I’m finally getting round to posting about our time Monday evening with Up/rooted, an emergent cohort and monthly gathering of emerging Christians in the Chicagoland area. Others have posted their summaries (Helen, John, Mike [coming]) of the conversation, but I wanted to add my own reflections.
First, Up/rooted is directed by Mike and Julie Clawson and they often meet together down in the Warrenville area — and that’s a long trip for Kris and me with our incurable instinct to get up early. That we were scheduled this time in Park Ridge was great; that it was from 7-9pm was a bit on the edge for us. (Such is our age.) The event was splendid and hosted by Redeemer (Lutheran) Church. Thanks to them.
Second, most importantly we met lots of folks and made new friends — we had read lots of blogs and lots of things about these folks but had not been to the gathering — but we met the Clawsons and Nanette Sawyer and Helen and John Armstrong and really I can’t name them all.
Third, I led a conversation about The Real Mary, and the conversation was very stimulating to me — and by and large I think we were near the same page. As you know, I think the Magnificat is the secret to understanding Mary, and I think we can only be fair to Mary’s Magnificat if we understand it as a social protest of Herod the Great’s unjust structures and policies. So, I see it as a protest. The question of the day came from Helen at the back, which I summarize in this way: What happens if we have the kind of fire in our eyes that Mary had and have such fire in evangelical churches?
What do you think?