Beth and Traci Emerge
Posted by Traci in category Beth and Traci go to Church on February 26, 2008
. . . from Convergence, where we were clued in immediately by one of the fine emergent Christian ladies that this event would be sriracha for our chicken-noodle diet.
Observe:
Traci: I’m an atheist.
Tiffany: Oh thank God. Christian women can really get on my nerves.
Comment by: Helen
1 02/26/08 7:19 AM | Comment Link |Awesome! I’m glad Tiffany made you feel welcome right away. Especially since you’d committed to a whole weekend with these fine emergent Christian ladies.
Was it that way all weekend - women being friendly and helping you feel comfortable at their gathering? (I hope so)
Comment by: Traci
2 02/26/08 7:24 AM | Comment Link |It was. Good way to spend a weekend.
My favorite new term: church face. You probably all know this one, right? As I understand it, it’s the veneer of Christian perfection traditional churches necessitate.
No church faces at the retreat. Buncha bawdy, funny, smart broads.
Comment by: Traci
3 02/26/08 7:27 AM | Comment Link |GRANDMAAAAAAAA!!
My three-year-old is singing “Little ones to him belong; they are weak but he is strong . . . ”
Clearly it’s not safe for me to leave the kid with his Grandma while I run off to fraternize with Christians.
Comment by: Helen
4 02/26/08 8:06 AM | Comment Link |I’m glad there were no ‘church faces’ at Convergence.
Wow, did Grandma take your child to church?
Comment by: Claudia
5 02/26/08 8:28 AM | Comment Link |Welcome back to the blogosphere, B&T! You’ve been missed.
What’s a secular, self-empowering, kid’s song counterpoint to “Jesus Loves Me,” I wonder?
Comment by: Beth Bates
6 02/26/08 10:26 AM | Comment Link |Thanks, Claud.
Trac, are we supposed to know what sriracha is?
“If You’re Happy and You Know It Clap Your Hands” rocks the secular kids’ worlds.
Comment by: Beth Bates
7 02/26/08 10:51 AM | Comment Link |Ohhhhh. You mean Rooster sauce. I never knew the proper name till I just looked in my fridge door. Excellent metaphor, my emerged friend.
Comment by: karen
8 02/26/08 11:12 AM | Comment Link |Ah, the “church face.” Brings back memories! ;-)
Comment by: Helen
9 02/26/08 11:20 AM | Comment Link |I was too embarrassed to admit I had no clue what sriracha was - thanks for bringing that up, Beth :)
Claudia, I think 3 year olds just like fun songs don’t they? They are too empowered already, imo :). I’m thinking a few silly songs and/or songs with fun motions would be just the thing.
Comment by: Claudia
10 02/26/08 11:59 AM | Comment Link |Of course! Was just teasing, in the hopes that somebody’d come back with Rush’s ‘The Trees’ or something appropriately objectivist. :)
Comment by: Jane Doe
11 02/26/08 12:15 PM | Comment Link |B&T, So what kind of things did you do/learn/interact in? Please explain emergent for those who may not know.
Comment by: Randy
12 02/26/08 1:16 PM | Comment Link |Oh yes! Please…DO explain emergent! It seems to have become a synonym for “heretic” in some quarters of fundyland. I can’t wait to hear your take on it!
Comment by: Beth Bates
13 02/26/08 2:23 PM | Comment Link |Gee, Randy, can anyone truly explain the amorphous non-movement movement that is emergent? Traci, can you? I was hoping someone would explan it to us among the vineyards of Edgefield.
Comment by: Traci
14 02/26/08 2:25 PM | Comment Link |My life is getting increasingly surreal.
I’m certain I’m not the best person to answer this question, but my impression is this: The emerging church is less rules-based, less sin-focused, less “you must do this and look like this to be a Christian.” There seems also to be a focus on community service and activism, but — hell — I’m really winging it here.
The women at the retreat came from a lot of different denominations and backgrounds, and a lot of them seemed to be taking the emerging route b/c they’d hit “the stained-glass ceiling” and wanted a venue where they could do more as leaders.
Jump in all y’all and fill in the gaps.
Comment by: Beth Bates
15 02/26/08 2:42 PM | Comment Link |Don’t forget tatts, Traci. Emergent/emerging means body art. Plain and simple.
Comment by: Helen
16 02/26/08 2:55 PM | Comment Link |Way to go Traci - great concise description! I’m especially impressed because I feel at a loss when anyone asks me to describe ‘Emergent’.
Hey how did the Bible reading on the plane go?
Comment by: Helen
17 02/26/08 2:58 PM | Comment Link |Beth, among men it means macs and other i-devices and - arrrgghhh, I can’t remember the name - those mini-beards - oh, yeah, soul-patches :)
Comment by: Traci
18 02/26/08 3:08 PM | Comment Link |Oh, Helen. I chickened out.
I brought The Message (lighter, easier to slip into my purse), and when the flight attendant made a Beth-instigated issue of it from a few rows up, I hid the cover from the woman craning her neck to see what I was reading.
I think I’d've been less embarrassed to be reading Janet friggin’ Evanovich. Dave Eggers, even.
Comment by: Jim Henderson
19 02/26/08 3:11 PM | Comment Link |Great description of Emergent
Comment by: Randy
20 02/26/08 3:20 PM | Comment Link |Beth,
Thank you for understanding my stab at humor. I get asked all the time by my friends what the “emergent church” is, mostly because they seem to think Off The Map is part of it and they’re worried I’m going to hell now. I honestly have not been able to adequately describe what I’ve seen and read to anyone, so I thought Traci’s take on it would be of extreme interest, being mostly uninformed and unvested in any particular viewpoint. She did as well as I have so far, I think.
Traci…great observations. Please don’t feel any more inadequate than the rest of us in this exercise. Your impressions might help us narrow it down a little. Can you give us any more observations? Like, aside from the gender thing, was there a particular age group that seemed prevalent? Did the content presented sound different than what you’ve heard so far in your travels? Was it similar in ways?
Comment by: Traci
21 02/26/08 3:35 PM | Comment Link |RANDY: We’ll be serving up more details in posts to come. I’ll say this, though: This weekend was similar to exactly nothing we’ve experienced so far.
Except the sharing. There apparently can be no meeting of Christian women without the dramatic sharing of stories.
So. Moving. (Holding back cathartic sob.)
Comment by: Randy
22 02/26/08 3:54 PM | Comment Link |We do love our drama…
Comment by: Helen
23 02/26/08 5:22 PM | Comment Link |Randy, does the dramatic sharing happen at Christian men’s meetings too? (I think you need some new friends, by the way - ones who are less pessimistic about your eternal fate)
Traci, it sounds like your Bible reading is going to take place in private after all. How did Beth get the flight attendant to make an issue of it? (Or were you kidding about that part?)
Comment by: Traci
24 02/26/08 6:56 PM | Comment Link |HELEN: Oh, no. She totally did, but I couldn’t tell you how. I like to bloody Mary up before a flight. Also before I try to read The Message.
That book is wild.
Comment by: Helen
25 02/26/08 6:59 PM | Comment Link |Yes, it’s important not to skip those pre-Bible reading rituals.
Comment by: Missy Welsch
26 02/26/08 7:05 PM | Comment Link |Helen, THAT is funny!!! And, Randy, how true that is…we DO love our drama! I guess that’s why I skulk in and I skulk out of church these days. Skulk, skulk, skulk.
Comment by: karen
27 02/26/08 7:07 PM | Comment Link |I had the impression that it’s supposed to be indescribable, which is why it’s called the emergent “conversation” rather than something more concrete. But maybe I’m misunderstanding it, which wouldn’t be tough to do. ;-)
Comment by: Beth Bates
28 02/26/08 7:13 PM | Comment Link |Traci - I didn’t instigate. That’s what was so funny. I did something to try to get your attention, and you said, “Don’t interrupt my reading of this book!” or something along those lines, and the flight attendant totally joined in and said, “Yeah! Don’t interrupt her!” to me. AFTER that I told him to ask you how you were enjoying it.
Comment by: Jane Doe
29 02/26/08 7:16 PM | Comment Link |Traci-Beth,
Who were the speakers? or did you have speakers? (not the kind on your ears) Sermons? Teachings?
do tell more!
Comment by: Traci
30 02/26/08 7:41 PM | Comment Link |BETH: So much for dramatic license. I suppose next you’re going to reveal I was drinking only coffee.
JANE: Keep your bloomers on. :) We’ll be posting.
Comment by: Helen
31 02/26/08 8:00 PM | Comment Link |I think we need to get the flight attendant here so we can hear his side of the story.
Comment by: pamhogeweide
32 02/27/08 10:21 AM | Comment Link |so great, and what a fabulous surprise, to have the two of you show up. you guys were one of the highlights of the weekend for me.
you two are fairly bawdy, funny and smart broads yourselves…
see ya on the blogs! and maybe at La Bonita sometime!!!!!!!!!
Comment by: Beth Bates
33 02/27/08 11:11 AM | Comment Link |PAM HO-GAH-WIDE-UH! You were one of our highlights too, to be sure. We’ll post more details when we catch up on taking care of our houses and families (do laundry, clean and cook). You feature prominently in my Convergence experience, especially our Friday night at the shack and our Sunday morning with you at THE BRIDGE. Thanks for your hospitality and chauffeuring! You’re the swellest.
Comment by: Helen
34 02/27/08 11:19 AM | Comment Link |Pam is awesome :). I’m so glad you guys (fine ladies, whatever) all met at Convergence.
Comment by: Sarah Notton
35 02/27/08 11:51 AM | Comment Link |Hi Traci! Hi Beth!
I was wondering where you snuck out to on Sunday morning. Kinda sad, because I was wondering what you would’ve had to say about the Snake Dance. (No, I’m not telling! You had to be there!)
Comment by: Beth Bates
36 02/28/08 8:52 AM | Comment Link |Hi, sweet Sarah! We loved meeting you and wished for more time with you. And more free time in general, actually.
You mean the Jesus Is Good Medicine dance? Oh we were in on that thigh burner. :)
Comment by: Sarah Notton
37 02/28/08 9:05 AM | Comment Link |Oh yay! I was afraid you’d missed it. I’m sooo glad you gals were able to be there. You’re right about the lack of free time. I so wanted to know how y’all were enjoying the experience (or to hook you up with more booze if you weren’t!)
Comment by: Beth Bates
38 02/28/08 11:57 AM | Comment Link |I stayed Sunday night with my best friend from Denver. She lives in Eugene and has experienced Edgefield enough to make a fabulous tour guide. We totally underutilized the place! I guess I’ll just have to go back next year. :)
So tell us more about the meeting in March.
Comment by: benjamin ady
39 02/28/08 12:58 PM | Comment Link |Missy Welch,
I am *so* with you on the skulking in and out of church thing. I’m a skulker from way back. =)
All: I just have to throw this into the mix about “What is emergent”? (mostly because of the discussion on another thread).
Emergent is (mostly) pomo.
(Randy: please note: No “r” in that word).
Does that sound right?
Comment by: Beth Bates
40 02/28/08 4:33 PM | Comment Link |POMO. That really was hilarious, Randy. I didn’t get it until that light bulb went on over your head. Ohhhhh! PO-MO!
Comment by: Randy
41 02/28/08 9:23 PM | Comment Link |It does look like PORNO when it’s in small case to me…pomo…see?
Helen: We like to say in our Doable Evangelism Seminar that the church is addicted to drama and allergic to the ordinary. I’ve not heard anyone respond in opposition to that so far. Most people just laugh. So yes…men’s groups are just as guilty, and maybe more so. We’re supposed to be the brave gender, right? Lots of pressure to do the radical, bold, “in your face” kind of things for Jesus.
Not that there’s anything wrong with that…
;-)
Comment by: Kelly Bean
42 02/28/08 10:36 PM | Comment Link |Traci and Beth
Thanks for making the trek and taking the risk. You both brought good things to the Convergence and, are both delightful. I am glad to have been able to connect with each of you honest, strong, smart, funny women.
Kellybean
Comment by: Deborah Loyd
43 02/28/08 11:37 PM | Comment Link |Hey fabulous ladies…
I am happy that you came to party with us at Edgefield this year. Wish I had more opportunity to hang out with you in the party spots .
I am glad that you enjoyed The Bridge too. Can’t wait to hear your views of both events.
Honored by your presence…
What the eff is POMO?
Comment by: Randy
44 02/29/08 5:25 PM | Comment Link |Uh…Please, allow me:
POMO= short for POstMOdern.
Comment by: benjamin ady
45 03/1/08 1:01 AM | Comment Link |randy: you nailed it.
Postmodern, as in *emerging* from the modern.
Comment by: Deborah Loyd
46 03/2/08 10:55 PM | Comment Link |As that the same as in POFK emerging from the sexual revolution? Or POBFD as in post purpose driven life?
Sorry… losing control here.