Christianity21 | Black Coffee Reflections

5 Favorite Things About the Christianity 21 Conference #c21Denver

Two weeks ago I attended Christianity21 – still loving on it. I’ll admit, some of it is the “high” gleaned from a great experience. Another part of it though is I keep thinking about the stuff I heard and the people I met. Those things outlast any high and in looking back here were my 5 Favorite things.

<strong>1. The vibe of the gathering.</strong>My first impression was how relaxed it felt. Not relaxed in the disorganized sense, relaxed in the friendly sense. Second “the room” felt very friendly and gracious. As the time went on, I sense it was an “us” place as opposed to “we are the experts, you are mere peons” sort of thing. I didn’t sense any pretension and if there was, umm, sorry about that, didn’t mean to be that guy.

Seriously, it was one of the least pretentious rooms of informed, “coolish” people I’ve been in. There’s a lot of [Read more…]

Why the Christianity21 Conversation Was So Important to Me #C21Denver

January 19, 2014 by Tim 2 Comments

Earlier this week, I returned from “Christianity21″ which took place in Denver. After that I got to spend a few days in Phoenix visiting my sister and her family so I am still catching up at home, in my ministry and processing a few of my notes. I have a few drafts on actual content (so much goodness articulated there) and I am excited to post them soon.

If you have heard me tell my story, you know I say that among the things God used to help me find my love for the Church again was the emerging church conversation.

I remember reading Tony Jones’ Postmodern Youth Ministry and thinking, “Hey, I’m not crazy.” I remember reading A New Kind of Christian by Brian McLaren and thinking, “Thank you, I’m not crazy.” And I remember reading Doug Pagitt’s Church Re-Imagined and thinking “Thank God, I’m not that crazy.”

Many great minds and many books later and add all the blog reading, the goodness of social media, countless [Read more…]