Transmission

How Do We Know God Loves Us? Readings April 30, 2007

hey ya’ll,

I’m looking for one more Bible selection to go with the four readings below (from the Hebrew Bible a plus). these will be part of our Wed nite rite, whose working title is: How do we know God loves us?

i’m also looking for some tunes to put on a soundtrack while people are exploring the stations. with lyrics or without.

thanks!

• Matthew 22:34-40
• Anne Carson, “My Religion”
• Hafiz, “The Sun Never Says”
• Peter Rollins, from How (Not) to Speak of God

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Update - tonight, May & June April 29, 2007

Transmission WEDNESDAYS

We regularly meet on the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays of the month for a vegetarian dinner, home-cooked ritual, prayer, hang-out and social time. When there’s a 5th Wednesday (like this May), we organize some sort of activity. We’re a bit of a roaming tabernacle right now, with our next upcoming meeting in an apartment and still experimenting with the space at St. Mark’s in-the-Bowery. Send us an email if you’d like to help plan a ritual, bring food, or have an activity idea!

Wed, May 2nd - How Do We Know God Loves Us?
7-9pm, Union Theological Seminary, Broadway @ 121st (go to front lobby for directions to Paul’s apartment). Bowie & Katie are planning an exploration of how we feel loved by God, love God, and act on/out of that love.

Wed, May 16th - Ritual on Church and Accessibility
7-9pm, Katherine’s place (193rd and Fort George)
Planned by Paul & Isaac, exploring disability and different abilities.

Wed, May 30th - 5th Wednesday Activity
Hmm, some sort of Wednesday evening activity. Ideas anyone?
There may also be a short meeting for people interested in planning a service looking at turning 30 and “rites of passage.” Email back at this address if you’ve got an activity idea or to Bowie (epiphany.ny@gmail.com) if you’re interested in helping plan the ritual for the following week.

Wed, June 6th - Turning 30 as a Rite of Passage
Come be part of a service exploring turning 30 on Bowie’s big day (6/6/07), along with dinner and cake for a few members of the Transmission crew who have birthdays in May & June (email us if you do too!). Come share your stories and thoughts about the big 3-0, whether you’re years away or many years past.

Transmission COMMUNITY

Shoot us an email if you have an event that you want to send out to the wider Transmission community. We’ve got lots of spiritual, artistic, social-actions types among us… these community events enable us to support each other, get inspired, and have more excuses to get together.

TONIGHT - Sun, April 29 - Isaac Everett preaching at Sanctuary
6pm, Church of the Epiphany, 74th and York Ave
Isaac says: “I’ll be preaching this coming Sunday night at one of the places I work, Sanctuary. But wait, you ask, aren’t you mister anti-sermon? Aren’t you always ranting about how preaching imposes patriarchal models of authority and reinforces patterns of passivity in an already anemic church culture? Well, yeah, I am that guy. On the other hand, the lectionary reading this week is from the Book of Revelation and the opportunity to wave my arms around and shout of about rivers of blood and seven-headed dragons was too delicious to pass up. So if you’re not doing anything and feel like stopping by, please do!”

Mon, May 7th - “Bon Frieg!” by our poet and playwright in residence, T. John Snodgrass
9:30pm, Jimmy’s No. 43, Downstairs at 43 East 7th St. btw 2nd & 3rd Ave, $5 Admission
Snodgrass says: “I’m very excited to announce that the Outlaws Theatre will be staging ‘BonFrieg!’ as part of their series of new plays to brighten the first Monday of each month. As some of you may know, I have written many one-acts, and this is my personal favorite - zany comedy, action, romance, and something of a mystery as well. Director/producer Vanessa Reseland will be presenting a short piece as an opening act. The play runs about forty minutes, and you are all invited to join us afterwards for Discussion, Handcrafted Beer and Local & Organic Home Cooking at Jimmy’s No. 43.”

Thurs, June 7th - Evening with Ian Mobsby at Trinity Church Wall Street
Ian Mobsby from Moot in London will be talking about how Rublev’s Icon and a Trinitarian ecclesiology can enable us to be experimental and do mission. Ian is a founding member of Moot, an emerging church community in London, UK and has been doing emerging church stuff in the UK for the last 14 years, is sweet, and totally radical. Find out more about the event on the Trinity website.

Roof Gardens of Babylon April 25, 2007

By Bowie Snodgrass

On the Euphrates, down by the river of Babylon,
they sat down and wept, and wept for you, Zion.

Held captive during Nebuchadnezzar’s reign,
they wrote scripture in the world’s largest city.

But even the most powerful human in the world
did a small good deed for the woman he loved.

As the story goes, Nebuchadnezzar, for his wife,
planted a World Wonder: hanging roof gardens.

I hear they’re thinking of green roofs for NYC;
what a great idea, I say, growing things here.

Imagine flying over that in a plane, a sea of green:
flowers, moss, vine, trees, birds, butterflies, bees.

Fruits of the earth to eat, natural cool and warm,
cleaner air and playgrounds for God’s creatures.

We best never forget the history that happened
nor the dreams that inspire human imagination.

* Read about the Green Roof movement

* Check out the Gaia Institute NY

“The Hanging Gardens of Babylon and the walls of Babylon (near present-day Baghdad in Iraq) were considered one of the Seven Wonders of the World. ”
- Read more about the Hanging Gardens of Babylon

* Please say a special prayer for my brother, Peter, Ike’s brother, Joel, and all the military personnel currently stationed in Iraq. Please pray for all Iraqis, that they may soon have peace in their lands.

God and Virginia Tech April 20, 2007

What can one say about the tragic shooting of 33 people at Virginia Technical Institute on Monday April 16^th?  Why did it happen?  Where was God?  How can one still believe in a god of infinite love and power when we see so much evil going on?

First, I think that it is important to really realize how much suffering there is in the world.  On Monday, 5 US. and 13 Iraqi soldiers died in an attack in Iraq along with at least 51 other civilians.  11 Iraqi children were killed in a bomb attack in Iraq over the weekend.  And all over the world people are suffering and dying.  On Monday approximately 1,400 people became infected with AIDS, 95% of them live in developing countries without ready access to medical care.  On Monday almost 3,000 children died of Malaria and 16,000 children died of hunger.

And tragedy can strike us on our own American soil as well.  Every year in the US. 1,500 children die due to abuse and neglect. 3,000 children die as a result of gun violence, 30,000 Americans commit suicide, and 160,000 Americans die of lung cancer.  These are all estimates, but this list of tragedy can go on and on.  It does not include those who die of accidental drug and alcohol overdoses, pollutant caused cancers, car accidents, etc. etc. etc.  When reading a list like this it is hard for the mind (and even harder for the heart) to comprehend.  The individual lives turn into statistics and figures, and even the figures congeal into one big ball of despair that just sticks like a lump in our throats.  We can neither swallow our pain nor let out our cries of anger and sorrow.  And so we become numb to the horror of it all and try to move on with the monotony of our lives.

But then an event happens like the shooting at Virginia Tech.  Comparatively the deaths of 29 students and 4 faculty should just be another drop in the bucket of our world’s sorrows.  But there is something different about this event.  It is not just the fact that the people involved were so young and their deaths were so senseless.  It is all of those things and it is because we can identify with these victims.  We have all sat in classrooms where we felt safe and secure, whether in college or high school.  The students and faculty who died on Monday were all people like us, who had no reason to assume they were in danger, and yet a force of unreasonable terror came and cut their lives short.
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Transmission Tonight April 18, 2007

By Bowie Snodgrass

we like to make ministers.
so far we have 8 or a dozen.
we are part of a religion
two millennia old in 2000&7.

we met at St. Mark’s in-the-Bowery.

we prayed & ate fresh-cooked food.
introduced our selves and
said something about our day today.
we were ten people present tonight.

three readings echoed through
the almost empty chamber.
we had retreated like Elijah
only to find a still small voice.

to dwell in the house of God.

we broke into pairs to talk
about sacred spaces. one
woman brought up slaves
buried beneath the building.

three of us laid hands on the windows
blessed colored morning rays of light
we laid our hands on the floor – we
need to remember the cruel truths too.

we were transmission tonight.

Transmission @ St. Mark’s, this Wed, Apr 8th @ 7 p.m. April 15, 2007

CIMG2881.JPG, originally uploaded by pointandlaugh.

Hey, friends~ I hope you’ve all sufficiently recovered from Easter at Avalon. It was a lot of work from everyone and I was really pleased with the event. Yay!

Anyway, our regular gatherings resume this Wednesday, the 18th, 7pm-9pm. We’ll be meeting at St Mark’s in the Bowery, a pretty radical (and historic) church on 10th St and 2nd Ave.

The service will deal with issues of space and sacredness: so far, we’ve met in people’s homes, in a dance club, and (now) a church. Are any of these spaces more holy than the others? What does sacred space mean? What is our relationship to space as New Yorkers? What makes something holy to us? It’ll be pretty cool.

We’ll also be discussing some logistics. Here are some things we’ll be discussing: Are we happy meeting twice a month or do we want to gather every week? Is St Mark’s as a location a good fit for us? How do we feel about meeting in a church? Do we want to always gather in the same location, or do we want to continue couch-surfing? Do we want to alternate between an uptown and a downtown location?

see you Wednesday,
isaac

Space & Sacredness
Wed Apr 18th @ 7pm

St. Mark’s
131 E 10th St @ 2nd Ave
www.stmarkschurch-in-the-bowery.com
subways: L to 3rd Ave, 6 to Astor Place, N, Q, R, W, 4, 5 to Union Square

My Sweet Lord April 14, 2007

Once again, some hysterical religious people have forced a New York City art show to close. This time, the issue is a six foot tall naked Jesus made out of chocolate.

Hmm, to me it seems that this sculpture is actually profoundly orthodox. Think about it:

*Jesus is naked: why else would the soldiers have been casting lots for his clothes?
*Jesus is dark: not even Mel Gibson believes that Jesus was blue-eyed and blonde.
*Jesus is edible and delicious: a no-brainer for anyone who recognizes the real presence of Christ in the Eucharistic elements.

Come on, people, do we really believe that the Alpha and Omega of all creation needs protection from 200 pounds of milk chocolate? We’d do Jesus more good by trying to act like him than by policing our artists. Jesus, after all, has great PR; it’s the church that no one takes seriously, and controversies like this only make us look more ridiculous.

Envision the Ends Times, and Take Action April 12, 2007

OK, so I’m a little behind the times. I just watched An Inconvenient Truth last night and whoa. It seems the effects of Global Warming will soon be of apocalyptic proportions. I beseech ya’ll to take an active step to reduce carbon emissions, or at least netflick the movie and experience the revelation for yourself. One place to start is climatecrisis.net. New Yorkers, Con Ed offers 100% wind power for your home.

As springtime blooms again, it’s time for us to start thinking about how we can renew the earth, as she renews us.

PS, while I have your attention, check out the Abstract of a paper my friend, Jackie, did at the Society of Biblical Literature annual meeting in 2006.

Averting the Apocalypse: The Horrors of Global Warming and the Rhetorical Power of the End
Program Unit: John’s Apocalypse and Cultural Contexts Ancient and Modern
Jacqueline Hidalgo, Claremont Graduate University

In the Fall of 2005, Al Gore lectured in Los Angeles about global warming as part of the production of the new documentary, An Inconvenient Truth. Gore compared some of the horrible plagues imagined in John’s Apocalypse to the horrific repercussions of global warming around the world, repercussions which Gore demonstrated in a complex narrative of photographs, tables, and film clips. Through a focus on Gore’s rhetoric of averting the global warming apocalypse, this paper explores the enduring prominence and power of the Apocalypse as it may be encountered throughout the US political imaginary. It is often recognized that Conservative Christians in the U.S.A. have used the horrific imagery of the Apocalypse in combination with the promise of an imminent End in order to shape politics, identities, and cultures. Many occupying different parts of the political Left have likewise turned to narratives of impending environmental doom and/or political totalitarianism. Given that such a variety of groups deploy these counterpoised apocalypticisms, what does this suggest about the social power of apocalyptic narratives over the social realities of different people? Successful deployment of the Apocalypse, and specifically of its horrors and end-time imagination, has been a significant source of social power for those who pursue it, and those who perceive themselves to be in situations of social distress often invoke apocalyptic rhetoric. Gore serves as an interesting example against this backdrop. Although he is part of the political mainstream, his speech comes at a time when many on the political Left feel disenfranchised. Is apocalyptic rhetoric most popular with groups who perceive themselves as disempowered or is it just such a central part of the US cultural imagination that it is hard to conceive of a historical trajectory outside of the Apocalypse?

Next Transmission on April 18th April 11, 2007

Save the date! We aren’t sure where we’ll be meeting yet, but we’re in conversations with a few places and should have a location nailed down by the end of the week. One thing that didn’t come across on Easter is that Transmission is a community; we meet regularly, hang out together, work on projects together, babysit each others kids, etc. It’s something worth being a part of.

For those of you who are coming to us through the Easter at Avalon project, you should be aware that our usual services are small and intimate - usually a dozen people or so. We love throwing large and high energy events, but Easter at Avalon isn’t really indicative of what normal Transmission services are like. The smaller gatherings go, however, have the same playfulness, open-mindedness, and relevance that were evident on Easter.

So if you’d like to join us, keep yourself free for Wed, April 18th, at 6pm, and check back here for more details.

Avalon pics

For Those About To Rock, We Salute You:

Steve on Guitar, Miles on Drums, Ike on Samples, Dara Sings, originally uploaded by bowiesnodgrass.

Steve on Guitar, Miles on Drums, Dara Sings, Ike on Laptop

see more Flickr pics from Easter @ Avalon

People Gather Round:

People Gather Round, originally uploaded by bowiesnodgrass.

See more photos taken by Nicole Seiferth at Avalon on Easter.

The Writing On The Wall:

DSC9232, originally uploaded by kaitlyn tikkun.

Participants add their own dates to a timeline from the birth of William Augustus Muhlenberg, through Holy Communion Episcopal Church, a Drug Rehabilitation Center, The Limelight, Avalon, and Easter!

Check out all Kaitlyn Tikkun’s Transmission photos.

Communion Photo Series:

DSC9313, originally uploaded by kaitlyn tikkun.

Check out Kaitlyn Tikkun’s gorgeous series of photos of groups doing Communion By #s in her Easter at Avalon flickr “Transmission” Set.