Home again hello…

Well, we made it home safely after several adventures.  Our time of departure from Green Lake Conference Center was 12:30 PM.  We got off without incident, and our group even managed to make a new acquaintance along the way (if you’re reading this, hi Adam).  We were expecting about a two hour wait until we departed for Chicago, and it turned out that our flight actually left about 20 minutes earlier than we had first planned.  That’s the good news.  That bad news is that we left earlier because the flight we were supposed to be on had been delayed and we’d been bumped to the earlier flight which was leaving near the time for which we had originally been scheduled.

I had a nice conversation with my seat-mate on the flight.  He’s engaged, but they “aren’t in a hurry” to get married.  This is a common phenomena nowadays – it fascinates me, given that everyone knows they are cohabiting (and not infrequently procreating) and yet everyone agrees that the couple “isn’t married.” This is something folks in the Biblical world wouldn’t have understood.  Anyway, my seat-mate and I watched as we flew over thunderstorm after thunderstorm and a pretty-much unbroken layer of clouds until we got to Chicago.

When we landed our flight had already been delayed 20 minutes.  By the time we arrived, O’Hare was already swamped with delayed and diverted passengers.  Amazingly enough, as our group arrived to the gate another group got up and left – leaving us enough seats to stay together.  This turned out to be a good thing – because we were going to end up at O’Hare for a long time.  Delay after delay after delay ended up putting our “6 something” flight to more like a “9:45-ish” flight (Central Time).  While we waited, I shot some video (I won’t up it up on youtube until folks give me permission), we all grabbed some dinner, and coffee was acquired at one of the 2 dozen or so Starbucks that we had in my terminal.

During our long delay, I managed to make the acquaintance of a man from Nigeria who worked as an actuary.  He was a Christian and was fascinated by the quirky pastors we had in my group.  His biggest concern during our wait was that he would miss his Church’s prayer vigil – he was a nice man.  He did manage to freak me out, however, when he asked if I’d watch his bag for a bit while he stretched his legs. This is a huge no-no in the post-911 world so i couldn’t do it, but I felt that Jesus also wouldn’t let him carry his own bag while he walked, so I offered to carry it for him and we could walk together.  He didn’t let me carry his bag, but we took a nice stroll through the crowded airport.  My new friend’s son is heading to the University of Virginia to study business in the fall, and he and his son had just been down there looking for a Church he could attend while in school.  Impressed, I asked him if his son had initiated the search and he smiled and said, “No, there are some things you let your children find their own way on, and other in which you give them a wise path to walk.”  This impressed me even more and so I replied, “And yet, we so often only really learn when we step off that path.”  ”Yes,” he replied, “I tell my children, ‘You don’t have to do this the hard way,’ but because they haven’t come to Jesus from another life they just don’t understand that.”  I didn’t get a chance to ask him what his story was – I wish I had, perhaps our paths will cross again in the future.

Our plane eventually lifted off (the last plane to Philly that night), and we got home without much incident. As we flew, my friend Frank and I watched Juno, it’s a nice movie.  The only other thing I can say about the trip is that Bruce is a saint.  He was at Philly Airport for so long that the parking company charged him for two days.  Sigh – we’ll have to do something seriously nice for him.

I expect videos and more images to be up “soon.”  Thanks for reading.

And it comes to an end…

Last night ended the conference.  It ended on a high-point for many, and I’m glad for that.  To me it kinda highlighted that I’m swimming in a slightly different world than a lot of the folks at the conference.  Try as I might, I just simply couldn’t get “into” the preaching style of the final keynote speaker.  I asked my friend Frank if maybe it was just me and he said, “Well, God’s obviously using what he’s doing so perhaps you should pray that you can get beyond the presentation to the content.”  Given that it’s what I tell people all the time, this was good advice.  It’s still not my cup of tea (I don’t understand the need to create a “preaching persona,” I have enough trouble being me) – but at least I’m not depressed about it.

Yesterday afternoon I kinda “outed” myself as a post-evangelical (which has been a rare breed here).  I did it during a conversation in the afternoon that made be feel “unsafe,” but not so much so that I couldn’t jump in a have a conversation.  A good portion of the people kinda drifted away as I started, but one guy from PA really engaged me and we had a wonderful chat (thanks Alex).  I’ve also met some great “geek pastors” (I am not the only pastor in ABC-USA who likes Linux!!).  One of whom I have a genuine connection with – hopefully, we’ll keep in touch.

For me there were three highlights to the conference (I don’t included the closing session because, really, I got  in the way of experiencing it).  Here’s what they were for me:

1. The conversation between Lee Spitzer and Paul Borden was, to me, the best moment of the conference.  To get a group of baptists together with different opinions and have people come out encouraged was simply wonderful.
2. Chats in the central lounge were a key to connecting with people, and I formed the start of some good friendships while I’ve been out here.
3. The closing feedback session on Friday morning was positive, honest, and helpful.  It was a sign of great maturity and hope to me.

I could also list filming the videos we made at the conference, but that was kinda my job and I so I’ll leave it off.

Here’s some things I would like for a follow-up conference in the future:

1. Cut down on the long speeches, I’m just not sure we need so many (though I understand the desire to get people “up there” from each region).  I think the conversations would have been wonderful as keynote sessions – and we could have ended with a sermon.
2. Cut down on the width of topics and create 2 or 3 “tracks” which enable more lengthy conversations.
3. Bring in some non-Baptist Evangelicals to help stretch our spirituality (a lot of people kept talking about the “spiritual feel” to the conference – but I’m honestly not sure what they meant by that word).  Being deliberately stretched by people friendly to the group they are presenting to, without being part of it, would be a nice change of pace at a conference like this.

So, as a first attempt at something like this, I’ll give us a strong B, but not quite a B+.  That’s a good, solid, rating, which brings out that relationships like the ones being formed here take time to develop.

Now, the trip home looks like it’s going to be really interesting.  The good news is that I have my video camera (I found out that my laptop bag counts as a “purse” so I can bring the camera bag as well) – so I’ll be taping the descent into dishevelment.

Green Lake, Day 3

OK, so I didn’t get back to my promised second post yesterday.  I apologize.

Last night’s plenary went better than Tuesday’s.  Jenny is an engaging speaker and she did give me a bit to chew on, which I always appreciate.  I’m wondering, however, if we may not have set up the plenaries with a focus that wasn’t as tight as it could have been.  It might just be me, but I find nothing revelatory in saying that pastors are large portion of why many churches don’t grow.  I know I’m a problem, it’s part of my make up.  Then again, the vast majority of people at the conference are from older generations and the way pastors used to be taught was to “show no weakness” (and that’s how my seminary tried to teach me).  So maybe it as helpful for them.

The real strength of the conference so far has been in the workshops and afternoon conversations (in fact, I think the conversations should have replaced traditional plenary speeches).  Today I went to a workshop on cell-based ministry with a pastor named Pablo.  I met him on the bus ride from Appleton to Green Lake and instantly liked him, so when I found out he was teaching this workshop I was most happy.  Sadly, I had to leave early to do my video gig – but I liked what he was presenting.  I think maybe a formal workshop isn’t the best forum for his teaching style – but he has great passion and is very gracious (a wonderful conversation).  I have to connect with him this afternoon so I can get him in a context where we can be in conversation about the ministry he’s doing.

The video gig went well – I’m not doing the editing since we’re using our videographer’s cameras and that gives me some more time to be in conversation with others.  Most people are congregating in the lounge that has wi-fi, so it’s an easy place to strike up some conversations.  I don’t know which conversation I’ll be heading to this afternoon, but I’m sure it’ll be thought-provoking.

On the ground in WI

Here I am, in Wisconsin. I have to say that O’Hare Airport was rather impressive, and I can say that because we pretty much saw the whole thing as we went to our gate where we’d board our connecting flight! We actually had a longer stop-over in Appleton, WI than we did in Chicago waiting for our chartered bus. Appleton’s Airport had a nice little (and expensive) restaurant where we all chilled out – but the part with video games and foosball table wasn’t opened yet, which was a bummer (no one wanted to play anyway). The Appleton Airport also had a “Cheese, Gifts, and Books” shop too – which I didn’t get into, but I did get a nice shot of the store sign. I don’t think that’s going to be something I see again soon (aside from on my return trip, that is).
Just as an aside for Matt. Yes, the restaurant had fried cheese curds. No, I did not get them (I don’t want to eat any food that is going to squeak at me).

I have no idea what the conference holds for me. Right now we’re on our bus to the center (estimates on travel time have ranged from a half-hour to and hour and a half, which just means we have no idea where we are). As soon as we get to Green Lake I’ll have to meet up with my tech-partners and see what the set-up is like (after we complain about it we’ll make everything work, it’s something geeks do). My Four AM start isn’t going to help me today, considering that by Wisconsin time I was up at Three. I have feeling I’ll be sleeping well tonight!

Update: Our registration went well, and we can reach the public wifi for the conference center if we sit just right. We eventually got the projector set-up working (though we’ll have to reverse the projectors tomorrow) – and the set up for the plenary sessions is workable (I am so glad we don’t have to run sound). The evening banquet was a good time – and I got to me some new people and reconnect with some folks I haven’t seen in ages. The plenary session itself was “OK.” Let’s just say that I have a difficult time appreciating “conference-style” speaking. I have a difficult time tracking with it and apply a different set of rules to it than both the speaking and much of the rest of the audience is using. The dissonance made me lose track. I could say that’s all on me, and in a sense it is – but I also think that “conference-style” can’t do what it is that many conference speakers want it to do – go deep. I struggle with this myself, because anyone who speaks in public (pastors included) has to walk the line of being “entertaining” and “substantive.”

Just to be clear, it’s not that I don’t think the speaker gave me things to chew on.  75% of the content of the talk were things I’ve either said, or may say in the future, but the way those things worked out went in directions that I would never contemplate.