happy earth day

Here’s one thing Maggie and I have been trying to do: Get rid of plastic bags!

why i’ll miss parkview (1)

Yesterday was my second-to-last Sunday at a Parkview Community Church service. I’ve mentioned before on this blog that Maggie and I will be moving into the Logan Square neighborhood of Chicago in early May. On May 11 I will begin my new job as Pastor of Community Life at New Community Covenant Church.

Yesterday was strange mostly because it was so normal. I had a good meeting with some of our amazing volunteers… arranged a ride to a job interview for one of our homeless members… talked with some Parkview folks I hadn’t seen for a while. The weirdness of the morning was knowing that after this coming Sunday Maggie and I won’t be around. And after being around for almost 8 years, that feels pretty strange.

As I’ve thought about these last few Sunday services, all the thing things I love about PCC have bubbled up. This week I want to share three of those. I’m not sure if these are the things that have been most significant to me or not… but they are the three that came most quickly to mind.

The first thing I’ll miss about PCC is the eclectic and diverse make-up of our community. I’ve not visited too many other churches in the western suburbs, so this might be normal. Regardless, I think it is so right that on any given Sunday morning I will have conversations with folks who slept on a park bench the night before and with other folks who are rushing to the airport to catch a flight to an important business meeting.

One of the ways this diversity has changed me is making me see that we all see, hear, and interpret in such different ways. At times when we’ve sung a worship song that I really don’t like and I wonder why we are wasting our time. Almost every time I have this thought someone will tell me how significant that song was to them, how it connected with where they are.

Mmm… humble pie.

I believe I’m finishing my time at PCC with more humility because of those who make up our church. Every week I am reminded that the world is an wonderfully eclectic place, and my opinions and desires may not matter all that much. What may be way more important is that this community has welcomed and accepted me.

I’ll miss that.

death cab for cutie, “i will posses your heart”

In honor of the Death Cab for Cutie concert tickets I got this week, it seems right to post the first video for their latest album, Narrow Stairs. The song has a long intro (too long?), but seems to fit with the feel of the video. How cool would it have been to travel to all the places in this video? Here’s I Will Posses Your Heart.

Enjoy.

christian witness as invitation to pilgrimage

Missional Church is one of those books I return to with some regularity. On Wednesday, while working from Caribou on my upcoming sermon I came across the following passage. After showing it to Bob (who was also working out of the coffee shop), he said something like, “You should just stand up, read that, pray and sit down.”

That probably won’t happen, but the quote seems significant enough to share here.

Evangelism would move from an act of recruiting or co-opting those outside the church to an invitation of companionship. The church would witness that its members, like others, hunger for the hope that there is a God who reigns in love and intends the good of the whole earth. The community of the church would testify that they have heard the announcement that such a reign is coming, and indeed is already breaking into the world. They would confirm that they have heard the open welcome and received it daily, and they would invite others to join them as those who also have been extended God’s welcome. To those invited, the church would offer itself to assist their entrance into the reign of God and to travel with them as co-pilgrims.

I am taken with this vision of an invitation to pilgrimage. Surely this isn’t the only way to talk about Christian witness, but it may be one we need to hear more often.

our new home

A number of folks have been asking whether Maggie and I have found a place to live in the city. As of yesterday afternoon I can happily report that we have. Click on the map to see where we’ll be living when we move in a couple of weeks.

On Sunday afternoon I had three apartments lined up to see. After seeing the second one I called Maggie and said, “I think I’ve found our new home.” (Maggie was at a wedding shower. May I confess that it is slightly stressful looking for a new home without the person who will be sharing it with you?) I had a meeting at NC3 that evening, but our friend Victoria gave Maggie a ride into the city to check out my find.

The location is good, the landlords seem great, and there is a small backyard where we can grow some herbs and veggies this summer. It’s kind of funny, but our new home in the city will be quieter than our current home in the burbs.

Here’s a photo looking out the living room window of our new apartment. Thanks to those who were praying for this.

links

• Prof Stackhouse takes on certainty in Christianity. It’s long but very worth the read. The main point today, however, is that one also cannot claim to be in an epistemic situation of certainty, either. For how could a human being claim such a thing? We all too often are mistaken about things, change our minds about things, find out new things about things (!), and so on. Worse, our own theology (if we’re Christians, say) or our own common sense (if we’re honest) tells us that we tend to see what we want to see, to hear what we prefer to hear, and to believe what is in our interest to believe.
• Daniel pointed me to these great stickers on the Make blog. The idea seems to be that you attach the “you don’t need it” sticker to public advertisements. A nice bit of subversive Kingdom activity perhaps?
• The Salvation Army of Canada points out “6 Things You Need to Know About Homelessness.” Number 4: A key cause of homelessness is the shrinking market of affordable housing. Prosperity has indirectly caused housing prices to soar, leaving many working individuals and families unable to afford adequate housing. (via Jordon Cooper)
• Edward Gilbreath points out the story of New Yorker Lenore Skenazy and her son. Skenazy equipped her 9-year-old son with a map, a subway card, and 20 bucks, then dropped him off at a New York department store to find his way home by himself. Skenazy wrote about this in The New York Sun and promptly heard it from outraged folks accusing her of endangering her son.

an abnormal couple of days

Sunday @ 9:30 & 11:00- Share with PCC that Maggie and I will be leaving so I can work at NC3.

Sunday @ 2:30- Find a great little apartment, good price, really nice landlord. Will Maggie like it?

Sunday @ 6:00- Meet the NC3 community group coaches. Super nice folks.

Sunday @ 7:00- Have pizza with 20 NC3 community group leaders. Talk about their groups. Say goodbye to current community life pastor.

Monday @ 7:00 AM- Coffee with Ray to talk about future missional initiative at PCC.

blogging from dubai

This weekend was mostly spent looking at apartments in Chicago.  We’re hoping to find something that will be available May 1.  It’s been interesting trying to decide what our priorities are for our new home; a porch/deck, decent sized living space, proximity to public transportation, etc.  We’ve seen some interesting places so far.

There wasn’t much time to blog the past couple of days, but I’d highly recommend you catch up on our friend’s blog, pilgrim without a shrine.  He’s got something of a travelogue going (with photos) from his time in Dubai.  Some really good stuff.

Check it out here.

bon iver, “skinny love”

I had such a good time on Thursday night at the Bon Iver concert. Thanks to Keith for joining me… he’d never heard of the band. We got great seats towards the front of the Lakeshore Theater. All the songs were great (really), but here is one of my favorites, courtesy of the incredible folks at La Blogotheque. Enjoy, Skinny Love.

Related…

• Other Bon Iver videos from La Blogotheque: Blindsided, Wolves (Act 1 & 2), Stacks, and Lump Sum.

blogging from “shift”

A couple of days ago I mentioned that I’d be live-blogging day-one of the Shift conference at Willow Creek. I wasn’t really sure what to expect, but it was quite the experience. Aside from sitting in the bullpen (Willow-speak for the section up front where the speakers and other big-wigs sit) and writing about youth ministry (something I’m not super familiar with), it was strange to be taking notes throughout the session and then pulling the notes into something semi-coherent within 15 minutes of the session ending. By the end of the day my brain was shot. Here’s what I came up with: Brian McLaren’s session, Mark Yaconelli’s session, and Shane Claiborne’s session.

Here’s a video clip from Shane’s session.