“This is the new Pentecost.”

I don’t know how to describe what happened today other than to say ‘Holy’. Today was Holy.

As far as the ‘what happened?’ goes, Doug and Tony spoke briefly and then we thanked all of the individuals who helped make the weekend happen. Then after a song from Heatherlyn (who had one of the best quotes of the day with “Each and every one of us is God’s gift to the world.”), the remaining presenters each took a section of the room, and all of us went to the person we were most interesting in talking to some more and spent about 20 minutes chatting. Then everyone got a chance at the microphone and got to say what the event did for them or what they think we should do from here. We closed then with a time of prayer and music.

Now the thanking people is normally somewhat dry and boring, but not today. You could literally feel the gratitude in the room. Several people from the “audience” jumped in to say thank-you in the their own ways as well. It didn’t feel obligatory in the slightest; there was a real sense that something significant had just happened, and that we were acknowledging the people who make that something significant possible.

The conversation with the presenters was awesome as well. The event was so rapid-fire, it was a needed opportunity to sit down with one of them and get to talk more at length and ask more questions.

Then we all got a chance to share thoughts with everyone else, and it was powerful. Again, the immense sense of gratitude for being able to be a part of this experience was overwhelming. I had 2 favorite moments amidst all the comments. The first came when a lady, probably middle-aged, got the mic, and her hand was just shaking terribly. The weight of what she needed to say was just overwhelming. Then she said, “This is the new Pentecost.” This is a new revelation of God’s Spirit. This is God doing a new thing. This is new life being born once again.

The second came when an elderly gentleman is a suit got the mic. I don’t have the exact words, but it was along the lines of, “I didn’t know it, but my soul and my spirit have been waiting for this moment for the last 38 years. I always wanted to go to Heaven when I was 75. My password on my computer is Heaven75. It didn’t happen and I’ve lived four years past then, and now I know why. I got to live long enough to see this dream of mine come alive.” I’m not doing it anything like justice right now; several of us were literally holding back tears.

Nanette Sawyer then got to mention how powerful it was for her to see a group of women doing this. There were certainly men behind the event, but all the teaching, all the preaching, all the messages were the voices of women. And they blew all of us away.

Tony Jones then got the mic for a minute and said he’s heard a number of folks talking about what a powerful experience this was, but confused as to whether or not they would be accepted back in their home contexts, whether this kind of open, accepting, and inviting Christianity would work where they were from. He asked us to look around and feel the courage in the room. And it really was in some sense tangible. He sent us off, along with Doug, encouraging us to take that courage and not live in nostalgia for this experience, or try to recreate it again somehow, but to go forth, create, experiment, do something new wherever we are. We then took 42 seconds in silent prayer, and again I was literally holding back tears. No one said a word, but God was so overpowering in those 42 seconds. It was almost a commissioning without words. We wanted to do a new thing and expand the Kingdom of God in the world, and God was so present and so “with-us” right there, right now. Then one of the attenders named Melody, a lady I had joined for dinner the night before, helped lead us in a song, “We have a song to sing, a song about courage.” Then after one more prayer we were done. I chatted with a few more folks for awhile, including Jay Bakker again, and then I left, and it was done.

The event anyway was done. The impact on the lives of those who were there, however, is only just beginning. And I can’t even begin to imagine what that will look like.