The Big Tent
Posted August 5th, 2008 by Keith Howard
The Emerging2Where event, with Diana Butler Bass, nudged my thinking. The content that Bass and the workshop leaders provided was helpful and often provocative.
The bump came from the event itself.
I have grown accustomed to people leaving large gatherings of church feeling somewhat bland. "Parts were OK but others were to be endured."
When I was younger, the general meetings of conference used to provide both nurture and challenge. My perspective was inevitably forced to grow and I learned something. I experienced those gatherings as high holy days.
Then something happened. The world changed - and without consulting us! We became preoccupied with signs of our own crises and the strains of a church system designed for other times. I grew accustomed to the shift, like the occasional arthritic flare.
Then a new thing began to emerge. Events like Epiphany Explorations, hosted by First Metropolan United Church in Victoria each January, began to drawn hundreds from across the country for days. Lay and ordered filled the pews to listen to world class speakers mixed with lesser known (although skilled) workshop leaders. And yes there are pews! No table groups or sophisticated process - mostly "empty vessel/fill me up" presentations according to the description of one friend - and yet we come, like hungry pilgrims eager for tips of where to find insight, nourishment and, fundamentally, hope.
In September, Emerging Spirit will launch the next round of congregational learning events called Living the Hope. They are important and, we believe, valuable to the hard work of congregational development. We are excited about them and believe they deepen the conversations of the earlier Living the Welcome events and will assist congregational teams to integrate their insights with practice.
But I have begun to wonder about the place of the big tent filled for days with stunning music, imagination, challenge and learning. Even in the Internet age there is nothing quite like it.
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Comments
"The Big Tent"
Part of the appeal of "the big tent" is the sense that we are a part of something much bigger than ourselves. I attended two General Councils in the '90's, and some of that feeling was expressed then by those attending. It drew us out of some of the pettiness of being congregational church and into the hope of journeying together (as denomination) towards a much bigger vision. I think we still long for that feeling. It seems like we are all very lonely right now in our little corners of the church. We need a sense of working together towards something "bigger than ourselves." Dialogue with each other would be a good start (as well as continuing to consult with other voices outside of the UCC)!
owc - ontario women's conference as well
It was a time to get together with fellow women on a similair journey.
It also, though, had the affect of making one realize how isolated one is when returnint to the home church.
For me, on-line communities can carry those feelings forward. Instead of reading a book, and be challenged alone, one can get on-line & explore your questions immediately.
We need to come together, and have the cup filled up, yet, we also need to be able to sustain the communities movement forward in the quiet times as well.