The Kingdom of God

I had the privilege to attend the 2008 Goodwill Awards Dinner tonight. All the regional Goodwill stores, employees, and clients converged on the Marriott in Coralville. There were 560 people there. One of the honorees invited me, so I got a great seat at his table right up in the front.

Remember that story in the Bible of the banquet the guy has. None of the dignitaries show up, so he invites the poor, the oppressed, the grieving, the marginalized. This was that party. I saw the Kingdom of God tonight. It was amazing. The love, the grace, the joy. I can't even tell you with words some of the sights and sounds I saw. But I know this. God was there. I was reminded that the meek, those that mourn, the peacemakers, the people at the end of their ropes... These are the ones that are blessed. Have you seen the Kingdom of God recently. It's all around us.

Cohort on hold

I'm sorry to report, but because of a general lack of interest, participation and focus, the Eastern Iowa Emergent Cohort is on indefinite hiatus. No meetings or regular blog postings are planned, though we'll keep the lights on for you in case those with permissions want to post something from time to time (and the comments section is open to anyone who wants to post).

Take heart, however, those who have come to this site looking to connect with others in the Emergent movement. I've gotten a number of emails recently from people who attended the Brian McLaren "Everything Must Change" book tour, most notably in the Quad Cities, and they seem excited to explore emergent/missional church in their areas. I have a couple of their emails and would be happy to forward your name to them if you'd like.

So while the Iowa City group isn't doing much right now, there may well "emerge" a conversation group elsewhere in Iowa. I hope so; it would be nice to keep this going in some fashion.

Peace.

Meeting Wednesday

Just a reminder that we're scheduled to meet Wednesday, but a conflict has come up and I won't be able to attend. Lon, do you plan to be there? I sent you an email but I'm not sure you received it. 

Meeting one week from today

Just a reminder that, in keeping with our now-regular schedule of holding meetings on the last Wednesday of every month, the Eastern Iowa Emergent Cohort will meet next from 6-7 p.m. next Wednesday, Feb. 27 at House of Aromas coffeehouse, 119 2nd St. in Coralville. A map may be found here.

Come share your story and meet others who are exploring the Christian faith with fresh eyes and open hearts and minds.

Unbeliever turned Episcopal turned Orthodox Christian speaking in Iowa City

This was passed along to us by our friend in the Kansas City satellite office of the Eastern Iowa Emergent Cohort, Nancy Weikal (thanks, Nancy!):

Frederica Mathewes-Green will be speaking on Thursday, Feb. 7 and Friday, Feb. 8 at the University of Iowa. At 7 p.m. Feb. 7, in the Illinois Room of the UI’s Iowa Memorial Union, she will tell her own story of becoming an Eastern Orthodox Christian in a talk titled "Facing East: A Pilgrim's Journey into the Mystery of Orthodox Christianity.” She will detail her journey from unbeliever, to a dabbler in eastern religions, to the Episcopal Church and finally to the Orthodox Church. This event is co-sponsored by the UI Orthodox Christian Fellowship and St. Raphael Orthodox Church.

At 1:30 p.m. Feb. 8, she will be speaking at the Gerber Lounge of the UI English-Philosophy Building on "Freelance Writing as a Career” and then at 7:30 p.m. at the Shambaugh Auditorium of the UI Main Library in a talk titled "Faith, Film and False Assumptions: Christians and the Transformation of Culture." These events are sponsored by Geneva Campus Ministry and the UI Communications Department.

All talks are free and open to the public.

Mathewes-Green is a wide-ranging author and regular columnist for the multifaith web magazine Beliefnet.com who also writes movie reviews for National Review Online and Christianity Today Movies. Among her books are “Facing East: A Pilgrim's Journey into the Mysteries of Orthodoxy” (HarperCollins, 1997) and “The Illumined Heart: The Ancient Christian Path of Transformation” (Paraclete, 2001). She and her husband, the Rev. Gregory Mathewes-Green, live in Baltimore, where he is pastor and she is "Khouria" ("Mother") of the church they founded, Holy Cross Orthodox Church. More information at www.frederica.com.

[Side note: You can read Mathewes-Green's review of the film "What Would Jesus Buy?" here. The film just finished its run today at the University of Iowa's Bijou Theater. Unfortunately, I missed it and hope to catch it when it comes out on DVD.]