Bible Study is a Go!
September 24, 2007
Ok, Transmission has spoken, and for the next month we’ll alternate the Bible Study between an uptown and a downtown location.¬† We’ve also officially chosen to have our study sessions on the 2nd and 4th Thursday of the month.
This week, we’ll be meeting at Mi Floridita, which is located at 3219 Broadway, just north of 125th.¬† That’s this Thursday, September 24, at 7pm.¬† I’ll be leading us through the first chapter of Ruth, which I think is one of the most interesting books of the Bible.¬† I encourage you to read the chapter ahead of time and come with some thoughts.
Also, we need a name for this thing we’re doing because “Bible Study” sounds kind of nerdy.¬† Personally, I’m a fan of “text and the city,” but that joke is dated.¬† Have any suggestions?¬† Post them here!
Bible Study – uptown or downtown?
September 15, 2007
So our Pub Crawl was a lot of fun.  We had seven Transmissioners show up, but never more than four at any given time, which made for an interesting evening.  In any case, there was quite a bit of discussion about whether we should have this Bible Study uptown or downtown.
Uptown has the advantage that many of us live in upper New York.¬† It might lead to Transmission being redefined as a localized community – one that primarily draws its members from and does its mission work in Harlem and Washington Heights.¬† We also have a nice place picked out – a locally owned Dominican restaurant called Floridita which has lots of space and a calm atmosphere.¬† On the downside, it’s tremendously unwelcoming to the Transmissioners who live in Brooklyn as well as the Brooklyn residents who are thinking about joining our community.
Downtown has the advantage that it’s midway between Uptown and Brooklyn.¬† We might gain a larger crowd if we were located more centrally.¬† The downside is that downtown bars and clubs tend to be crowded and noisy – difficult for holding serious discussions.¬† I also suspect that fewer of our uptown regulars would want to make the trek on a weeknight.
So what do you think?  I want to hear your opinions!  Brooklyners Рwould you come regularly if we had it downtown?  Uptown guys Рwould you make the effort to come downtown?
Pub Crawl this Thursday, 7pm, in Union Square
September 11, 2007
Ok, Transmissioners, now that I have your attention, I wanted to give some highlights from our meeting last week for those of us who couldn’t be there, as well as give a few announcements:
- There’s been some strong interest in starting a bi-weekly Bible study, meeting on the weeks we don’t have regular Transmission. We’re hoping to do this because a) we want to see each other more often and b) we want to study the Bible outside of worship contexts. The consensus was that we would choose a public space downtown, likely a bar, lounge or coffeshop in order to be more friendly to the Brooklyn Transmissioners. So this Thursday, 7pm, several of us will be meeting in Union Square to go lounge-hopping with the hopes of picking a location. Let’s meet by the Mohandas Gandhi statue in the traffic island at the southwest corner of Union Square Park. The yet-to-be-named Bible study will start in two weeks, on Sept 26. More info to come.
- There are several other small-scale emerging churches, house churches, hospitality houses, and radical Christian living communities forming in New York, and we’d like to put together an event at which we could all meet one another and share what we are doing. The danger of non-hierarchical, unaffiliated groups like Transmission is that they can grow disconnected with the larger community. We have set a tentative date of Thursday, November 1 and we’d like to begin inviting other groups to participate.
- We’re really like to do a retreat at some point, probably in January. I work for a Jewish Theatre Company, and twice a year we spend a weekend out of town together to cement our friendships, dream about the future of the group, and to do the things we do. I’d love to see Transmission do something similar, and at the moment we’re looking at mid-January. It would be an overnight (leave on Friday, come back on Saturday) and would be free to all. Are you interested in coming and/or helping plan the event?
Finally, the next Transmission will be at Bowie’s place on Wednesday, September 19, and I’ll be leading the ritual. We still need some folks to volunteer to provide food, and I’d love to have someone help me with the worship. Let me know if you’re interested!
Oh, and best of luck to everyone who started school this week, either as a teacher or a student (i.e. Katie, John, Paul, Elaina, Katherine, Sarah and, well, me).
Transmission featured on Trax16
September 6, 2007
Well, ok, I’m talking about the album and not about the community, but it’s still pretty exciting. If you aren’t familiar with it, Trax16 is a monthly British podcast about alternative Christian culture. Give it a listen here: http://www.trax16.com
First Transmission of the Fall on Wednesday
September 4, 2007
We’re kicking off the fall tomorrow night with out first Transmission of the season. Tomorrow also happens to be the convocation of Union Theological Seminary featuring Katharine Jefferts Schori (the first female presiding bishop of the episcopal church), and since more than a few of us live at Union, we thought we might go and hear her speak as a Transmission activity. The convocation begins at 6:15, Union is at 121st and Broadway, and feel free to call me if you get lost, need help getting in, or feel like chatting – 917.306.2442
After we hear her speak, we’ll be coming back to Katie’s and my apartment to talk about the upcoming fall. Some of the things we’ll be discussing include:
- the possibility of switching to a different night
- starting up a Bible study on the weeks we don’t have Transmission
- a fall retreat to Katherine’s Aunt’s place
- a fall event with other small, missional communities in new york
- general future of Transmission
Hope to see you there…