do church as a whole, not just the worship service. They are questioning the traditional methods and structures of institutional Christianity. Some, like Eddie Gibbs, seem more interested in reforming the current system; while others like Doug Pagitt are reinventing a whole new system. And on the far edge there are a lot of anti-institutional folks like Spencer Burke who want to disconnect from the system altogether. Watchwords of this stream are "organic", "authentic", "incarnational", and "holistic".

Re-Envisionists, in contrast to the previous two streams, aren't just interested in rethinking the methods, they want to rethink the message as well. This stream is focused on theological dialogue, and many are rediscovering a fuller gospel of the Kingdom of God. Missional church theology underlies much of this re-thinking, as does a generously orthodox approach that seeks to appreciate the diversity between different traditions of the Christian faith. Much of the theology of this stream has been pioneered by people like Lesslie Newbign and NT Wright, and has been popularized by Brian McLaren.

As I outlined these three basic streams, I was careful to point out that emerging people exist in some, and sometimes all of these streams, but there is no litmus test for how emerging one has to be to be included in the conversation - because it is, at heart, a conversation.

As we talked, many people in the group raised excellent questions: Do emerging Christians care about evangelism? (yes, but not in the way it's typically been practiced over the past half-century) What about the global church? (see Amahoro.info) What about ethnic diversity? (It's as much of a challenge for the emerging church as any other part of Christianity these days) Is the goal to reform existing churches or to start new emerging churches? (yes... both/and) What about women in the emerging church? (see EmergingWomen.us) Etc... We probably could have kept talking for a lot longer (and some did), but we cut off the conversation at 9pm so that people from further away could get home (we had visitors from as far away as Rockford and Homewood - near the Indiana border - in the other direction!) Thanks to everyone who contributed to the discussion!

Next month's up/rooted gathering will be a joint one (west-north-south) at Northern Seminary in Lombard on Monday, April 23 at 7pm. We will be hearing from Annie Gill-Bloyer from the ONE Campaign and Bread for the World. She'll be teaching us about global poverty and what we can do about it. This will be a very important gathering and I hope you will all plan to attend! We want to make a big deal about this one, and we could really use your help getting the word out, so please tell people at your churches, in your neighborhoods, at work, etc. Anyone is welcome... you don't have to be especially "emergent" to care about ending poverty. In a few weeks I'll send out a .pdf poster that you can put up at your local coffee shop too.

Thanks, see you then!

Mike Clawson
up/rooted co-coordinator


P.S. Don't forget that up/rooted.north is meeting tomorrow (Wednesday) night at 7pm at Northern Seminary to recap and discuss Brian McLaren's lectures there from earlier in the day.

Human Trafficking & Chicago Green Festival

March 28 – Wednesday 12:30pm
“Human Trafficking and Forced Labor: Achievements and Challenges”

with Ms. A. Yasmine Rassam, vice president of foreign policy and international women's issues for the Independent Women's Forum. An attorney by training, Rassam concentrates on international and human rights law and foreign policy matters. In 2002, Rassam served as the director of the Human Rights Clinic in Tashkent, Uzbekistan for the American Bar Association’s Central and East European Law Initiative.

In 2004, as Director of Women’s Programs for the American Bar Association’s Iraq Initiative, she established the ABA office in Amman, Jordan and held several conferences on the status of women’s rights in Iraq for Iraqi NGOs, the Ministry of Women’s Affairs and key members of the Iraqi government.

Most recently she co-authored a comprehensive study on the Status of Women’s Rights in Iraq for the American Bar Association’s Iraq Legal Development Project.

International Human Rights Law Institute
DePaul University College of Law, room 805
25 E. Jackson Boulevard
Chicago, IL 60604

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Chicago "Green Festival" - April 21 and 22
(from $ 5 to $ 10 admission each day)

Take in more than 300 exhibits in the nation’s largest eco-mall:
* Hear great, live local music.

See more than 150 dynamic speakers on 5 stages:
• Amy Goodman, Democracy Now!
• Greg Palast, Armed Madhouse
• Paul Stamets, Fungi Perfecti
• Frances Moore Lappé, Hope’s Edge: The Next Diet for a Small Planet
• Richard M. Daley, Chicago Mayor (Invited)
• Judy Wicks, White Dog Enterprises, Inc.
• David Korten, The Great Turning: From Empire to Earth Community
• Omar Freilla, Director of Green Worker Cooperatives

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Lauren Winner speaking in Chicago

Author Lauren Winner will be the speaker for North Park Theological Seminary's David Nyvall Lectures to be held April 26. The lectures will be given at 9 a.m. and 10:45 a.m. in Isaacson Chapel, and are free and open to the public.

Winner is the author of three acclaimed books, Girl Meets God, Mudhouse Sabbath, and, most recently, Real Sex: The Naked Truth About Chastity. She spoke at the Evangelical Covenant Church's Midwinter Pastors Conference in February.

The former book editor for Beliefnet, she has appeared on PBS's Religion and Ethics Newsweekly and has written for The New York Times Book Review, The Washington Post Book World, Publishers Weekly, and Christianity Today. Her essays have been included in The Best Christian Writing for 2000, 2002, 2004, and 2006.

Lauren Winner has degrees from Columbia and Cambridge universities and is currently at work on her doctorate on the history of American religion. She lives in Durham, N.C. with her husband, Griff Gatewood.

The David Nyvall Lectures were inaugurated at North Park Theological Seminary in 1951 in memory of the pioneer Swedish American educator who served the school both as teacher and president. The purpose of this lecture series, held each spring, is to stimulate interest in the interpretation of the Christian message for the contemporary world.