Naboth’s Vineyard
June 18, 2007
So one of our Transmissioners, j. Snodgrass, wrote a play for a service at Sanctuary, an Episcopal church over on the east side. I’m a big fan of using arts in worship, yet I don’t know much about drama and rarely think to include it in a ritual. Kudos to Sanctuary. It’s an entertaining read - go read it on their site.
Also, in the spirit of Elijah, enjoy this song written by j. Snodgrass and myself (Isaac Everett). The extended intro features my friend, Yoel Ben Simhon, and the english-language singer is RC Laird.
[audio:misconception.mp3]
The Emerging Church: A Few Questions
June 9, 2007
Not sure where or how I want to start this post to our group but having been on the east coast for a couple years now, being originally from California and having lived in London, my experiences of churches in these places has been really… eye opening…
I never realized till I left California (2 years ago) how different the traditional church there, is to my experience of church in other parts. A traditional church in California tends to have a group of people coming together in a strip mall shopping center where the church is renting some office space / store and has a number of chairs lined up side by side to look like pews. The people show up in anything from the really casual attire such as jeans and a t-shirt to slightly more dressy attire such as “business casual”. Or I think you call it “smart casual” if my memory serves. The traditional church in this part of the world tends to sing songs to a “rock band” in some form of contemporary worship and then the pastor will speak. This is such a contrast to “traditional” church in NY and England where there are pews and big gothic looking churches which remind you in their splendor how big God is in comparision with us. This form of traditional church has an actual priest in most cases who dresses in the traditional robes and communion is taken with real wine instead of grape juice. Having grown up in the first and not in the later, my concept of church tends to be more modern and contemporary in comparision with my later counterparts. In a church much like the second type that I speak of, I tend to get very uncomfortable and uneasy. It is hard for me to relate to and understand the ritual and liturgy of that style. I try to connect with it but I don’t know how. The thing for me here is that this style is not something I am accustomed to so I don’t understand why we need to go through each step of the liturgy to reach out and touch God because to me God is reachable whether or not we make those steps. If I want to speak to God right here and now I do not need to walk through each of those steps, I just simply call out. If I want to understand God’s thoughts and mind, I read the word. I don’t need an experience of God or have a ritual to tell me God is here with me, right here, right now.
Transmissions & Mobsby
May 25, 2007
WED, May 30th - Is the fifth Wednesday and we’ll be doing something fun or educational… but haven’t quite decided yet. Look out for more info in your inbox - or send us your suggestions!
WED, June 6th - John and Elizabeth are planning the ritual, which promises to include readings about “Drastic Monastics”, O my! We’ll be back at Bowie’s place after a long hiatus (please email us if you’d like directions). There will be yummy food and some celebration for John (5/28), Isaac (6/4), and Bowie’s (6/6) birthdays. Please let us know if you are a gemini too!
Plus, Ian Mobsby, a friend of Bowie and Isaac’s, who hosted us at Greenbelt last year, will be coming from the airport to join us on Wednesday night - so get ready for a double-header because the next night…
THUR, June 7th – Come hear an amazing and long-time Emerging leader in the UK, Ian Mobsby, talk about “Trinitarian Mysticism and Mission” at Trinity Wall Street. Just how can Rublev’s Icon and a Trinitarian ecclesiology enable us to be emerging, 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 rad. Also, here’s an interview between Johnny Baker and Ian about his new book.
Refreshments and fellowship begin at 6:30 pm; the workshop begins at 7 pm – FREE – To sign up, please email us, Ali Lutz at alutz@trinitywallstreet.org or call 212-602-0800.
He’s doing a bit of a tour around the country. Spread the word and check out his schedule, which includes West Coast and PA gigs.
MON, June 11th - Curious about other “Emerging” folks in NYC? Come to Cohort!
This month, various musicians will have about 10 minutes to play a couple of original songs (live or recorded) and share a little about how their music creation jives with their emerging understandings of worship. Shoot us an email if you’re a musician and would like to play!
New Music
May 19, 2007
We had a lovely Transmission this week - due to a last minute change of plan, we ended up sitting around and doing shape-note singing in three part harmony for about forty-five minutes. There’s something really wonderful about making music in a home, and there’s something even more wonderful about hearing your voice blend and harmonize with other people in the community. Although it wasn’t the most complicated ritual we’ve ever done, it was a very moving worship experience.
I’m really interested in upping the amount of music at Transmission. We’ve got a few in-house song writers, several singers, and lots of music lovers. Maybe we could make musical jams be a semi-regular thing.
In any case, in celebration of good Spring weather, I’d like to share the latest Isaac Everett & j. Snodgrass concoction - a setting of the Canticle of Brother Sun by St Francis of Assisi.
[audio:brothersun.mp3]
During Francis’s life, there was a movement called the Cathars who preached a strong disparity between the spiritual world and the physical world. For the Cathars, the world was an evil place created by a demon and the goal of Christ was to free us from it so that we could be spiritually reunited with God. Francis, a monk who I think of as half-way between Jack Kerouac and Dr. Dolittle, opposed this point of view and wrote lots of poetry about seeing God in creation. This particular poem praises God by honoring and personifying the sun, moon, and stars, the four elements, and, ultimately, death. It also happens to be the first piece of Italian vernacular poetry.
The poem was metricized brilliantly by John, and sung by Dara Centonze (who many of you heard at Easter at Avalon). Enjoy!
PS We’re releasing this to the world, so feel free to download it, pass it around, etc. If you love it, buy the next album, to be released in August.
Transmission - May 16
May 14, 2007
This Wednesday we’ll be gathering up at Katherine’s place (193rd and Fort George) for some good old-fashioned house church (and home cooking). Paul and I will be leading the ritual, which will be a hands-on experiment in the variety of ways people experience worship - you don’t know liturgy until you’ve seen it through the eyes of a blind man. Katherine’s place is just a tad hard to find, but take the 1 train to 191st and call me once you get there (917.306.2442)
If you’re interested in playing with ritual, by the way, Paul and I will be meeting Monday at noon at Strictly Roots to plan the service and drink moss smoothies. No, seriously, they really make smoothies out of moss at this place. Join us.
Oh, and as a bonus, there’s a good chance that we’ll be following the ritual with a screening of Labyrinth, starring David Bowie’s pants.
Hope to see you there!
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
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.
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
Avalon pics
April 11, 2007
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.