In my last post, I gave a brief review of an excellent book, and I made the statement that I’m not ready to jump off the emerging church bandwagon. I still have my areas of ambivalence, and those are probably worth a few posts on their own. But I do think that, while the emerging church may not be the flavor of the month with the hipsters any more, to pronounce the death of it would be premature. First, a word of clarification. When I use the term emerging church, I do so in a broad, inclusive sense. There was a time when one of our buzzwords was “conversations,” and I liked the fact that a wide variety of voices were heard – including (especially?) the voices of those I disagreed with. The way I see it, if you want to talk about the emerging church, congratulations, you’re a member [...]

This post is for all my readers who still care about the Emerging Church . . . I hope both of you enjoy it. But seriously, folks, I’ve got some thoughts. Over the past few months, I’ve seen a number of blog posts, tweets, and Facebook status updates along the lines of “I used to affiliate with the emerging church, but I’m not so sure I do any more.” Granted, most of them are much more cleverly worded, but it would seem that the thrift stores in many U.S. cities will soon be receiving higher than normal donations of tea light holders, dark-rimmed glasses, English flat caps, and Celtic cross wall hangings. The bandwagon is getting a little lonely. As someone who has run in these circles for over ten years now, and has at various times felt a bit of ambivalence about my own involvement, I can understand the [...]

About a week ago, on a Sunday afternoon, Sarah and I took about a three-mile walk from our flat in London. We walked along the Thames toward central London to the west. We passed the Tower Bridge along the way, and our journey ended at the Tate Modern art museum. It’s a wonderful, overwhelming place. My previous visits there have left me emotionally exhausted after only an hour or two of taking in the work of artists like Mark Rothko, Andy Warhol, Joan Miro, Pablo Picasso, David Smith, and Ai Wei Wei. I told Sarah that one of the great things about living here now is that I can make regular visits to the Tate Modern, and just focus on one artist or one room at a time, so I don’t get so wrecked. There’s a special collection going on through the end of the year, showcasing the work of [...]

After having arrived in London nearly two months ago, it’s probably time for me to post an update here. Obviously, with a move to another country and a change in vocation, there’s a lot to write about – too much, in fact, so I won’t even try. But just so folks know that we are alive and well, here’s a quick run-down of life in London. It’s not a terribly exciting post, but that’s o.k. We landed at Heathrow on September 15, loaded down with a LOT of luggage. We checked in to a hotel for our first few nights, but then got to look at, and move in to our flat. We’re living in Southeast London, near an area called Canada Water. The neighborhood we’re in is incredibly diverse – I’m pretty sure we’re in the minority as native English speakers, which we actually enjoy. Just a couple of [...]

While an increasing number of USAmerican Christians would be comfortable with the notion of calling the US a “Christian nation” – primarily because of the separation of church and state, and the relative lack of Christian morality at work in the culture – we are known around the world as just that.  In conservative evangelical Christian circles, there is a lot made of patriotism blended with religious practice. And “we” (not unlike other “Christian” nations around the world) blend our nationalism in such a way that assumes that we hold a special status with God. People think that because our forefathers were mostly Christian, and prepared our founding documents with God in mind, we should hold a “most favored nation” position before God.* With that in mind, it’s been extremely interesting to spend time in Ethiopia, home of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church (EOTC). (The photo for this post is [...]

For the past several days, I have had the privilege of joining a group of students studying leadership in global perspectives.  They come from a variety of backgrounds – both nationally and vocationally. It’s been a wonderful experience thus far, and one that has challenged our comfort levels, our categories of understanding, and how we interact with our home contexts. So far, our time has been in Nairobi, Kenya, but we’ll be heading to Ethiopia soon. One of the things we’ve done is spend time in a slum called Mathare. It’s not the biggest slum in Nairobi, but it is home to about 800,000 people. I’ve had previous experiences in slums here in Nairobi, in Dominican Republic, and in India (including the one on display in Slumdog Millionaire), so I was somewhat prepared for what I’d see. It’s pretty jarring, though – seeing children with little or no clothing, running [...]

The preparations for the big move to London continue. Most of our belongings are either gone now, or will be in the next couple of days. We’re trying to nail down housing, say goodbye to friends, and tie up all the loose ends. But what I haven’t mentioned much, whether on this blog, or on other social media outlets is that when I get on an airplane in four days, it won’t be London bound. First, I’m headed to Africa. I’ll be joining up with the cohort of students I help supervise through George Fox Seminary’s Doctor of Ministry in Global Missional Leadership. I’ve blogged about this program in the past. The cohort of students I work with met up for the first time about a year ago in the UK and Germany, and this time around, we’re going to be learning together in Nairobi, Kenya and Me’kele, Ethiopia. We’ll [...]

I sit in an apartment surrounded by boxes, along with other items that will soon be in boxes. It’s reality check time. In less than two weeks (which is six years and eight months after I arrived in the Seattle area) I will leave this city. Not forever, but for a long time. And even though I’m not necessarily leaving Seattle for good, it has left good in me. I could write in a number of different directions about the things I’ve loved and will miss about living here, but here are five: Seattle is globally aware. Many cities in the U.S. have a large mix of people groups living in them, but few are as consciously connected to issues and events around the world as Seattlites. I can have conversations about financial aid to Africa, food shortages, Burmese monks, or Bollywood stars with people at the produce market, park, [...]

I haven’t really blogged about my community of faith here in Seattle, but as the time for me to be away from it approaches, I want to acknowledge the good folks at Church of the Apostles (COTA). I’ll write more about the church itself in another post, but one of the many beautiful things to come out of this quirky little band of God-chasers is a separate, non-religious non-profit organization called the Fremont Abbey Arts Center. Concerts, dance recitals, music lessons, and community events all take place at the Fremont Abbey. In fact, COTA, while being the “owner” of the Abbey, is only a minority user of it these days. Every month, the Abbey puts on its signature event, called The Round. A few musical artists/bands, poets, and visual artists all share the stage together, creating art that is engaging, interactive, and intimate. It’s been going for over six years [...]

As I prepare myself for starting work on a PhD, I do so with a range of emotions. Some days I have the confidence of lion, knowing that I’m up for the intellectual challenge, the persistence through frustration, and the occasional need to outlast boredom with the research process. Some days I very seriously question whether I have anything of value to offer the academic world, and wonder if I’m about to embark upon the grandest form of missing the point I’ve ever been a part of. Some days I simply get a little nervous about my ability to answer questions. For me, questions are a big deal. Perhaps the biggest deal of them all. After living more than half of my adult life with the distinct impression that it was my job to find and discover the “right” answers to all of life’s important questions, I stumbled my way [...]