Emergent Pittsburgh

New Website

2006-08-03T08:47:00.000-07:00

Please follow Emergent Pittsburgh at its new website and join in the conversation...

Emergent Pittsburgh

Thanks to Brian Wallace for all his efforts in getting the new site up and running. Well done, Brian!

Grace and Peace - Terry Timm

Opportunity for Study

2006-04-03T06:43:00.000-07:00

The Foundation for Reformed Theology is looking to start a new study group here in Pittsburgh! The Foundation, which was founded to honor the memory of John Leith, provides funding for individuals to gather and study Reformed Theology.

This group would focus on reformed theology in the emerging/missional/post-modern/post-colonial era, selecting from authors such as Lesslie Newbigin, David Bosch, NT Wright, Miroslav Volf, Jurgen Moltmann, Darrell Guder, John Franke, William Stacey Johnson, Walter Brueggemann, Nancey Murphy, Kendra Creasy Dean, etc. as well as inviting featured guests to guide our conversations.

If you are interested in being part of such a group, please email Brian Wallace (brian.wallace@gmail.com) for more information.

About the Foundation for Reformed Theology:

The Foundation for Reformed Theology was founded to honor the legacy of John Leith. Dr. John Haddon Leith, was professor of theology at Union-PSCE from 1959 to 1990 who was named the M.E. Pemberton Professor of Theology in 1972. At retirement Leith became professor emeritus and died in 2002. He is the author of a number of books, including Introduction to the Reformed Tradition: A Way of Being in the Christian Community" and "Basic Christian Doctrine".

About the Foundation's Financial Support for meetings:

The Fund pays up to $300 for travel expenses, $40 per night for five nights in seminary rooms or $50 per night for five nights for hotel rooms, and a $25 per diem for five days for meals. Individuals pick up the rest of the expenses, usually from continuing education money Normally, each participant turns in an expense voucher and is reimbursed.”

Join Us for the Conversaion with Michael Frost

2006-03-09T04:54:00.000-08:00

The Pittsburgh Emergent Cohort is pleased to announce:

A Day of Conversation about the Missional Church in North America with Michael Frost, Australia's preeminent missional thinker and practitioner

Saturday, March 25th from 9 am - 3 pm
At Pittsburgh Presbytery, 901 Allegheny Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15233
Cost $35 (pay at the door & lunch on your own)
For more information contact BJ Woodworth at bj@pghopendoor.org

Michael Frost is the Founding Director of Centre for Evangelism & Global Mission at Morling Theological College in Sydney. He is one of Australia's most widely recognized evangelists and conference speakers, having spoken at some of Australia's largest conventions and events as well as at conferences in the United States and parts of Asia and Africa. Michael is the author of six books including, The Shaping of Things to Come (2003) co-authored with Alan Hirsch and Exiles in a Post-Christendom Empire (forthcoming spring 2006 from Hendrickson). He is strongly committed to leadership development and has been the co-director in the establishment of Forge, a missional training network for young leaders based in Melbourne. He is on the board of the Australian Arrow Leadership Development Program. Michael has also recently planted a missional church on Sydney's northern beaches called Small Boat Big Sea. Michael lives in Sydney's northern beaches area with his wife Carolyn (a marriage and family counselor) and their three daughters Courtney, Kendall and Fielding.

A DAY WITH MICHAEL FROST

2006-03-03T06:53:00.000-08:00

Join us for a day with Michael Frost (co-author of The Shaping of Things to Come) on Saturday March 25 from 9 AM-3 PM. The event will take place at the Pittsburgh Presbytery offices on the Northside of Pittsburgh. Cost is $35.

More details to follow soon...

Reflections

2006-02-15T11:54:00.000-08:00

The following reflection is from Lauren from the Open Door community.

On Thursday I was blessed to attend a discussion on the Emerging/Missional Church in Pittsburgh. It was a really exciting discussion, with people from the “traditional” (several people from the Pittsburgh Presbytery, etc.) as well as the “emergent” church. I myself was there as a member of the Open Door. Before the meeting, I was a little intimidated and unsure if I would get anything out of it. The discussion mainly centered around the theology of the missional church, and I am a far cry from a theologian, or even a theology student. Thankfully, the discussion stayed at a lay person’s level of understanding!

Although the conversation covered many topics, I was struck by a common theme: the connection between the traditional and missional church. Pittsburgh’s own emergent movement seems to be borne from and supported by the traditional church in a very holy way. The traditional church has given life and support to several of the emerging churches in Pittsburgh. Although there is certainly tension and frustration on both sides of the fence, there is an honesty and a willingness to share that frustration. People at the meeting were comfortable talking about the personal frustrations and difficulties they have had with the traditional church model; on the flip side, members of the traditional church offered experience and insight into the process of forming a new church. I was struck by what a safe environment we have created for sharing, and that is the only way to get to the Truth. That love and honesty is a model of Christ’s love, and it allows the Holy Spirit to shape the movement in a way defensiveness and aggressiveness could not.

I am so personally grateful for this sharing and support and challenges that are happening on both sides of the fence. To totally discount and invalidate either way of church is, I believe, not holy and will do more to tear down Christianity in the eyes of not-yet-Christians. We are on a journey, and I am excited about approaching it with a group of believers who believe they don’t have all the answers, with a group that believes in change, with a group that believes in focusing on the mission field that is our neighborhood. I look forward to continuing the conversation!

Join in the conversation...

CONVERSATIONS WITH JOHN FRANKE

2006-02-13T05:42:00.000-08:00

It was to great to gather together last Thursday to dialogue with John Franke and one another around emerging church issues.

Over the next week or so we want to share some personal reflections on the experience, along with providing some space for the conversation to continue to unfold. If you would be willing to share something of your experience, let me know via email (terry@cccsh.org).

For me, one of the things that resonated most was John's description of leadership in environmental terms. What does a movement away from leader as "theologian in residence" or "CEO" mean in a community of faith (or a seminary setting might I dare ask)? What kinds of mindsets and heartsets need to be embraced, nurtured, and developed to see this kind of leadership unleashed in the Body of Christ? What do you think?

Thanks to Brian Wallace for all his work on bringing John to Pittsburgh. If you missed any of the events you can listen to podcasts of the conversations here...

Grace and Peace - Terry Timm

The Emerging Conversation about the Emerging Church in Pittsburgh

2006-01-14T08:09:00.000-08:00

God is on the move; the winds of the Spirit are blowing through our region. Can you feel it? Do you see it? Are you a part of it?

I hope you will add your voice to the ongoing conversation about the emerging church in the greater Pittsburgh region.

On February 9 we will have a great opportunity to connect with one another and engage in some quality conversation about the shape of the emerging church in our part of the world. John Franke, author and faculty member at Biblical Seminary, will be in Pittsburgh for a number of important gatherings.

There are events during the afternoon at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary and an evening gathering at the Open Door (contact BJ Woodworth at bj@pghopendoor.org).

Our hope, prayer, and commitment to catalyst this experience and leverage the energy as we seek the shape of the movement in the days ahead. That might include things like more regular gatherings and missional orders (and may not for that matter), but we truly need your input and ideas. If you would like to be a part of that process, I would love to hear from you.

Grace and Peace,

Terry Timm
terry@cccsh.org

NOVEMBER 30 GATHERING AT THE HEINZ HISTORICAL CENTER

2005-11-17T21:29:00.000-08:00

Our next gathering will be on Wednesday November 30. We will meet for lunch at 12:00 PM at the Heinz Historical Center in the Strip District and at 12:45 PM visit together the exhibit, "Points In Time: Building a Life in Western Pennsylvania, 1750-Today." Admission is $7.50 for adults and $5 for students with ID.

After our time in the Historical Center we will reflect upon our experience focusing our conversation around "missional vocation." In the book, Treasures in Clay Jars, Lois Barrett and her co-authors identify eight patterns of missional congregations. The first is "discerning missional vocation." The word vocation signifies a call and in the Scriptures that call is to participate in God's grand purpose for the world. The call is to come to Jesus and then follow Him into the world and join the activity of God wherever and wherever we are able.

Missional Churches are continually seeking clarity on the call, especially as it relates to identity and location. They give attention to:

1) where they are in a geographic, social, and cultural context
2) when they are in the flow of history and change
3) who they are in continuity with a tradition and re-forming it in the present
4) why they are welcoming God's call and entering God's coming reign

Let me raise three questions:

Where are We? Where is our missional assignment? While I understand we have a responsibility to be engaged in mission to the ends of the earth, our primary responsibility is local. How would you answer the "where are we" question? Are you/we clear about that? I have to confess I am wrestling with this one right now and am unsure that our faith community is zoned in on this one.

When are We? Are we aware of the unique opportunities that stand before us in our time? The Scriptures speak of these moments as kairos moments, opportune times. Because God has placed us in a particular space and time, there are unique situations that face us and demand our attention and energy? What unique opportunities stand before us, right here, right now?

Who are We? Our faith communities are rooted in a theological and historical flow. Are we clear about our roots and are we re-thinking together about how we will faithfully express ourselves in our world today?

Feel free to weigh in here now or save your thoughts for November 30.

Grace and Peace - Terry Timm

MISSIONAL WORSHIP UPDATE

2005-10-29T15:29:00.000-07:00

Terry Timm here with an update on our last Emergent Pittsburgh gathering. We spent the afternoon together around a warm fire (thanks to Kevin from Crestfield) dialoguing about missional worship. Here are a few summary thoughts and a couple of questions for reflection and on going dialogue.

WHAT IS WORSHIP – Tim Smith defines worship as “our response to God’s initiation in an appropriate way that brings God glory.” Dieter Zander has articulated the following definition of worship: “bringing all that I know of myself before all that I know of God.” During our gathering we talked worship as an ongoing dance between God’s revelation and our response, both individually and communally. What about you? How do you define worship? Or perhaps worship is better described that defined? What do you think?

MISSIONAL WORSHIP – Have you ever noticed how often we use adjectives to describe our worship? Traditional worship, contemporary worship, liturgical worship, seeker sensitive worship, postmodern worship….the list could on and on. What’s up with this? Is missional worship simply the next thing or is there something deeper going on in this discussion?

Speaking about a motivating force for mission, John Piper has said, “mission exists because worship does not.” How does this hit you? What’s right about his statement? Is there something that doesn’t sit right with you?

INDIGENOUS WORSHP – Sally Morganthaler is my hero when it comes to thinking about worship in the 21st century. Last year I participated in an online forum with her and she said this regarding indigenous worship: “indigenous worship is a real-time, liquid responsiveness to the community, both inside and outside as a living organism. It is not the modern world predominance of one culture over another (seeker culture over believer; twenty-something ancient future over boomer and senior; Latino over African American), but an intentional reflexive presence within a self-forming and therefore, never before created community.”

Is this happening in your community? If so, how does it happen? If not, what steps might you take to create, facilitate, and nurture indigenous worship?

Let’s keep the dialogue going...

Grace and Peace - Terry

Cohort Gathering This Week

2005-10-24T10:50:00.000-07:00

Just a quick reminder that we are meeting this Wednesday from 12-4 up at Camp Crestfield to have a rousing discussion on missional worship. Read below for directions to Camp Crestfield and the article that Nate has posted on missional worship. Bring your own lunch.

Tony Jones

2005-10-21T17:24:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday's discussion with Tony Jones was great. We have about 50 poeple stay after worship, enjoy some wonderful food and wine, and discuss some in depth theology and ecclesiology with Tony Jones, the National Coordinator of Emergent US.

If you have things you'd like to discuss more, please feel free to leave comments.

Next Wednesday from 10 am to 4 pm will be the second Pittsburgh Emergent/Missional Cohort gathering. Check back for more details and a location in a couple days.

Tony Jones Discussion

2005-10-17T08:32:00.000-07:00

Last night after worshiping with the Open Door we had some great discussion with Emergent coordinator Tony Jones. Post in the comments what you thought!

Discussion with Tony Jones Sunday Oct. 16th

2005-10-13T18:52:00.000-07:00

Discussion with Tony Jones

Sunday, Oct 16 following the weekly worship gathering of The Open Door @ the Union Project on the corner of Stanton and Negley Avenue in Highland Park. Worship begins at 6pm and the discussion with Tony will begin around 8. Come join us for both.

Tony Jones is the National Coordinator of Emergent US. He will be hanging around after worship this week to lead a discussion on the emerging church. Tony Jones is a PHD student at Princeton Theological Seminary and has written a number of influential books, including Soul Shaper, The Sacred Way, and Postmodern Youth Ministry.

Check out Tony’s blog Here

E-mail BJ at bj@pghopendoor.org if you’re planning to stay around for this informal time of discussion

Check out The Open Door

First Pittsburgh Missional Cohort

2005-09-29T11:33:00.000-07:00

That title makes us sound so important! Really we're not, but I think the things we're talking about are extremely important. Yesterday's gathering up at camp crestfield was great! We're planning to meet once a month on the forth Wednesday from 10 am to 4 pm to discuss the missional church. The discussion so far has been deep, intelligent and practical.

We decided to talk about the worship of missional communities next month. Here's our first article to read in preparation for the discussion.

Missional Worship
By Pastor Tim Smith of Mars Hill Church

Before we can discuss missiology of worship we must first define what we mean by worship.
Worship is our response to God's initiation in an appropriate way that brings Him glory.

All worship ultimately starts with God. He always makes the first move of initiation (Luke 19:10, John 4:23, Rom 3:11 & 10:20). God loves, forgives, opens our minds, teaches, blesses, saves, provides and most of all sent his only Son to buy us back from sin and death with his own blood. Without God's initiation we could not even understand who he is. Depending on our response to that initiation we either worship or sin. If we see his initiation and do nothing we sin through apathy. If we see his initiation and respond inappropriately we sin through rebellion. However, if we see his initiation and respond in an appropriate way that brings God glory, then we come to a place of worship. The natural question then is, "what is an appropriate response?"

In the fourth chapter of John, at the end of his conversation with the Samaritan woman at the well, Jesus speaks to this issue. He says, "true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks (4:23)." The first thing to notice is that Jesus says that the Father is seeking worshipers. This is a significant paradigm shift for most of us. We want to believe that we know what is best for ourselves, that we choose God, that we recognize our need for him and make the first move of initiation. This is simply not the case. Jesus speaks to this through his repeated metaphor of himself as the shepherd and us as his sheep.

Jesus says he calls his sheep and they know his voice, he leaves the 99 righteous sheep to find the one who is lost and picks that sheep up and carries it home. We should not be confused as to the meaning of his metaphor; sheep are dumb animals that can do nothing for themselves without their shepherd. Paul goes as far as to say, "there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God (Rom. 3:11)." The beginning of acceptable worship is the realization that worship always starts with God's initiation in our lives.
Jesus says that the appropriate response of worship is in spirit and truth. To worship in truth is to worship in Christ. Jesus is the truth, the living word that spoke all creation into being. To worship in truth is to worship in the knowledge of Christ and the gospel. The gospel is not something that tells us about Christ, it is Christ. It is the supernatural redemptive work of God throughout time. It has its origin in the promise given to Adam & Eve that though the serpent will strike the heel of God's chosen one, the serpent will be crushed (Gen. 3:15). The gospel is the good news that, though we are enemies of God, He made a way through his own blood for us to have communion with him. God has sought us out and bought us back from the tyranny of sin and death that we could be with Him in a family of eternal praise as his adopted sons and daughters for all time. To worship in truth is to worship in light of all this. Everyone who claims the name of Christ is called to be a worshiper who knows who they are worshiping to the fullest measure they are capable of.

To worship in spirit is to worship God on His own terms. "God is Spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth (John 4:24)." God is not a man; he is not human. Except for a brief 30 year period he does not have flesh. To do anything but worship him in spirit is to make God in our own image. Humans are spiritual beings encased in flesh. We are born into sin and thus our spirits are blind guides that lead us into all manner of depravity and unrighteousness. It is only through the regeneration of our spirit by God's Holy Spirit that we can see God and worship him. To worship the Father in Spirit is to worship him from a foreign land longing to go home. It is to acknowledge God's complete otherness from us and meet him in that place.

Everyone is a worshiper. Some worship created things, some worship an image of success, most worship themselves. What distinguishes the worshipers the Father seeks from the rest of the world (and in some cases the church) is they worship Him in the truth of who he is and do so in spirit.
To worship God with a missional perspective is to worship him from the perspective of a missionary. A good missionary comes from their "home" and puts their culture, customs and methodologies on the back burner in favor of an observing eye. They will study the culture, language, customs and practices of the people as a way of coming to know who they are, where they have come from, where they are going and what factors have influenced them along the way. A godly missionary always hold the gospel up as the overarching, superseding authority in all matters but acknowledges that the gospel must engage with culture and be contextualized into an authentic church family. This is not the compromise of syncretism that says, "whatever the culture says is right, we will say is right as well." Nor is it the entrenchment of sacred-ism that says, "everything about the culture is wrong so we will withdraw from the world and create our own culture that will be Christian." The work of the missionary lies in the painful realm of gray. It lies in wrestling with culture. It lies in the willingness to let go of what God may reveal as just a cultural thing while having the strength and courage to never let go of what the scripture says.

The quintessential example of the missional outlook that I am speaking of is illustrated in Paul's sermon at the meeting of the Areopagus at Mars Hill (Acts 17). Paul begins his address by complementing the members of the Areopagus on being "religious in every way" as demonstrated in their objects of worship. They even had an altar with the inscription: to an unknown god. He says (v. 23), "Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you." Paul was firmly planted in the world but totally other than it. He was knowledgeable of the people he was speaking to. He knew about their gods. He knew that they were so concerned about all the gods being appeased that they even had an altar to an "unknown god." Paul did not see things in terms of Christian and secular but saw many aspects of culture as a viable means of communicating the gospel. He used their idols and false gods to proclaim knowledge of the one true God and his son Jesus. Paul goes on to expound upon the sovereignty of God over all creation and how he orders the steps of all men. To reinforce his point he quotes from two different poets (v. 28), "For in him we live and move and have our being," and, "We are his offspring." The first quote is from the Cretan poet Epimenides; the second from Aratus from Paul's homeland Celicia. Paul was familiar with world and its art enough to speak in images familiar to those with whom he spoke. Paul was missionary and missionaries must know these things.

To speak of a missional worship is to speak of a truly appropriate response to God's initiation for a particular people. It is easy to acknowledge that an American response to God should differ from an African one. However, it is much more difficult for us to say that a worshipful response from a kid in the punk scene is just as legitimate as a response from a suburban doctor. Too often our worship is an exercise in cultural imperialism. We develop a complete culture of worship that has no connection with the world people live in. This culture is carefully crafted with its own language, customs and rituals and then exported as a universal culture of worship. Over time these songs, prayers, and routines become how worship is done. This has tragic results in our gathered, corporate worship, which drastically affects the scattered worship of believers in the world.

I am not arguing for an a-historical, throw the baby out with the bathwater approach. What I am arguing for is a missional re-appropriation of elements of worship that takes into account the people who are being led into worship and the world they live in. The most appropriate response of worship for any congregation will always come from within that congregation. I believe most churches don't work to create indigenous forms of worship and liturgies for their people because nobody has told them they should. They have been told that certain things are just how worship is done. Sadly, much of this is driven by the financial profit of putting together whole church services to market in a prepackaged manner.
To have missional worship as a congregation is to perpetually seek a more appropriate response to how God is initiating among you. That response must be made in the truth of gospel revealed in Jesus Christ throughout the entirety of scripture. It must be made acknowledging that God is Spirit and has made our spirits alive to worship him in that realm of existence. That response should be made with both feet firmly planted in the world but always aware that this world is not our home and we are strangers here awaiting an eternal home. To discern this appropriate response is to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. It will be a place of constant tension. But where else is there to go?

Tim Smith Worship Pastor Mars Hill Church
Copyright 2004 Acts 29 Network

Doug Pagitt's Relevant Magazine Article

2005-08-31T07:02:00.000-07:00

Perhaps you have noticed all the attention the Emerging Church seems to attract these days. Within the last year the emerging church has been the focus of news articles on the front page of the New York Times, in the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal and the Los Angeles Times. It was the topic of an hour-long religious special on ABC, as well as numerous cable television and radio shows. Not to mention the attention generated by religious news outlets and publishers who are creating their own line of emerging products.

The Emerging Church even has it’s own detractors. Fearing we may have slipped, capitulated, lost the essentials, or otherwise gotten too close to culture for it’s own good - there are good people giving warning about this “movement”. If it’s true that a movement has arrived when it has official opponents; then the emerging church has arrived. With all the press the emerging church is getting you would think it would be easy to find a definition, but it’s more difficult than it seems to pin down this movement.

Many estimates put the number of emerging churches around the world in the thousands but there is no central hub. Part of the difficulty in getting the straight scoop on the EC (emerging church) is that there is no official brand. Church expressions from nearly every tradition are using the phrase at their own choosing. In one city there may be a Presbyterian church and a Catholic young adult ministry using the term; or an evangelical nondenominational church and an Episcopal expression right up the street both comfortable calling themselves emerging.

While there is no “emerging church seal of approval” and they come in many expressions and forms, I would like to take a crack at my list of tendencies, passions and perspectives of churches that call themselves emerging. By the way, my using such 1980’s techniques of making lists that summarize people could result in the revocation of my emerging church decoder ring.

In no way do I suppose to speak for all emerging communities but from my understanding as an insider - this is what I see.

Emerging Churches strive to be positive about the future.
There is a passion within emerging churches to become globally focused. Many hold the perspective that we live in the greatest period of time in history and the church can, and should, live into that. I like to call it “open-eyed optimism”. Optimism that understands the reality of the world, which is not always pretty, but sees the hope of God living and active in the world as a whole. This positivism is reconstructive, moving beyond critiquing Christianity and toward constructive change.

Churches within the emerging community are committed to God in the way of Jesus.
As Christ-centered people, many of us understand the Gospel in terms of Jesus’ radical, profound, and expansive message of the kingdom of God. The emerging church is helping to articulate the call for Christianity to go beyond mere belief in commands and into a life that’s in rhythm with God.

The Kingdom of God is a central conversation in emerging communities.
Mark Scandrette of ReImagine, a significant voice in the emerging church, says this, “The kingdom of God is a generative people who believe that a more beautiful and sustainable way of life is possible.” Within many of us there is a desire for the Good News of Jesus to really be good news for the people of the world and not just the promise of a world to come. Many find good news in the call of Jesus to join the kingdom of God. And let me tell you “Kingdom of God” language is really big in the emerging church.

The emerging church values communal life – living like family.
Emerging churches often speak of themselves as if they were a family where the love and commitment to one another is deep, meaningful and essential. Almost completely gone from the emerging church conversation is the idea that the church is a supplier of religious goods and services provided to a wanting consumer. Instead, people are invited to join in and become one of us.

Emerging churches seek to live as missional communities.
Being missional does not mean having a mission statement that clearly communicates the goals of the church. Instead, it’s the desire to be on the agenda of God. More than seeing their role as setting forth a bold vision (mission statement) and asking God to bless it, we seek to join God in the work of the kingdom wherever it is found. Brian McLaren puts it this way, “We practice our faith missionally – that is, we do not isolate ourselves from this world, but rather, we follow Christ into the world.”

Friendship and hospitality are transformational pieces in the emerging church.
Emerging churches believe that friendships change people. They stress that Jesus welcomed the original disciples into a warm friendship with himself and one another. Through the centuries the church has been an extension of this friendship through space, time, and transition. Emerging churches put much emphasis on hospitality. But this is not just your grandma’s after-service dinner in the church basement kind of hospitality. It takes the kindness of those dinners and adds a new level of vulnerability – a call to an intimate redemptive relationship.

Communities in the emerging movement value theology.
Emerging churches are often vigilant in their assertion that what they are about is not merely changing the methods of their faith; they are seeking to be full theological communities. Many will stress that they are not called to do “cover versions” of other generation’s faith with their own spin. But they are called to be living theological communities who articulate and generate understandings of God, life and faith.

So that is my list; it’s not intended to be static - nor the end of the conversation. I guess you could say it’s just emerging.

September 28, 2005

2005-08-30T19:51:00.000-07:00

Our first gathering has been planned for Sept. 28th from 10am - 4pm at Camp Crestfield.

Here's the invitation and info so far:

we are trying to get together a Pittsburgh Missional Church Cohort that would meet once a month for a day of retreat, prayer, conversation, contemplation and study. I am taking initiative with this to get the conversation started and will willing serve as the coordinator but need others to help grow the cohort. Here is what I am thinking.

We will gather the last Wednesday of each month (starting September 28th) from 10 am – 4 pm at Camp Crestfield in Slippery Rock, PA to get out of the city a bit. The day would flow something like this:

9:00 Travel time
10:00 Arrive and gather together
10:30 Personal solitude, retreat, prayer and contemplation (there are trails, a labyrinth and a fireplace in the winter)
12:00 Lunch (bring your own)
1:00 Missional Church Conversation
3:30 Prayer
4:00 Departure

We realize that not everyone will be able to make each gathering so we will be starting a blog that will post a summary of each month’s conversation which will allow others to contribute to the ongoing monthly conversation. Secondly, in order to facilitate the best conversation we will limit each months gathering to 15 people. So you will need to RSVP each month so we can plan for food and make sure we do not have too many people.

Here are the ways you can contribute to the Pittsburgh Missional Church cohort
Take notes during our conversation and post it to the blog
Set up and manage the blog
Provide a monthly topic, article, story, ministry scenario that will springboard our afternoon conversation (I will take care of September).
Bring snacks to share
Feel free to invite others but initially we will limit this cohort to 15 people per month and see how it goes from there.

For our first afternoon conversation we will talk about what characterizes the Emerging Church and how that relates to us. We will use two articles to springboard us:
Alan Roxburgh
and Doug Pagitt's Relevant Magazine article. I'm posting it below.

Let me know if you can come in September!
Directions to Camp Crestfield