This Thursday April 29th I'll be headed to Washington DC to attend TransFORM, a FREE conference; a gathering of missional practitioners on the East Coast to learn from each other and to mobilize others for forming new missional communities.
The collective voices assembled to share is staggering for any conference...especially a FREE one. Our friend Kathy Escobar, is the first keynote speaker of the conference Friday morning! This is really exciting to me because Kathy is "just a woman who co-pastors a small...messy community in Denver"...she's one of 'us'. She doesn't have a book deal...or a speaking tour...she is simply in the trenches and telling about her experiences as someone who is living it forreals.
Some of the recognizable heavy hitters will be there too...like Brian McLaren and Peter Rollins, but...honestly...I am most interested in hearing from the more obscure people, like Eliacin Rosario-Cruz and Anthony Smith...who again are incredible visionary emergence Christians...living in the trenches...Their voices are significant and timely because both are people of color...Something that has been notably missing in the greater, more visible Emergent conversation for some time now.
Because this conference is going to be relatively small ~150 or so attending...I will have more proximity to many people I wouldn't otherwise...and that I may never cross paths with outside of the virtual world...again. Since I'm all about asking questions...and getting to know the 'other'...I want to ask you guys to check out the conference schedule and workshops...and let me know who and what in particular is of interest to you...if you have questions or ideas you want expressed or communicated...I would love to take that with me. I would be happy to attend the workshops that you all as my community, are the most eager or interested in hearing about. Please let me know ASAP ...because I am leaving early Thursday morning and I won't likely be back on the computer the whole time I am away. I am really excited for this opportunity and I want to take you with me!
By the way...did I mention that this conference is mostly cost-FREE for me? Airline ticket United Flight award miles...$5, ride from Dulles to the 'city' FREE...thanks to Kimberly Dinsdale and Brian Merrit...accommodations FREE...BIG thank you Amy Moffitt...my only expense will be my meals! I can't wait!
Monday, April 26, 2010
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
Joy,
I am so excited for you. This event looks very informative, and a great deal of fun.
My advise to you is to select those workshops that interest you the most. Your growth and development, your voice in all things emerging should be nurtured by the workshops. Go where you feel lead!
I look forward to hearing about your experiences. Safe travels good friend!
So excited to hear your stories, Joy! This will be a blast, I'm sure. Wish I could be a fly on the wall in the "engineering communities that work" session, but other than that I'm eager to hear the report on whatever you deicde to attend!
I had a breif FB convo with Penny Davis @ Arizona Center for Contemporary Theology to set up a lunch meeting...I mentioned that I was attending the TransFORM conference in DC and she was intrigued enough to work out her schedule to go! This is very cool because I have been hoping to connect with her for several months and NOW I will have ample opportunity! This just keeps getting better all the time!
Glad you'll get to finally get to meet Penny, she's great.
As far as the workshops, I echo Debbie's sentiments. I think you'll be led by what led you to go to this in the first place. I appreciate your mindfulness of the community, but as a leader of it, I say lead us where you will.
As always, I appreciate your heart, mind, and passion.
Post a Comment