What’s been happening in the Network? July 16, 2014
We worshiped God and made new friends at our PMs
At Broad & Washington -- Matthew’s misfitting and scandalous party (see the gospel of Matthew, chapter 9), a full and rockin' team, strife in the Liberian enclave, and a surprising number of people, were all part of the evening. The AM PM rocked the morning at Chew Playground. Listen to BW’s public meeting here.
At Frankford & Norris -- We had some spirited dialogue, aided by real time remote-controlled polling, around our conviction “Fomenting diversity & reconciliation is at the prophetic heart of our gospel.” Dan & Julius taught us a beautiful song in Mandarin that got us considering Jesus’ love permeating the universe, a new song based on Psalm 36 and a chance to pray with Flatiron Wildcats (not a sports team!) We are enjoying meeting an influx of people looking for a connection, which makes the whole meeting full of inspiring hope. Listen to FN’s public meeting here.
At Marlton & Crescent -- Lots of good things abounded at MC. We took Paul’s prayer from Romans 15 and put it into practice. Nate led us to worship with songs about overflowing hope and the filling of the Spirit, and Scott Sorrentino helped us creatively take our tears and turn them into overflowing hope as we created something with God (and made a mess of water and watercolor on the floor). Kim Hewlett shared the story of Sojourner Truth as she talked about new rhythms and spiritual growth.
At Broad & Dauphin -- God is moving at Broad & Dauphin. We were encouraged as we worshiped with Southeast and East Asia this week. Luke taught us about the Japanese concept of space known as “ma.” Justin and his team led us to worship--traversing all sorts of emotions as we related to God in a variety of ways. Jonny answered the question, What if I'm too depressed or anxious to be in a cell? The talkback was particularly rich, as people shared very personal things. Listen to BD’s public meeting here.
The pastors made a fun first videocast, Someone Asked: “Why is the church so stupid?"
Everyone has a lot of good questions! The pastors are always in conversation about theology, sociology, politics, science, psychology, and host of other things. So they want to engage others in some good thinking and teaching to help people grow and to stimulate our mission. Maybe you’ll find their response to “why is the church so stupid?” interesting. It is home-made, just like Circle of Hope. Find it on our youtube channel, here.
Marlton & Crescent hosted cell leaders and Ben White trained them
On Saturday, Ben White led the cell leaders to ponder how we lead people to Christ. Stories abounded and Ben taught us to be bold. Newest cell leader Ra Mendoza won the book The Critical Journey: Stages in the Life of Faith by Janet O. Hagberg and Robert Guelich.
Vanessa Caruso led a crew of people in the “Get a renter into MC” charge
Marlton & Crescent needs to get some of their space rented. Amongst other things, they have a great plan to turn their garage spaces into artist studio space. After the monthly cell leader training, Vanessa (who leads the Church Planting Core) gathered a group of people to pass out fliers at a local art festival. They met a lot of people and got the word out. What a great team!
We sent a delegation to the Brethren in Christ General Conference in Lancaster
Every two years, our extended church family gathers to dialogue, worship, and pray together. Over the weekend, BIC churches from all over the country (and others parts of the world) descended on Lancaster, PA where we engaged in four days of discussion, discernment, and decision-making. We were well-represented and our reputation for honesty, dialogue, compassion, and for making a safe space, went ahead of us!
At Broad & Washington -- Matthew’s misfitting and scandalous party (see the gospel of Matthew, chapter 9), a full and rockin' team, strife in the Liberian enclave, and a surprising number of people, were all part of the evening. The AM PM rocked the morning at Chew Playground. Listen to BW’s public meeting here.
At Frankford & Norris -- We had some spirited dialogue, aided by real time remote-controlled polling, around our conviction “Fomenting diversity & reconciliation is at the prophetic heart of our gospel.” Dan & Julius taught us a beautiful song in Mandarin that got us considering Jesus’ love permeating the universe, a new song based on Psalm 36 and a chance to pray with Flatiron Wildcats (not a sports team!) We are enjoying meeting an influx of people looking for a connection, which makes the whole meeting full of inspiring hope. Listen to FN’s public meeting here.
At Marlton & Crescent -- Lots of good things abounded at MC. We took Paul’s prayer from Romans 15 and put it into practice. Nate led us to worship with songs about overflowing hope and the filling of the Spirit, and Scott Sorrentino helped us creatively take our tears and turn them into overflowing hope as we created something with God (and made a mess of water and watercolor on the floor). Kim Hewlett shared the story of Sojourner Truth as she talked about new rhythms and spiritual growth.
At Broad & Dauphin -- God is moving at Broad & Dauphin. We were encouraged as we worshiped with Southeast and East Asia this week. Luke taught us about the Japanese concept of space known as “ma.” Justin and his team led us to worship--traversing all sorts of emotions as we related to God in a variety of ways. Jonny answered the question, What if I'm too depressed or anxious to be in a cell? The talkback was particularly rich, as people shared very personal things. Listen to BD’s public meeting here.
The pastors made a fun first videocast, Someone Asked: “Why is the church so stupid?"
Everyone has a lot of good questions! The pastors are always in conversation about theology, sociology, politics, science, psychology, and host of other things. So they want to engage others in some good thinking and teaching to help people grow and to stimulate our mission. Maybe you’ll find their response to “why is the church so stupid?” interesting. It is home-made, just like Circle of Hope. Find it on our youtube channel, here.
Marlton & Crescent hosted cell leaders and Ben White trained them
On Saturday, Ben White led the cell leaders to ponder how we lead people to Christ. Stories abounded and Ben taught us to be bold. Newest cell leader Ra Mendoza won the book The Critical Journey: Stages in the Life of Faith by Janet O. Hagberg and Robert Guelich.
Vanessa Caruso led a crew of people in the “Get a renter into MC” charge
Marlton & Crescent needs to get some of their space rented. Amongst other things, they have a great plan to turn their garage spaces into artist studio space. After the monthly cell leader training, Vanessa (who leads the Church Planting Core) gathered a group of people to pass out fliers at a local art festival. They met a lot of people and got the word out. What a great team!
We sent a delegation to the Brethren in Christ General Conference in Lancaster
Every two years, our extended church family gathers to dialogue, worship, and pray together. Over the weekend, BIC churches from all over the country (and others parts of the world) descended on Lancaster, PA where we engaged in four days of discussion, discernment, and decision-making. We were well-represented and our reputation for honesty, dialogue, compassion, and for making a safe space, went ahead of us!
Jerome Stafford inaugurated a new blog for the Circle of Peacemakers
Check it out and all their other social media connections:
Check it out and all their other social media connections:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/circlepeaceteam
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/circleofpeacemakers
A new Audio Art choir started practicing
Cameron DeWhitt and Joseph Mahoney are spearheading our ever-refining efforts to develop our artistry and offer worship resources. It is a talented (and loud, when they need to be) group.
We started praying with voices from Australia and Oceania @ 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. And on our blog celebrating the transhistorical body, July 11 was Benedict of Nursia day.
Our blogs were great places of sharing and thinking...
Rod wrote about the movement of the Spirit in the Kingdom of God as he reflected on the BIC general conference and “the state." Jonny offered a review of Frank Viola’s Pagan Christianity (the author actually commented on it!), and his thoughts on the BIC General Conference. Rachel wrote about four Brethren in Christ distinctives that she doesn’t want to lose.
A new Audio Art choir started practicing
Cameron DeWhitt and Joseph Mahoney are spearheading our ever-refining efforts to develop our artistry and offer worship resources. It is a talented (and loud, when they need to be) group.
We started praying with voices from Australia and Oceania @ 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. And on our blog celebrating the transhistorical body, July 11 was Benedict of Nursia day.
Our blogs were great places of sharing and thinking...
Rod wrote about the movement of the Spirit in the Kingdom of God as he reflected on the BIC general conference and “the state." Jonny offered a review of Frank Viola’s Pagan Christianity (the author actually commented on it!), and his thoughts on the BIC General Conference. Rachel wrote about four Brethren in Christ distinctives that she doesn’t want to lose.
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