the great emergence conference

Plans have been made for the Great Emergence Conference to take place in Memphis this coming Dec.

The book is based around Phyllis Tickle’s upcoming book by the same name.

The Great Emergence National Event is a unique and freshly designed event built on innovative adult learning techniques including interaction, participation, and inspiring content on the current state of and future possibilities for Christianity.

Around the four main sessions with Phyllis Tickle, participants will also enjoy the daily office — thrice daily times of prayer — based on Phyllis Tickle’s bestselling book, The Divine Hours, in the majestic and historic Cathedral of St. Mary in Memphis, Tennessee, which will be bedecked with Advent greenery.

Memphis and St. Mary’s Cathedral hold a pivotal place in American history. Memphis was the scene of much racial strife during the Civil Rights Movement, culminating with the assassination of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. on April 4, 1968. The next day, hoping to quell a burgeoning riot, many of the city’s pastors, priests, and rabbis gathered at the Cathedral. In an impromptu move, the dean of the Cathedral took the processional cross from the church’s altar and led a procession of the city’s clergy down Poplar Avenue to city hall, where they petitioned the mayor to end the sanitation strike that King was in town to protest. As an important location of the emergence of civil rights in 20th century America, Memphis and the Cathedral are a poignant place to discuss the emergence of the church in the 21st century.

Along with Tickle, a number of folks will be hosting workshops during the event (I think half of them have been on the Homebrewed Christianity podcast)::

Tony Jones, national coordinator of Emergent Village and author of The New Christians: Dispatches from the Emergent Frontier

Doug Pagitt, founder and pastor of Solomon’s Porch (Minneapolis, Minnesota) and author of A Christianity Worth Believing: Hope-Filled, Open-Armed, Alive-and-Well Faith for the Left Out, Left Behind, and Let Down in Us All

Peter Rollins, founder of ikon (Belfast, Ireland) and author of The Fidelity of Betrayal: Towards a Church Beyond Belief

J. Brent Bill, executive vice president of the Indianapolis Center for Congregations and the author of Sacred Compass: The Art of Spiritual Discernment

Lisa & Will Samson, members of Communality (Lexington, Kentucky) and co-authors of Justice in the Burbs: Being the Hands of Jesus Wherever You Live

Joseph Myers, author of Organic Community: Creating a Place Where People Naturally Connect

Tim Keel, founder and pastor of Jacob’s Well (Kansas City, Missouri) and author of Intuitive Leadership: Embracing a Paradigm of Narrative, Metaphor, and Chaos

Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, co-founder of Rutba House (Durham, North Carolina) and author of New Monasticism: What It Has to Say to Today’s Church

Karen Ward, is Abbess of Church of the Apostles, Seattle, an intentional, sacramental community in the way of Jesus Christ.

Sybil MacBeth, is a mathematics instructor, a dancer, and a doodler. Her 2007 book Praying in Color: Drawing a New Path to God introduces a prayer practice that is meditative, visual, active and playful. She lives in Memphis, Tennessee with her husband, Andy, who is an Episcopal priest.

If you’re interested in going – sign up now. The cost is $145 with early registration or $195 after Nov. 5.

Register online with coupon code JBLB (won’t save you any money but if I can get 20 folks to sign-up then I’ll be able to join you there :-))

find out more at www.thegreatemergence.com