Around Our Network / June 11, 2014

Dear friends,

This note is about how God has been moving in our Network. It doesn’t include all of the things that are happening, but hopefully it is a good compilation. Read it like a newspaper.

What’s happening in the Network? June 11, 2014

 

• We heard how people were filled with the Spirit in our Pentecost PMs

It was Pentecost this Sunday! Our congregations were on fire! The Spirit has descended and we were celebrating the church’s birthday. We creatively worshiped God at our public meetings.

At Broad & Washington -- Everything looks happy with the rainbow tongues of fire descending. Rod, Sarah, and the team sang to us and we sang back. Lots of sharing and fire. Listen to BW’s public meeting here.

At Frankford & Norris -- Elements of Mariko’s talk were evident throughout our meeting: unity was expressed through diversity; the message was clear about the wonders of God; it was an efficient work of our living temple; and it was wild and risky with love at the center. The highlight was the kids leading us in a creative action under their glittery tongues of fire installation! Listen to FN’s public meeting here.

At Marlton & Crescent -- Scott gave us a Pentecost shock when he did the entire welcome in Japanese. He helped us wrestle with the unfamiliar, and as we sang, we prayed through the words we gave and the words we received. We finished out the book of Colossians in step with Acts 2 as we pondered prayer, action, and openness (all Pentecost themes)!

At Broad & Dauphin -- Beth led us to light candles together, Jonny helped us consider the six streams of faith that have influenced us throughout the ages. Megan led us to sing the Newsboys, circa 2006, and she sounded way better than Peter Furler! Listen to BD’s public meeting here.

• The love of Circle of Hope spilled onto Frankford Ave when we celebrated Circle Thrift

The party last Friday on Frankford Ave. was a great incarnation of the success and blessing that our network of thrift stores have enjoyed over the last decade. They have blessed people locally, and globally, as well as our Network. Thank God!

• Our Design Teams discerned the languages that our region understands

Last Monday, our Design Team leaders were trained about languages that our region speaks. We want to lead people to worship God in a way they understand. This is a direct response to one of the goals we have for our Map this year. Nearly 40 of us gathered at Frankford & Norris for a very stimulating time.

• We started praying with voices from Europe and Northern Asia @ Circle of Hope Daily Prayer

In honor of Pentecost and the movement started in that one room in Jerusalem, we are remembering all of the places that the Spirit has moved across the world. Look forward to hearing from voices both past and present on our blog: cohdailyprayer2014.wordpress.com. This week is all about Eastern Europe and Northern Asia.

• Philly gathered at PrideDay, and so did we

Ben, Anthony, and Michael had a table at the PhillyPride event at Penn’s landing. We just want to be where Philly gathers. Our love and hope are felt just by our presence. Contact Ben White to find out where the Circle of Hope Summer Tour stops next.

• BD folks asked and learned about Circle of Hope

Some people interested in connecting to BD gathered in north Brewerytown for dinner and a dialogue session about Circle of Hope. The pastors sometimes host congregational times that are specifically intended to help people learn about our Network.

• Several of our pastors challenged us to be the media:

From Rod’s blog: Someone said, “Why don’t we just desert [Facebook] and stop using the medium and focus on being the medium? We already have a great communication system. It is called living in community. Let’s focus on being the media, not on conforming to some other rubric. Let’s be face to face, not Facebook.”

From Jonny’s blog: I’ll admit, it took me about a day to think about getting off social media, but I’ve decided to be the media instead of bend my knee to it. For the summer I’m going to stop posting on Facebook, stop Tweeting (and receiving push notifications every time Seinfeld tweets), and stop taking pictures of the food I’m making and posting them to Instagram.

From Nate’s weekly email to cell leaders: What social media like Facebook really does to me is that it draws me into an endless loop of meaningless information without my conscious realization. I consume it, I like it, I have my say... but I don't create anything. When I get to that place, I move from being proactive to being reactive. And I think I'm far more reactive these days than I am proactive. I realized that I'd rather create. I realized that I'd rather take you out for coffee than like your status (being face to face is far a better use of my time than being in front of a screen). I realized that I'd rather pray than check my device to see if anyone liked me enough today.

• And while you’re over at the blogs…

Did you see Rod’s post about his embarrassment of riches? Or Jonny’s about the best scene he’s seen on TV all year? The two of them also riffed on the trending Al Jazeera article about hipster gentrification and the new Amtrak mural. Jonny said he’s not waiting for economic justice. Rod wrote, “The hipsters I know are much more likely to be a good neighbor than Amtrak.”