Gettin out and about

Well, for the past week or so, I've been getting out and around the tri-cities area trying to make connections with people. This is just not easy, even without a job like mine. Last weekend I joined in the Saginaw and Bay city rowing clubs' regatta row of 13.5 miles (from Saginaw to Bay City) and it was one of the more painful things I've done in my adventuresome life. Why? I'm so glad you asked. When one rows, the hands are rubbed repeatedly over a wooden or plastic ore and this causes blisters--big puffy blisters on the palm of the hand. Also, you must sit up very straight and hold this straight-ness while you row (horrible for chronic slouchers like me). Finally your ass is moving back and forth on a sliding wooden seat that is guaranteed to numb your cheeks for hours to come. And then, when you are finished and your arms cannot possible do another thing, you have to pick up the boat and store it. Joy. Why do I do this? Well, I'm falling in love this sport--also, I meet people. It was recommended to me to do things that I like (definately good advice). So, tomorrow I will be trying to go to a yoga class in Midland and see who I can meet there. Again, this is something I think I would like even though my experience with it is very limited. If I don't make connections, I suppose I will still be incredibly fit right? :)

Yesterday I had the opportunity (which I took) to go to Northwood University and see if I could meet some students. It was Northwood's "Get Connected" day with churches and businesses coming out and putting up displays for students to visit, get info, and most importantly, get stuff. Yours truly didn't have any "stuff" other than some cookies and flyers. There was no way I was going to compete with the Mackinaw Center's Students for a Free Economy; they had an ipod they put up for a raffle. Oh, and t-shirts. To top things off, just next to them was the Evangelical Free church which has more money than God and probably holds his mortgage. They had their twenty-something group advertised and plenty of twenty-something people running the table. They too were giving something away but I couldn't see what it was. This lead me to really think about what I was trying to accomplish because I'm not entirely sure now what that is.

As far as the emerging church is concerned, I'm not sure if there is anyone doing anything like this on college campuses. I should google it, but all that I've read thus far has been off-campus. Can an emerging church even be sustained in a college setting where the community is constantly changing? I will be meeting with two students tomorrow and I am very curious to see if this model is attractive to them or if they would rather have a more traditional college ministry. Frankly, what is the difference between a college ministry and an emerging church? What does a Canterbury club look like? I know the priest in charge of the C-club at NYU was doing services and dinners--pretty much what I want to do. Which makes me jump immediately to the concept of worship in the emergent community--it can look like anything. But is it merely a difference in worship that would set us apart? What about theologically? I have a theology that is very broad, would be considered very liberal, permissive even. I see it as a theology that engages with the world where it is already and not try and make it something it probably shouldn't be (change, however, is still a essential element--obviously the world is still screwed up). Where does that place me with college students? How do I engage them theologically and challenge them without betraying my own values and expect them to be in the same place as I? Would the group even function differently than other college groups? Would we be more "out" in the world or would we function as a social group essentially? See, people tell me that their groups are aimed at bringing people to Christ. This is what I am doing as well, but I also want that relationship with Jesus to extend beyond their minds and into their bodies, their relationships, and their everyday rhythm. I know this is what other groups would claim as well, so again, how is what I am doing different? Maybe I wont' know exactly until I experience it. For now it seems good enough to say that I want Jesus to influence what they do, meaning what they create, rather than influencing what they don't do. To clarify, I want people to worry more about what God is calling them into, rather than what he is calling them out of. Even more simply, I want people to engage with a God that is more about do's than about dont's. Does this help?
I am in such a funny place today. I'm trying to find my way down a path where I have no sight, few guides and a language I've taken away from seminary that doesn't quite work in this context. I'm still being translated into this new area, this new job, this new work that I was not trained to do. So, today is a little hard for me and I woke up tired and a little down. I have to tell myself that I have only been on the job two months and that it isn't my time, but God's. That sounds so cliche that I could choke on it, but really I have no control over any of this and I find that disconcerting. Church has really gotten cliche though too. I think that's why i'm so attracted to the emerging church--because it is a surprising thing. Now, how do I tell others about it? Hmmmm.