TRANSMISSION resumes + field trips
January 13, 2007
MON, Jan 15 : MLK field trip!
Some of us are planning to go to St. Ann’s Episcopal Church in the South Bronx, where the new Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori will be preaching at the annual Bronx MLK Day Service starting at 10am. * John was born in the rectory of this historic church and hopes to bring along baby Jackson. Isaac and Elaina both work at a Lutheran church in this area. * Please email epiphany.ny@gmail.com you’d like to join us.
WED, Jan 17 : Transmission resumes! Baby Blessing & Avalon Vision
We are hoping to do a short baby blessing ritual for Thomas Jackson, followed by a discussion of our vision for Avalon. Isaac and are drafting a vision statement/project proposal that we’d like to workshop with you all (in small groups and as a whole group), and we’re inviting a few people who are also interested in helping us develop the project. * Please let me know if you’d like to bring food or drink to share.
BACKGROUND ARTICLES
* Background on Avalon “Twilight for old Limelight as owner shops mall idea”
* William Augustus Muhlenberg, founder of Holy Communion Episcopal Church
* Muhlenberg’s 19th Century “Midnight Mission”
UPCOMING
MON, Jan 22 – field trip!
My web guru friend from the west coast, Bob Carlton (who keeps up an excellent blog) will be in town and we’re going out to dinner. Any and all Transmissioners are invited! * Please rsvp if interested.
SAT, Jan 27 – field trip!
MOBIA @ the American Bible Society is putting on a concert which will feature a commissioned piece by Mario Diaz de Leon. I know Mario from working with the 20/30 Connection at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine and plan to attend to support this amazing young composer. I will also be inviting members of the 20/30 Connection. The event is free and I’ve reserved some spots. * Let me know if you’d like to come.
Wed, Jan 31 – next Transmission!
* Anyone want to plan the evening, our ritual, or the food?
3,000 Soldiers Dead, Including One Friend
January 5, 2007
My brother Sgt. A. Peter Snodgrass, who is serving his 2nd deployment as an Army Medic in Iraq, was friends with a soldier who was killed last week (the same week we passed the 3,000 US soldiers casualties mark). They had served together in South Korea and on both Iraqi tours.
AP Article w/ Photos: http://cbs4denver.com/local/local_story_003072103.html
“22-year-old Sergant John M. Sullivan of Hixon, Tennessee died last Saturday in Baghdad when an improvised explosive device went off near his vehicle while on combat patrol. Sullivan was just days away from returning home from his second tour of duty in Iraq to be with his wife and newborn son. His family said Sullivan volunteered for the patrol when a fellow-soldier got sick.”
from http://fox21news.com/Global/story.asp?S=5891680
“Hours after SGT John Michael Sullivan was killed in Iraq, his wife Michele gave birth to their little boy at Fort Carson. News of her husband’s death had sent Sullivan into labor.
‘I got a knock on the door and I told them, ‘don’t tell me,” said Sullivan. Her husband had been killed when a roadside bomb hit his Humvee. SGT Sullivan and his wife had planned to name their son Johnny Walker. Sullivan said they both thought it was a strong name everyone would remember. When SGT Sullivan died, his wife chose a different name so her son would always be remembered… and her husband would never be forgotten– John Michael Sullivan Jr.”
from http://www.kktv.com/home/headlines/5080596.html
* Please pray for his soul, his wife, newborn son, parents (he was an only son), and unit in Iraq.
Baby Jackson!
January 1, 2007
Peel Slowly and See, originally uploaded by bowiesnodgrass.
Elizabeth and John had their baby! The healthy 8 1/2 pound boy was born at 4:30 am on Dec 30, 2006. Please pray for mommy, daddy, and baby.
Here’s a photo of his very first day of life! already being exposed to some Warhol pop culture…
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 ‚ÄòWhere 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?
Two Visions of the Emerging Church
December 11, 2006
Embracing Worship 2.0 – an Architecture of Participation
by Johnny Baker, excellent column published in Church Times
Brian McLaren shared this poem with me at the end of October, after it was shared with him on a recent trip to Mexico City. It resonated with me so strongly that I recently got permission to publish the English translation (trans. by Amy Stabeno and Elisa Padilla). Many thanks!
Do You Know Someone Like this?
A poem by Pablo Alaguibe
Could there be someone out there,
someone else,
who would be interested
in participating in an experiment
of Christian community
’model 2006,’
Read the rest of this entry »
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
Fifth Wednesday
November 25, 2006
So this coming Wednesday is the fifth Wednesday of the month, which means that there’s no Transmission. It also means, however, that we’ll have three whole weeks between one Transmission and the next, and I’m not crazy about that. How about we do something low-key, like have a movie night or something? Fifth Wednesdays do happen with some frequency, so it’d be neat to start a tradition regarding what we do with them.
I’m in Seattle right now and I’m playing for Church of the Apostles tonight with Lacey Brown. It’s a little bit like playing with a second me (electronic backing tracks mixed with live instruments, combining ancient texts and melodies with modern grooves, etc) except that, unlike me, Lacey can sing. It’s pretty cool – I wish you guys could hear it!
Church of the Apostles is pretty cool – they’ve taken an abandoned church and converted it into an Abbey for themselves. They take the whole “radical hospitality” thing pretty seriously. I was met at the airport, driven into down, and given a room all to myself. It would be a lot more expensive to get a building in NYC (I don’t there are any abandoned buildings, anyway), but I would really, really love to see Transmission blossom into a living community…
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!).
U2charist on TV tonight
November 10, 2006
Nightline is doing a segment tonight on a U2charist put on by a church in Westchester. I happened to be there, so TiVo it if you want to have some stock footage of me praying…
I think it’s interesting that they’ve gotten so much press for this because, frankly, the service wasn’t all that cool. I applaud what they’re doing, but there are a lot of small things they could have done to make it much more effective. If anyone’s interested, I wrote an entire critique of the ritual from an “emerging” perspective…