Cohort Recap
4 Comments Published by Jake on Tuesday, October 11, 2005 at Tuesday, October 11, 2005.
In case you missed the September Cohort meeting, here is what we covered.
We began with a prayer from Irenaeus’ regula fidae. We then took turns introducing ourselves to each other. The group was quite diverse (a lovely change from many emergent gatherings). We had inner-city youth workers, PhD students, pastors, church planters and seminary students. Moreover we were an ecumenical bunch: comprised of Baptists, Methodists, Episcopalians Presbyterians and Evangelicals. More importantly the group was split almost in half by men and women and we had a number of different ethnicities represented. The group was varied and this facilitated the fecundity of our dialogue immensely. While in seminary, I was very active in the Central New Jersey Cohort and although I enjoyed my time there very much, I was refreshed to enter into dialogue with a group that did not mark diversity according to facial hair preferences.
Troy then led us through the four rules or commitments of Emergent: 1) Commitment to God in the way of Jesus Christ; 2) To the Church in All its forms; 3) To God’s world; and 4) To each other. We then broke up into small groups to flesh out the implications and meanings of these convictions. Our two-hour fellowship was closed with a Kenyan Prayer:
From the cowardice that dare not face new truth,
From the laziness that is content with half truth,
From the arrogance that thinks it knows all truth,
Good Lord, deliver me.
The fellowship and discussion were positive, and a great start for our cohort this year. However, we still have work to do. First, we need to open the discussion even further to include Catholics, Orthodox and other groups. The absence of these important voices limits both the breadth and depth of our discussions. Second, Troy and I are facilitators and organizers but we are all co-leaders in this endeavor. To that end, we will provide you all with some suggested reading in anticipation of our monthly chats. This way we will all have at least a casual acquaintance with the monthly topic. This should both ameliorate the profundity of our dialogue and decentralize the teacher/student authority structure to which many of us are so accustomed.
BTW: This Month’s meeting will be held at Manuel’s Tavern, which is located at the corners of North and Highland Aves. The meeting will be upstairs in the Nest from 8-10 on Tuesday, October 25th. Hope to see you all there. Peace.
We began with a prayer from Irenaeus’ regula fidae. We then took turns introducing ourselves to each other. The group was quite diverse (a lovely change from many emergent gatherings). We had inner-city youth workers, PhD students, pastors, church planters and seminary students. Moreover we were an ecumenical bunch: comprised of Baptists, Methodists, Episcopalians Presbyterians and Evangelicals. More importantly the group was split almost in half by men and women and we had a number of different ethnicities represented. The group was varied and this facilitated the fecundity of our dialogue immensely. While in seminary, I was very active in the Central New Jersey Cohort and although I enjoyed my time there very much, I was refreshed to enter into dialogue with a group that did not mark diversity according to facial hair preferences.
Troy then led us through the four rules or commitments of Emergent: 1) Commitment to God in the way of Jesus Christ; 2) To the Church in All its forms; 3) To God’s world; and 4) To each other. We then broke up into small groups to flesh out the implications and meanings of these convictions. Our two-hour fellowship was closed with a Kenyan Prayer:
From the cowardice that dare not face new truth,
From the laziness that is content with half truth,
From the arrogance that thinks it knows all truth,
Good Lord, deliver me.
The fellowship and discussion were positive, and a great start for our cohort this year. However, we still have work to do. First, we need to open the discussion even further to include Catholics, Orthodox and other groups. The absence of these important voices limits both the breadth and depth of our discussions. Second, Troy and I are facilitators and organizers but we are all co-leaders in this endeavor. To that end, we will provide you all with some suggested reading in anticipation of our monthly chats. This way we will all have at least a casual acquaintance with the monthly topic. This should both ameliorate the profundity of our dialogue and decentralize the teacher/student authority structure to which many of us are so accustomed.
ameliorate, huh.
i really hope to make it to next month's gathering. thanks for keeping me on the list.
and fecundity, to wit...
sorry i'll miss you this month...i just got the email today and have a prior engagement.
we are sorry that we haven't made it to either meeting- but please keep us on the list and give us a heads up a little earlier. blessings and peace on your time- you are meeting as we write.
brian and danielle jones