christmas cookie church !!! wednesday
December 15, 2006
09.03.2006-032, originally uploaded by Aktivistin.
“When two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the cream of the cookie…”
Yup, you heard right, dawgs. Come ready to bake your butts off for Jesus.
We’d like to learn some Christmas songs too and do a little caroling around my building. Strong singers are most welcome! You might even end up with a solo ;-)
The fun begins at 7pm.
RSVP to epiphany.ny@gmail.com so I can prepare accordingly…
“Lord, you now have set your servant free to go in peace as you have promised; for these eyes of mine have seen the Savior, whom you have prepared for all the world to see: a Light to enlighten the nations and the glory of your people Israel.” (Luke 2:29-32)
Church Marketing Sucks
December 13, 2006
ChurchMarketingSucks.com is one of my favorite websites
And, on a related note: Presbyterian Polis has been doing a series on Innovative Business Ideas for Churches (thank you Bob C. for the fyi)
Here are three pieces I especially liked from this series –
#6 - Communication, Marketing and Social Networking
byte: Even before I went to seminary (1978-81), I felt that relationships were central to life. But I never found much affirmation for that idea until the last few years as those who see themselves as either ‘post-modern’ or ‘emerging’ are emphasizing the social relationship aspect of the church.
# 3 - The Cluetrain Manifesto
byte: If you read The Cluetrain Manifesto, and I hope you will, you will not agree or understand everything in it. I didn’t. But you will be challenged to make our life in the church more human, and less organizationally artificial.
#5 - Mavericks at Work
byte: From my perspective, everything is a risk. You risk trying new things. You risk doing the same things over and over again expecting different results. Risk in inherent in life. From a spiritual perspective, risk forces us to deal with the question of ‘Where is God in my risk taking?’
+ + +
so, where is God in your computer usage? your business, political, or financial savvy? your pop culture critiques? your creative endeavors? Your so-called po-mo life?
WAITING : AN ADVENT MIX
December 7, 2006
badass nina., originally uploaded by canela_miel.
j.Snodgrass mix for Transmission apt.church 12.06.06
MILES DAVIS: SOMEDAY MY PRINCE WILL COME
LEONARD COHEN: WAITING FOR THE MIRACLE (FULL LENGTH)
THE DOORS: WAITING FOR THE SUN
ANNIE LENNOX : WAITING IN VAIN
DEPECHE MODE : WAITING FOR THE NIGHT
NINA SIMONE: LILAC WINE
LOU REED : WAITING FOR THE MAN
CAMPER VAN BEETHOVEN : COME ON DARKNESS
ISAAC EVERETT : EXPECTATION
DEPECHE MODE : WAITING FOR THE NIGHT (REMIX)
DISNEY SOUNDTRACK : “SOMEDAY MY PRINCE WILL COME”
You can check out and download (a slightly modified version of) this iMix from iTunes:
http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewIMix?id=208077971
Video Games for Jesus. Whoa.
November 20, 2006
I don’t know how many of you follow gaming news (ok, I’m a geek), but this month saw the release of a real-time strategy game based on the Left Behind novels. Wired magazine has a really interesting review of it. Supposedly, the gameplay is surprisingly adequate, although I’m more than a little disgusted by, “You can sway enemies to your side by unleashing your Christian-rock singers, whose joyful noises raise the spirit of anyone near them. (You can even convert evil forces if you’re persuasive enough. Of course, the Antichrist has his own evil heavy-metal musicians who work precisely the opposite effect.)”
Why does a Christian video game have to be about warfare and converting people? Could we make a game about feeding the poor, welcoming the stranger, and striving for social justice? Why doesn’t the Christian gaming community look more like Games for Change?
Earlier this week, “Left Behind” found me on MySpace and sent me an invitation to be their friend. I denied them and felt pretty good about it. These unreadable sludgepiles advocate some truly destructive theology, and the entire Left Behind industry takes advantage of hysterical people who want to spiritualize their hysteria. These books embarrass me.
looking back
November 11, 2006
looking back, originally uploaded by bowiesnodgrass.
I flickered some photos from Katharine Jeffert Schori’s Investiture as 26th Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, last Saturday, November 4th (two days before a rockin’ national election!).
12/20 xmas cookies!
November 10, 2006
Iced Sugar Cookies, originally uploaded by jessamynnorth.
I just got a whole tin of cookie cutters from my dad, who just moved to Puerto Rico to start a retreat center (so I got a lot of family stuff) - and I think we should make cookies for transmission house church on 12/20!
we can also light advent candles
sing some Christmas carols
and what else?
what are your favorite Christian Christmas traditions?
what do you remember doing with family in Advent?
what should we incorporate into our house church night?
and, do you have a favorite cookie recipe?!
TjS: Shrine to the Lizard King
November 3, 2006
Jim Morrison’s grave, originally uploaded by Shontellymc.
In honor of the day of the dead, I decided to build a shrine to my childhood hero, Jim Morrison. Of course I didn’t know him personally, but his dark visions haunted me when I was young, and continue to bring out very deep, visceral reactions today, when I’m beginning the procreative cycle at the same age at which he died. There were times in my childhood when I wondered if I’d ever outgrow him, but I know now that this tired warrior will never see farther than his boyhood prophet.
Listening to a Doors bootleg right now, I’m reminded again of the primeval power of this man, this dark priest on whom my image of Jesus is largely based (who REALLY believes Jesus wore one of those ridiculous papal hats?). I hear Jim Morrison in the works of Omar Khayyam, the Biblical prophets, modern prophets like Raine Maida, in the continual lurching of the soft parade, and look forward to hearing his ageless voice in the cries of my child to be born. Yes, I intend to frighten my kids with Morrison’s howls, and as they get older, to teach them to dance around bonfires to the Doors’ pagan rhythms, and in this way begin their teachings about humanity, where we’ve been, where we’re going. Corny as it sounds, I sat down a few minutes ago to write, of all things, a poem for my childhood hero. Off the top of my head, here’s the best I can do - a tribute to a man who has always inspired me.
You were twenty-seven and I was twelve
You cried to Heaven for how I felt
You broke through to me
Who needed you to be –
How did you know, how could you tell?
Now you’re twenty-seven and so am I
But I’m still eleven when I hear you cry
Your message straight and true
Time and again you cry on through
You’re still by my side as years go by
When you’re twenty-seven and I’m fifty-six
Will you still have wisdom yet to give?
Will you still howl on my behalf?
Or fade down some forgotten path?
I know at twenty-seven you’ll still alive
Marigold Path Grid Blog: Ritualizing Shrines
November 2, 2006
This post is part of a gridblog for people around the globe remembering those that have passed away
All Saints Day 2006: Transmission met for house church – for eating, singing, socializing, praying, and ritualizing together. The central part of our ritual (see post below) was based on remembering those who have died before us and contemplating our own mortality. We built shrines in silence and then lay down dead (in the yoga style corpse pose), until Isaac woke us with song. Then everyone shared about their shrine. Below are thumbnail photos of their shrines with snippets of the stories they shared.
Paul built a shrine to his grandfather (a simple man who lived for a time in an orphanage in Ohio);
Isaac assembled one for his great-grandmother from Indiana (a good farmer’s wife who loved to bake);
and Katie commemorated all the relatives and traditions that have been lost, along with the knowledge of her family line beyond her grandparents.
Bowie remembered the victims of Katrina;
Elaina built a shrine to Bono (who’s not dead! but is inspirational in his work to prevent unnecessary death from poverty);
and John molded a lizard out of playdough to represent Jim Morrision (who died at the same age John is now, and who will only seem younger to John as he journeys forward in life).
You can see more photos of our shrines & us on Bowie’s flickr feed
Nov 1 is All Saints (Come for House Church)
October 30, 2006
Makeshift Shrine for Mamama, originally uploaded by bowiesnodgrass.
overnight the time changed -
a new season of longer nights
and windy days, a brisk chill
in the air while the dead dance
Come Join Us For All Saints’ Day/ Día de los Muertos
This Wednesday just happens to be November 1st, a major Christian holy day. So we’ll be doing a (little longer) 45 minute ritual followed by a hot meal and apple crisp. If you’d like to come, please email epiphany.ny@gmail.com
rough draft for ritual
- song (Isaac lead)
- scripture (john is picking, maybe Ezekiel 37)
- activity – make shrines* and lie dead
- song (What Wondrous Love is This?)
- share about shrines and pray for each other
- song (Katie leads, Old Irish Blessing)
making shrines
We’ll be making shrines this week for a person who has died, someone you admire and whose life has touched your own. This can be someone in your life or someone you never met. If you can, bring some items that remind you of them (a photo, momento, etc.)
Our shrines only need to have three components:
- an object (anything that can represent the subject of the shrine),
- an offering (candle, flowers, etc.),
- and some sort of sign of the season (we’ll have dried leaves, etc.).
upcoming dates
1st and 3rd Wednesdays – November 1 and 15; December 6 and 20
God is There
October 28, 2006
Commemoration Ceremony of the Destruction of the Bamyan Buddhas, originally uploaded by Chris Kuhn.
a photo I found on flickr looking for pics tagged: friends god alone
—————————————
by Bowie Snodgrass
a poem I wrote wednesday night:
I want
A church
that’s part
of my private life
the life I live alone
in my head and heart
so many public personas,
media mentalities/realities
we yearn for integration
to become whole again
be part of something
bigger than just me
when two or three
gather together
God is
There