Emerging Church Conference
Providence College and Seminary in Otterburne, Manitoba will be hosting a conference this October on "Ministering with the Emerging Church." Featured speaker: Dr. Gary Collins.
The target audience for this group seems to be pastors and other church leaders, and if I read the info right it looks like the purpose of the conference is to try and introduce these leaders to the concept of the Emerging Church. From what I can tell no one involved with the conference is an "official" member of the emergent organizations - which may not be a bad thing.
The conference looks like it is going to break down into 2 parts; one about counselling and "Christian coaching" (i'm not sure what the difference is); and the second, which looks like it will be more informal/introductory in nature about emergent. Here's a quote from the conference webpage:
"The emergent church movement is a strong new force, mostly evangelical, that is growing all over the world, with churches rising up and having a significant impact. the people in these churches seem to have turned away from traditional churches and many think the seeker-sensitive mega-church model is out of date. The emergent churches seem to have turned away from much of what people like you and I grew up with. How can we minister with them?"
The conference will run from Friday, October 21st to Monday, October 24th. Registration is due by the 10th of October. If anyone's interested in going I will likely be there for at least part of it, if for no other reason than morbid curiosity. Let me know.
posted by Grey Owl at 12:07 a.m.
20 Comments:
I still find it really funny that Gary Collins is the feature preacher for an emerging church conference.
Take good notes, guys, I'd love to hear your take on what actually happens there!
I think I will attend, at least for the Monday session, which seems to be the only real day truly focusing on the emerging church. However, going for the whole weekend costs the same as going for just Monday. If I am in town, I'll check it out (if you go with me, Grey Owl).
Peace,
Jamie
a little far for me to go... I count on y'all up there to keep me informed.
I have a question. Dan- I'm posting it here on your blog rather than mine so y'all can gloat a little if you so choose. Why do you suppose I've received more encouragement and blog visits from you Canadians than anybody else lately? (Is this where I write, "eh?" ?)
For church in the Deep South my thinking is pretty far out of bounds, but from the northern emergent perspective, I'm freakishly conservative. Yet, you guys have taken me in. I don't understand it, but I appreciate it!
help me dan/grey - since I am not familiar with the college - who is Gary Collins and does he know anything about emergent/emerging expressions = the plan looks to me a bit like repackaging the same old stuff, but the milieu is different than ones i am used to. Is there something here worth seeing/hearing?
Gary Collins wrote books on counseling that i used to read back in the 80's. He is a good guy - I dont know how much he knows what is going on from personal interaction with the emerging church scene, but i think its great that he is taking the initiative to inform and equip pastors and leaders to minister among and with the em. church folk. i wish him the best and hope the conference goes well.
Wow, am I ever glad I left the comments on for this one!
Re: Gary Collins - I've read his counseling and found them to be really great. As far as his relationship with the emerging church, I really haven't heard much about it. I was actually quite surprised myself to find him as the speaker - but as I said to Jamie in an email, this seems to be a conference On the emerging church rather than one FOR the emerging church. As in it will be very much an information session for curious or unfamiliar parties. I'm curious to hear the perspective that he's going to bring to it. It may turn out to be very critical in nature, but I still think it'd be worth going just to satisfy my curiosity.
Robby - If I go I shall send you a full report.
Jamie - If it works for you I shall make it work for me. We'll sit in the back and pass notes and giggle like schoolgirls.
Oldbill - Now that Andrew and I have commented, is there anything about this still unclear? Let me know.
Andrew - thanks for stopping by my little site. I hope the Greenbelt festival went well; I'll have to swing by your site and see your thoughts!
Cindy - Far be it from me to call you a freakish anything! I think part of the reason you may feel more accepted "up here" is because of the fundamental difference in how our countries react to diversity. That is, it is a generally accepted fact among sociologists that the US has a "melting pot" culture (diverse elements are encouraged to mix in and become more like the whole of the country) while Canada has a "mosaic" culture (diverse elements are encouraged to keep their own culture, which adds to the diversity of the whole).
That tends to make Canadians a bit more accepting of differences. While I don't mean to imply that we are in any way "better" than you folks, we are a bit more post-modern simply due to the fact that there are so many viewpoints represented in our country, and we are taught from a very young age that diversity and difference are beautiful. Whereas in the States there may be more of an emphasis on being "normal" or "like everyone else."
I'm not trying to bash the States at all - far from it. I'm just trying to illustrate that your differences from the people around you in the south gernerally will cause more strife than they would in Canada. Jamie is a dual citizen and deals with issues like this on his blog - I'd encourage you to check it out.
In any case, Cindy, you are more than welcome to join in with our conversation. Early next week I'll have a post about how to become an Honourary Canadian. Check it out if you're interested!
thanks! I've read some of the back and forth about Canadian vs US mindset. To be honest, I thought it was a bunch of hooey at first. My experience on the net just may be proving me wrong.
The problem for me (as if I have only one)is that the folks in Southern US churches are generally way less accomodating than our northern US friends. Sadly, I'm finding few opportunities to talk with anyone who is like-minded in my area. There's the attitude that, "Yeah, the system stinks and somebody should fix it. Now excuse me because I have to hurry off to go plan my programs and serve the machine."
Oaky, nobody has actually said that. But most of my good friends are in ministry in one way or another- most vocationally. They're all so overworked and caught up in it, they don't have time to stop and consider how it should be different. Since I'm not depending on the church for income, I have a broader perspective. Not only do I feel like an outsider in my congregation, but I feel like an outsider with my friends in ministry as well. I try to talk to folks, and they just look at me like I'm a freak.
I said all that to again say, Thanks.
(Of course, if y'all heard me talk, you might take back the statment about not thinking I'm freakish.)
spent a lot of time moving back and forth between US & Canada - differences are real - re freakish talking, i think it's just too cold here for us to risk long vowels, teeth might freeze. Y'all can tell a much better yarn tho, Cindy. thanks GreyDan for the info - tho i won't be there. Will be at the cuexpo at u of wpg - anybody attending?
Bill - what's the cuexpo?
Hey Grey Owl,
Speaking of becoming Canadian, have you read any Wil Ferguson?
Peace,
Jamie
sorry i made it sound as if was happening at the same time, cuexpo 2005 is conference/expo bringing together academics, community leaders, activists etc. on urban / inner city issues - address is http://cuexpo.uwinnipeg.ca/index.htm. I probably wouldn't go if i was in ministry in the burbs, but we are literally in the centre of the city - and midway between three campuses [uw, booth, redriver] - looks like it should be good. Really there is no connection between the two thoughts/events, except how they impact my pocketbook.
Jamie - no, who's he?
OldBill - thanks for the info!
Oops - I just have been informed that the conference will actually be taking place in winnipeg. My bad! If this changes anything for anyone, let me know.
Dan- I was reading at Emergent Voyageurs and saw your note about studying sociolgy and psychology. I majored in social work and sociology way back when. Just found it interesting. Of course, if I had it to do all over again, I'd probably head towards physics and astronomy... Alas, those 20 years just ain't coming back.
Will Ferguson (sp?) is a Canadian author of some hilarious books on Canadian culture, namely "How To Be A Canadian" (you might want to check it out Cindy- wink) and "Beauty Tips from Moose Jaw"
Peace,
Jamie
Re: Prov's conference
While I still chuckle at Gary Collins being the main speaker (although Steve Masterson and Don Sawatsky I remember fondly from my days as a student at Prov), I hope that the dean of the seminary, Dr. Dave Johnson, is facilitating some of the conversation, because he's really on top of things when it comes to postmoderism and the faith.
Southern tip for Canadians:
"Y'all" is singular.
"All y'all" is plural.
I learned that as a child when one of my dad's many job transfers took us for two wonderful years in Chattanooga Tennessee (and I'm still a Vols fan to this day!).
Cindy, once upon a time, I felt like I was one of perhaps two or three people in Winnipeg talking about this stuff, and now there's a whole whack of people, so hang in there!
"whole whack of..." is a Canadianism that my frieds in L.A. found very humourous. It means "lots".
oops.
Previous post should read "friends", not "frieds", although at time in The Valley, we were all approaching a fried condition at times!
Hey Jamie- I may check out the book. After this summer, my hot weather hating hubby is thinking Canada sounds pretty good! It's over 90 again today, and we have a LOT of green to mow every weekend.
Dan- I had to turn word verification back on, so let me know if it locks you out again.
robbymac- thanks for explaining "whole whack of." I thought you'd been beating up on your frieds.
Cindy - sociology, eh? I knew there was a reason why we clicked... I'll try posting on your site soon. Hope it likes me better.
Jamie - thanks, I'll check him out.
Rob - Yeah, Gary Collins was a bit of a surprise for me, but who knows? Maybe he's been spending all his free time on this and is some crazy emergent expert. Anybody seen a "Gary-C from Canada" posting anywhere?
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