Voices VI

And now we’re gonna start the 6th session, the last of the day. It’s been another great day so far. I think I probably made better connections yesterday than today, but both have been really wonderful. I feel like I’m reawakening my love for God, love for the church, and for others by being here.

And Alyce is up again, I think for the last time. Only now she’s not doing the skit, but just talking.

“We are a culture, a people, a church, and individuals that have a lot of knowledge … but we are a people who lack wisdom.” -Alyce

She’s talking about the Wisdom Books, how now should we live. It’s sort of a summary of the point of the skits.

4 Virtues:
Bended Knee
Listening Heart
Cool Spirit
Subversive Voice

Now Denise Van Eck, Makeesha Fisher, Lisa Domke, and Carla Barnhill are doing something called an “Ignite” presentation. It’s 5 minutes rapid fire, with 20 slides, 15 seconds a slide. Then there’s discussion of all four together right afterwords.

First is Denise. She wants a church that’s “ready to go tribal. People belong because, they belong.” Instead of trying to define who belongs and who doesn’t, “what can we do together because we belong?” The world is getting more complex and more connected. We have more and more rapid fire friendships, rather than deep, long-lasting connections. She got together with a group of folks who had struggled with church, and they decided to call themselves a tribe. It seemed to be the most fitting word. We’re formed by being truly present to one another, something you see in a tribe. They do all of life together. “Church is about connecting to my tribe!”

Now it’s Makeesha’s turn. She’s focusing on doubt. “We would rather have certainity than to have doubt. It’s safer; it’s more comfortable.”

“The opposite of faith is not doubt but certainity.”

“We’re not called to be people of certainity … We feel like there’s this nihilistic no-man’s land that we enter into when we feel doubt.”

“It was a cultural shift during the Cold War that caused us to fear doubt.”

“Doubt is what drives us to God.”

“We must embrace the profound reality that we are people of doubt who have beliefs rather than people of faith who have doubts.”

Now it’s Lisa on Us vs. Them.

“We can’t exist with these kind of categories anymore.”

“The world has fallen apart, there’s a lot of working to do, and maybe the energy we spent judging each other could be spent working together.”

There is a difference between seeing and naming differences and creating a hierarchy where we usually come out as the superior class of people.

“Would we want to be viewed by our neighbor as an other, a convert, a target .. someone to be reached.”

She just said “I will quote ‘The McLaren.’” Love it!!

Religious pluralism notices and explores differences to deepen one’s own faith.

“We rise or fall together; we sink or swim together.”

“No more us and them, just love your neighbor, then love some more, then love some more.”

Carla’s up now on loneliness. People come into communities of faiths hoping to find connection with other people.

Church is not primarily a place to find friends, but to find purpose.

“We don’t need more friends, we need our lives to matter.”

“We feel like just one in a crowd, whose life doesn’t really matter.”

Profiling the Blue Man Group, where the audience participates in the show. “It doesn’t matter if you’re an insider or an outsider, the fact that you showed up makes all the difference.”

We create something new when a new person walks in the door.

We need to move forward together into the work that God has in the world.

Whew! That was fast, and I loved it. They’re gonna be back in a minute to discuss. Now Heatherlyn is playing. Her voice is ridiculous!

“By tribe, I’m not trying to find another word for small group.” -Denise

“People are looking for places in life where they have a natural connection or withness.” -Denise

We need to let go of the institutionalism to become more tribal. -Denise

There’s a way to form identity without having to be oppositional or against the other. -Lisa

We need to hear everybody’s story, not just from ‘The McLaren.’ – Makeesha

Makeesha is sharing her story now, starting with a form of Pentecostalism that was very certain and rigid, leading to her being called a heretic and kicked out of ministry.

“We cannot actually have faith unless we have doubt with it.” -Makeesha

“We’ve set up expectations for people in community that cannot be met.” – Denise

Tribes aren’t the promise that these are going to be your ‘best friends’ for the rest of your life.

“Churches aren’t gonna be Match.com. The point isn’t for you to come in and make a new best friend.” -Carla

Carla – Purpose-Driven life tapping into desire for meaning and purpose. The title sold the book; it almost didn’t matter what was inside.

A lot of our loneliness comes from a sense that our life is meaningless and has no purpose.

“God is up to something, and I want to be part of that.” -Carla

“People get really freaked out when you start using words like pluralism.” – Makeesha

“Conservative evangelicals don’t do pluralism.” -Lisa

“[Pluralism] is a concept, but its always about relationship. It’s pretty easy to exclude people when they’re just a concept or an idea.” -Lisa

“Holiness is marked by profound joy.” -Lisa

“The Muslim, the Jew, the seeker, and the athiest are all loved by God and are part of God’s tribe writ large.” -Lisa

Can form tribes by choosing to belong together, not necessarily common beliefs. – Denise

Someone just quoted Jeremiah Wright, “Different is not deficient.”

The other for some of us may be other Christians. -Lisa

Now Heatherlyn’s up again, and then I think we’re splitting for dinner.