The Emergent Village sponsored the gathering I was at last week, held at the Glorietta Retreat Center, sixteen miles east of Santa Fe, New Mexico. Below is a picture of the registration building and a look at the mountains surrounding the camp. Our nearly 170 participants were lodged in hotel-style arrangements, apartments, and cabins, according to particular needs. The facilities were great!
We all arrived by Monday evening, and after milling around for a while….
….. Doug Pagitt got folks together to hear what the week would be like.
There were folks from a few months old to seventy years old.
For the next three days, breakfast and lunch were hosted at several locations with volunteer cooking and cleanup crews. Everyone was invited to participate in meal activities. The evening meals were excursions into Santa Fe.
Tuesday and Wednesday began with breakfast and then yoga until about 10:00 for all those who wanted to participate. Some organized morning (and evening) prayers, and some just used the time for conversation or private time.
The day centered around 1.5-hour discussion times at 10:30, 1:30, and 3:30. Everyone and anyone were invited to sign up to host a discussion. The list of topics was divided over the three time slots and assigned meeting locations. At 10:00, each discussion leader stood up and described what they had in mind in three or four sentences.
Everyone then noted which events they wanted to attend and headed off to conversations and activities.
The topics were all over the map. Most dealt with theological or social issues. "What is the Kingdom of God?" "What is Emergent?" "New Monasticism." "Emergent Church and Women." Others talked about fitness, nutrition, and children in the church. Some dealt with a history of coffee, making cigars, or hiking.
Thursday morning was especially rich. We gathered in the campground's prayer garden for worship. Anyone who wanted to share something was invited to offer it (song, poem, prayer, scripture, etc.), and it was woven into some readings from the prayer book. At the end, communion was celebrated.
I especially enjoyed the gathering as it allowed me to see a broad cross-section of people involved in Emergent from across the nation and worldwide. There were people from Emergent congregations, Evangelical congregations, and more traditional mainline congregations (I met at least three PCUSA pastors and one elder there), and I expect some were from no congregation at all. I got to know some great people. It was a very special happening.
This event also helped me bring into focus some things I have been pondering concerning Emergent over the years. More on that in the coming posts.
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