June 24 Synchroblog Participants

Read about the intent of the synchroblog

Read the suggested things to keep in mind when participating in the synchroblog.

Read what people had to say:
open hands
brian mclaren
catalyst foundation
keeping it simple
deeper moments
a life of unlearning
northern grove
sister friends together
pursue God
warren throckmorton
if i blogged.....
image journal
dance like no one's watching
beth blog ever
random thoughts....
stan's point
child of the wind
justin lee
at home with me
new creation
based on a true story
two world collision
focused conversations
dash house
solar crash
up on my soapbox
dreams unlocked
an examined life
reflections from a sister
mr. grape
okay city
the ooze
musings on
naked pastor
one lost sheep
djfree
musings and prose
out of the box
my pal al
paradoxy
pomoprophet
gay &....
formers
sweet bi and bi
days of marriage
love is an orientation
rising up whole
khanya
kinnon
empire remixed
box turtle
grace rules
moody blogger
cafe inspirado
odd babblings
that guy lam
crossroads
journeys of an academic
ragamuffin ramblings
gathering wool
prickly portal
without contradiction

Closing and Reflecting on the Synchroblog

As we bring closure to our synchroblog initiative, my tired brain is ruminating on many different impressions and reflections. Overall, let me say how humbled and grateful I am for the many who shared with heart-felt commitment to find ways to see beyond the gaps and engage one another as fellow journeyers.

A number of people have referred to previous attempts at bridging – both personally and publicly. Those who have been intentionally involved in these attempts over the long haul can feel a sense of weariness or what one might describe as being jaded about a new attempt.

The BTG synchroblog was not a new or radically different attempt – though for some of our contributors and readers it was their first exposure to this kind of conversation. And to be honest, it was primarily with these 'newbies' in mind that we wanted to bring this conversation into the public realm of blogging. For those who have been around the block more times than they care to count on this topic, we hoped you would bring your experience, wisdom and maturity. And many of you did. While there may not have been any big “ah-ha” moments for seasoned travelers in these conversations in yesterday’s posts, I do hope that there were spots of encouragement as many shared with honesty and grace.

In particular, I think of Anita’s and Karen’s posts as ones which reflected the grace of seasoned travelers who, out of love for Christ, willingly put themselves out there yet again with words of gracious challenge to see one another across the gaps.

Then there are those for whom this conversation is not a daily reality, perhaps I might describe them as occasional travelers into these bridging attempts. I heard in these contributions a common theme of having experienced the need to unpack and deconstruct assumptions – and I found that encouraging. What I particularly loved about these contributions is that they focused on stories of personal encounters and personal relationships. That really is the heart of it all. And while these friends may not know every subtle nuance of this complex bridging exercise as some who live and breathe this stuff all the time, I thought that the stories of contributors like Mark, Chris and Darryl, to name a few, were bright spots of encouragement for those of us in the trenches on this stuff all the time. In their stories, they embodied what bridging is essentially about ….. meeting another person, connecting and sharing in each other’s lives.

Some concrete suggestions / insights caught my attention:

Justin Lee referred to two new DVD resources, our Bridging the Gap series and GCN’s Through My Eyes. (I had intended to do a post reviewing Through My Eyes - but didn't get a chance - but think it is a really great resource.) He also shared about a new connection point for straight Christians who want to share ideas on loving and bridging ~ and you can contact New Direction or Justin (at) gaychristian (dot) net with the subject line “I’d like to help bridge”.

Moody blogger reminded us that the Lord’s Supper can be a beautiful expression of gaps being bridged – and whether you agree with his perspective on the sacrament or not – it was offered in a wonderful spirit.

Empire Remixed suggested that everyone in the church give up talking about and having sex for a year and focus on serving together. While unlikely to be implemented, a thought-provoking, creative suggestion I thought.

Okay City focused on a tangible orientation to service together despite the reality of some gaps. "You bring the lunch, I'll bring the water."

I also appreciated the diversity reflected in the collection of conversations: some international presence, non-Christian reflections, as well as the spectrum of theological perspectives and sexual identity. I do regret that we did not directly hear from or engage the perspective of our trans neighbours.

As I hear from people who have been reading the posts, I am mainly hearing what I consider positive feedback: people felt most of the posts were thoughtful, respectful, gracious and hopeful; and people were both resonating and being stretched and exercising grace and patience too.

The synchroblog is officially closed now – if you have a post you would yet want to offer – please simply leave a comment on this or the previous post. Prior to doing that, please read through this post for a bit more background on the intention behind the synchroblog.

Some of you may know that I will be entering a season of sabbatical essentially in a couple of days (I have to preach yet on Sunday). I am really grateful for this time to leave the trenches for a while, experience rest, enjoy my family, and read, reflect and work on my book project. I don’t anticipate writing new posts until the fall - but be on the lookout for new weekly video clips and posts written by Brian.

Let me close by saying thank you to contributors and readers who have encouraged me, stretched me, and sharpened me in the last year of blogging. May God continue to give all of us courage, wisdom, humility and grace to truly love one another across the gaps.

Shalom friends - see you in the fall.
wendy

Synchroblog: mid-way delight and late arrivals

I am so grateful as I make my way through the many rich, thoughtful, grace-filled and relationally focused posts. Thank you to each who reflected, prayed and wrote with care and a clear commitment to be positive, encouraging, and open.

I didn't have a map for this initiative. I didn't know how it would play out. I was much in prayer and even as my prayers continue .... they are giving way to peace. I'm seeing a consistent theme of vulnerability, transparency, honesty, owning our own crap, and some especially good insights shared by those who traverse these waters with great regularity. Trying to keep up with the various comment streams from the different posts, I'm sensing the contributors wanting to encourage one another, learn from one another and reach out to make new connections.

Did I already say I was feeling grateful? Well I am.

I did want to draw your attention to some contributors weighing in today - to ensure that you had the chance to read their contributions as well:

- moody blogger
- grace rules
- empire remixed
- kinnon
- box turtle
- khanya
- rising up whole
- cafe inspirado
- odd babblings
- that guy lam
- crossroads
- journeys of an academic
- ragamuffin ramblings
- gathering wool
- prickly portal
- without contradiction

There may even be a few more .... which I'll add to this post as they confirm....

I have more reading to do ..... hopefully you do too.
I have more thinking to do ..... hopefully you do too.
I have more praying to do ..... hopefully you do too.

But at this point ..... much to be thankful for.

The Kids are Alright by Brian Pengelly

Working at New Direction Ministries, Wendy and I have an understanding. As Youth Specialist I will handle the speaking engagements to teens and youth, and as Executive Director she will handle most of the Sunday Morning preaching opportunities. This means that I will often find myself shifting around in a rock hard camp bed on the second sleepless night of a youth retreat in the middle of nowhere….but I wouldn’t trade jobs with her for all the money in the world.

I often joke that working with youth professionally takes a special kind of person…preferably one who was dropped on their head a few times as a kid. But the truth is I love working with youth because they give me hope.

I have had the repeated experience of sharing my story with youth, and having teens come up to me in twos and threes afterwards in tears. Some of them have gay friends or family members, and some of them don’t, but all of them say something similar to me:

“I’ve felt inside that how Christians treat gay people is wrong. I’ve listened to how my pastor talks about this, and something inside just didn’t feel right. I want to follow Jesus, and I am serious about what the Bible teaches…but I knew how we have been acting isn’t what the Bible teaches either. I thought I must be a bad Christian because I felt this way, but your story helped me realize that I was right!”

I must have had this conversation a hundred times in the last year, in churches all across Canada, with youth from dozens of denominations. It always makes me smile because while they are thanking me, the remarkable thing is not my story, it is that they already knew it in their heart.

I have heard a great anxiety among adults in the church that we need to do something to protect our youth. Recently I read an article that claimed that to protect our children we must find anyone, gay or straight, in our churches who didn’t agree with the author's view of homosexuality and put them out of the church! It brought to mind one of my favourite Simpsons episodes where the town riots because of the perceived danger of bears and Helen Lovejoy exclaims in a panic “Won’t someone PLEASE think of the children!” But this view tends to keep God small and our own roles in the fate of the universe overly large.

I have been hanging out with the children, and they are doing okay. The Spirit of God is bringing change. I believe that his heart for reconciliation and his Love for Gay people is being echoed in the hearts of the new generations coming up in the church. I have found a generation who are much more comfortable navigating the differences that divide us with grace. When I think about what will Bridge the Gap between the Church and the Gay community I believe very strongly that it will be our children and grandchildren that are are now and will continue to do it. I think that rather than worry about them we need to listen to them, their voices and opinions and they will lead and teach us.

Hitting 50!

I have some of my best ideas sitting and brainstorming over lattes with my friend Mark. Mark Petersen, Executive Director of the Bridgeway Foundation, is an innovative missional partner. He shares the passions of so many Kingdom builders ~ consistently with an energy and excitement that amaze me.

The earliest seeds of the DVD project were shared with Mark. And it was his encouragement and support that was so instrumental in getting the whole project off the ground.

It was again in conversation with Mark that the idea for the synchroblog took shape. As we talked and laughed and dreamed a bit, I remember thinking that if we at least got 20 people blogging with us I would feel like it was a worthwhile endeavour. And if we got 50 people joining us to contribute their positive suggestions for ways to break down dividing walls of hostility… that would be awesome. Mark, on the other hand, said he thought we could get 100 bloggers to connect with the initiative.

Well, we’ve hit 50! Today, Mark and I are both blogging to extend the invitation even further.

I’ve had a lot of emails from people not quite sure what it is or how to participate. Hopefully, this will clarify things:

1. If you have a blog and would like to participate just send us your site address.
2. Then on Wednesday, June 24th, post on your blog your thoughts on how to ‘bridge the gap’. You can read the original invitation again here.

3. On June 24th, indicate your participation in this larger initiative by including a brief comment about the synchroblog with a link back to our site and an invitation to your readers to check out the other posts.

4. Moderate the comments for your own blog as you normally would.

There is no technical synchronization – it is simply a group of people, writing on the same topic, on the same day.

If you don’t have a blog but would like to participate, write up your contribution and email it to me: wendy (at) newdirection.ca
We’ll post it here on BTG on the 24th either under your name or anonymous – whatever your preference is.

If you choose to participate, you are not obligated beyond posting on your own site that day. Of course, we encourage participants to read the other posts and join in the comment conversations on the other blogs as you are able.

Thanks to those who will and who have already shared the invitation to participate with others. I’d love to have to be the one buying Mark the lattes this time around :)

Check out Mark sharing about his partnership with "Bridging the Gap":

Announcing the BTG Synchroblog!!!

The culture wars surrounding the topic of homosexuality have sucked up tremendous resources, have left devastated casualties in their wake, and continue to perpetuate polarization and enmity – most clearly seen in the divide between the Christian community and the gay community. The diversity and divisiveness surrounding gay issues is staggering. Even the above statement needs to be unpacked. The sense of polarization is not simply between the Christian community and the gay community as if both of those communities were completely monolithic and mutually exclusive. Rather, we see fractures within the Christian community and disagreements within the gay community. In the midst of this wasteland are gay Christians – a diverse group of people too – who often find very little safe harbour on either side of the divide.

The intensity of this divide is ratcheted up several notches during annual Pride weeks. We’ve all seen the photos of the attempted Christian messages at Pride events. Placards and signs and megaphones. And many of us are grieved. Many of us disconnect and say, “That doesn’t represent the Jesus I know. That doesn’t represent me.”

We want to invite you to join us in a synchro-blog on the Wednesday of Pride week, June 24, to speak up and speak out of your heart to address this terrible divide.

New Direction has been seeking to foster safe and generous space for authentic conversation about faith and sexuality. We have committed ourselves to building bridges. But we cannot do it alone. We need other Christ-followers: gay and straight and everything in between, to speak up and join the conversation, to share the heart of the gospel in the midst of this conflict. We need those beyond the walls of the church: gay and straight and everything in between, to speak up and join the conversation, to share their thoughts on how the church can reach across the divide and build bridges.

If you've seen our DVD resource called, “Bridging the Gap: Conversations on Befriending Our Gay Neighbours” and would like to offer a review that day - that would be great. If you'd simply like to offer your own thoughts on what is needed to break down the dividing walls that continue to wound, alienate and obscure the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ - that is great too. And for those who read this blog who do not identify as Christian - please consider participating! Those of us who do identify as Christian need to hear your perspectives. We need to listen to and learn from each other.

So please, spread share this invitation with others you think would have a thoughtful contribution to make!

Our prayer is that this synchro-blog would model an opportunity for multiple conversations, from multiple perspectives, with a commitment to hear one another with grace, humility and respect.

Tony Campolo says, “I hope that you do much good in building the bridges between conflicting parties on a controversial issue that is destroying the church of Jesus Christ today. What you are doing is of vital importance. My prayers are with you.”

Greg Paul says, “Trying to bring together two groups of people who really don't want to like each other isn't easy. Try to imagine building a bridge across a turbulent river, in the midst of a raging battle - with both sides shooting at you... Such radical reconciliation efforts come only at a cost, but so does the Gospel itself. New Direction, many years ago, was one of those Christian organizations that gay, lesbian and transgendered people loved to hate. In the intervening years, it has become one of the few true bridge builders between evangelical Christians and the gay community.”

For more information & to sign up to participate in our synchro-blog email:

wendy@newdirection.ca

I look forward to engaging your thoughts and contributions on June 24!