Gratitude: Wednesday November 7

As you look at these areas of hurt from Monday and the relationships from Tuesday, how do you feel these problems have affected the relationship? Did you react to the person or just let the issue go? Did you work to remedy the issue? Did the problem take you by surprise or just affirm what you have believed about the person? Was there a change in your relationship after this issue? Something small, something large, for better or worse?

If it was an issue in the church, ask the same questions.

Prayer: Pray for these people today.

Gratitude: Tuesday November 3rd

Let's process some of the things that we thought about yesterday. When we think of the major pain that people have made us feel in our lives, think about your relationship to those people. Were you close? Did you have a lot of respect for that person? Sometimes we respect people that we don't like so this could be a more complex question. If we had to put this person on a level, would they be above, equal to or below you? Do you know much about the person's background? Do you know what the person considers deeply important in life? Do you know about areas where they have been deeply hurt?

What about the negative incidents that happened during the day yesterday? Ask the same sort of questions about your relationship with those people.

Prayer: Ask God to give you creative insights to these relationships.

New Weekly Blog

We affirm the practice of “whole life worship” meaning that worship can be a constant state of being. We come together on Sunday nights to practice our faith and learn rehearse methods of living as Christ followers. To keep growing throughout the week, we have established a daily prayer journal and blog.

Each day you will find a meditation on the blog. These pose questions for deeper reflection and a suggestion for prayer. Our hope is that we will continue to process what is explored on Sunday through out the week. We hope you will journal on your own and post comments on the blog.

Feel free to comment on the previous worship gathering, response to the blog questions, thoughts, questions and challenges to one another.

Gratitude - Monday November 2

Luke 19: 1-10

As we try to relate to Zacchaeus we want to focus on how it feels to lack value in the face of ourselves and others.

Today think about major times in your life when you felt hurt. Were there times when you were incredibly embarrassed or maybe a time when you were deeply angered at someone? Has someone made you feel less than human or completely incapable of something you should have been able to do?

Has anything ever happened to you in the church to create these feelings?

As you reflect on these things, also think about the small things that happen throughout the day that create similar negative reactions.

Prayer: Confess your honest feelings about these painful things to God.

Humility and Spiritual Growth

Is there room in my life for spiritual growth? Strange question for a pastor and leader of a spiritual artists' community? Not really. Like everyone else, I find myself replacing my spiritual life with to do lists and God with x...y...z...

A friend and I were laughing at diamond commercials the other day. The ones we heard make it sound like love=diamonds and the only way you can tell if someone loves you is by the size of diamond they buy you. According to commercials, a person's capacity for love in general can also be gauged by the type of car they drive, clothes they wear, gadgets they own and cool people they happen to know. We came to the conclusion that we must be the least loving, least capable of loving people on the planet!

But, when I really examine what it looks like to love people - deep meaningful relationships, time to spend, freedom to be honest and open, generous, etc. I wonder if I am any closer to showing my love in these ways than I am in the ways the diamond commercial suggests.

Last Sunday, in our worship gathering, we engaged Allen Pearson's exhibit "Creation Sings," to help us put aside the thoughts of the everyday world and begin to notice the complex universe of plants, birds, and people all in varying states of activity all around us.

"Careful observation and thoughtful contemplation of nature soon teaches us how little we know and understand about life and the world. This in itself engenders the humility that is necessary in order to experience the divine.

This quality of humility is really the summit of the mountain that Abraham was traveling towards all his life. " Who shall go up the mountain of Yahweh and who will stand in the place of His holiness? The person with clean hands and a pure heart..." (Psalm 24:3-4

This idea of humility struck me deeply. It does take humility to stop, slow down and really notice the world around me. How much more so, to notice God.

"To experience the presence of God in nature (and indeed anywhere), one must be willing to detach oneself from the pull of worldy ego-interest so as to become open to higher levels of awareness."

The importance of making time for spiritual growth, intentional time, can not be undervalued. We are working to provide a variety of opportunities of for such growth and reflection. Hopefully this will result in the "fruits" of a life lived in love - what Christians would say is a "life lived in Christ." I hope you will pray for us as we develop these opportunities and walk together as a
community.

(Quotes from Azamra: Torah for our time)

Lisa Hawkins
Artistic Director/Pastor
Convergence: A Creative Community of Faith

OBSERVATIONS and Exploring the Transcendent in the Tangible

Have you ever had someone say to you, "oh, you are just looking for attention!" How often is that an affirmation? Not usually, in my experience. But, I've been thinking; what is that really about - "attention?" We are looking for connection.

Looking at it from a different angle (not getting, but giving attention) it is just as challenging. We talk about it all the time - we are a culture of ADD and ADHD and multi-tasking, scanning and sound bites. How much time and energy are we actually able to give to really paying attention? to anything?

A couple of weeks ago we explored the passage in Luke 10:41-42, where Jesus calls out Martha on her lack of attention. He rebukes her for being worried and upset about many things when there is only ONE thing that is needed. I completely relate to Martha. This is my trap. It so easy to get worried about all the little things and forget to make time for the ONE thing that is truly needed.

In The Artist's Way, Julia Cameron speaks about attention. "The quality of life is in proportion, always, to the capacity for delight. The capacity for delight is the gift of paying attention." And, she says, "attention is an act of connection."

"Attention is an act of connection." We desire connection with God and with others, but paying attention is difficult because we are distracted. We talk about the times when we are able to get away to the mountains or the ocean and see amazing views and all of the sudden we see God everywhere in our surroundings.

But, it isn't only the scenery that has changed. It is us - we are actually seeing - we are paying attention. What might we see if we really looked in our own backyards?

Georgia O'Keefe said, "Nobody sees a flower, really. It is so small it takes time - we haven't time - and to see takes time, like to have a friend takes time."


(Autumn's Glow, photograph on canvas, Carrie Schilling)

We talk a lot about "whole life worship" in our community - the idea that we are worshipping God all the time (especially in the everyday) and that our time of communal worship is an act of fellowship, but also a time to practice and learn in ordered to be prepared to worship in the everyday. Last night's gathering was a time to practice connection with God through acts of attention. A time to attend, see, look, taste, touch, smell, feel, that the Lord is good.

Carrie and Fred Schilling led us on a fascinating tour of their exhibit, OBSERVATIONS, in the Gallery at Convergence. What we learned was just how different the world can look when we slow down, change our perspective, go off the beaten path, really explore our back yards, get down on our knees or bellys and see patterns and shapes and colors and light. God is truly present in the beauty of creation as well as the browning, limping, imperfections.

There is nothing more worshipful to me than to see a group of people of all ages with cameras in hand engrossed in the project of of paying attention to what God has placed in front of them. Inspired by our tour we went out to complete our own photo assignment below. Later this week we will have the photos developed and some sort of project will come from that as well - I'll keep you posted.

In the meantime, feel free to take on this assignment yourself and post the results of your favorites here. Please post a response to your experience of taking time and really paying attention!

• Take a picture of something that immediately grabs your attention. Shift your perspective and take another shot.
• Take a picture of something that you think is ugly or boring. Step back or get closer and shoot it again. Take time to really see it.
  
• Shoot something that looks really alive
• Shoot something that looks really dead.
• Ask God to help you see the divine hand in everything you see. There is seeing and then there is seeing.

Please join us Thursday, August 20th from 6-9 pm in the Gallery at Convergence for the official reception of OBSERVATIONS with Fred and Carrie Schilling.

from the Calvin Institute Conference

I just finished the poster session at the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship Grant Colloquium. This was a time for recipients of grants from last year and this to talk about their projects.

Our project attracted a lot of interest; I had dozens of great conversations with people curious and excited about Convergence. Several people are trying to do similar things with artists, and with collaborative worship planning, and are eager to learn from us.

I made several connections that I'm sure will continue into the future.

This morning we talked about expressive worship v. formative worship--expressive worship being when we express thoughts, feelings, ideas, beliefs in our worship. Formative worship being when we are spiritually formed as we worship--learning about God, our relationship with him.

Expressive worship reflects, but formative worship also shapes our thoughts and emotions.

From a Barna study: 47% of worshipers understand worship as activity undertaken for their personal benefit...Only 29% indicated that they view worship as something that is focused primarily on God.

I think we've done a good job of experiencing formative worship at Convergence. I know the language I use to express my faith and my understanding of worshiping God has grown in these three years.

transition

Below is the announcement I made at Convergence last night:

The past three years have been a wonderful journey--I am honored and grateful to be a part of such an amazing community. My family and I are at a time of transition, and believe this is the time to step out of my role here at Convergence.

I am resigning as co-pastor effective June 30. There are several factors that have influenced my decision--please know that none of them have anything to do with the people of the Convergence community. I love each of you and hope our friendships will continue.

Living an hour from Convergence is a huge challenge. We had hoped to move closer, but the economy has made that impossible. Because we're so far away, it is difficult for my family to be as involved as we would like to be. We hope to find a faith community closer to home where we can all be involved.

My primary ministry gifts are teaching and pastoral care. While those gifts have helped us build a healthy sense of community, they don't match as well with what Convergence needs to grow and increase its influence, and we all want what is best for Convergence.

From the beginning, we knew Convergence would be a community marked by innovation, change, and experimentation. I am confident that the staff, the advisory team and the trustees will work together to create an effective plan to move forward and achieve even greater success through this transition.

As hard as it is, this is what is best for my family, and I think this will be a positive for Convergence as we strive to involve more people in leadership, and continue to multiply people and ministries.

My focus will shift to completing my Master of Divinity degree at the Leland Center for Theological Studies next year. At the same time, my family and I will be praying and looking for the next steps in our journey.

I will miss being at Convergence, and will miss the people here tremendously. I am grateful for the ways you have supported and encouraged me over the past three years. I want to thank Lisa, the advisory team and everyone in the Convergence community for their support and encouragement.

I'll be in the office most of this week if you would like to stop by. Next week I will be in Grand Rapids, Michigan, representing Convergence at the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship Symposium.

June 28 will be my last Sunday; I hope it will be a time of celebration of what God has done and what God will do in our lives and the life of Convergence.

Thank you for the opportunity to be a part of such a wonderful endeavor. I will always cherish the relationships and accomplishments of the past three years, and will pray that Convergence continues to break new ground and make a positive impact in our community.

Sincerely,

Todd Cullop
tcullop@gmail.com
703-599-0532

P.S. After June 19, please send all Convergence communication to office@convergenceccf.net. You can reach me at tcullop@gmail.com.

article about church and culture mentioning Convergence

Some Churches help Christians view culture through spiritual lenses
by Jennifer Harris, Word & Way

What does it mean to participate with God in “making all things new”?

Many feel the answer to that question is key to the life and liturgy of the church. “We think of ‘creating culture,’” said Winn Collier, one of the pastors at All Souls in Charlottesville, Va. “We are part of—and contributing to—our culture. The question is whether we are doing it faithfully, purposefully and well.”

Brad Andrews, worship arts coordinator for Missouri Baptist University, agrees. People live in culture, he said. “We’re doing a disservice if we don’t help our people connect the dots and see culture through spiritual lenses.”

He cautions against churches using popular culture to seem culturally relevant, however. He feels many churches have gone too far, forcing contextualization in ways that are both inauthentic and unwise.

Andrews visited one church that used a Saturday Night Live skit in worship. Not only did the skit not connect to the rest of the service, it also was poorly executed.

“You have to be honest with yourself in your ability to pull something off,” he said. Churches must use discernment and follow their giftedness.

George Mason emphasizes the need to interact with pop culture, but not allow it to take the lead. Mason, pastor at Wilshire Baptist Church in Dallas, points out that the gospel has a culture of its own. Pop culture is sometimes in conflict with gospel culture but often depicts some of the basic longings of creation.

“I love books, movies and music,” he said. “I think it is valuable to watch and read and listen for those places culture is getting it right and doesn’t know it.”

Biblical literacy is key, he feels. People must first know their own story—the gospel—otherwise they are likely to be drawn into another story.

“If our people don’t know their story, anything that sounds spiritual or religious, they’ll think is the same,” he said.

Convergence in Alexandria, Va., tries to influence, rather than mimic, culture.

“One thing that we have seen is that churches that strive to be relevant to culture tend to be behind,” pastor Todd Cullop said. “By the time they examine and evaluate culture, find ways to emulate it in their programs and style, and implement something, the culture has continued to change and the church is already behind.”

Convergence provides space for studios, concerts, rehearsals, performances, workshops, meetings, classes, artist salons and exhibits.

“We try to connect with emerging artists, those who will create and influence culture in the future, not necessarily in the present,” Cullop added. It is so much a part of community that transforming culture’s values through the work of emerging artists is in Convergence’s vision statement.

The Luminary, an art gallery at The Journey Church’s Tower Grove location in St. Louis, Mo., has a similar approach. Director James McAnally said the church views the Luminary’s role as service.

“It’s a way to serve the people around us,” he said. Some churches serve by starting soup kitchens. “We felt strongly the need to serve artists by finding out what they need and try to provide in meaningful ways.”

The Luminary provides space for artists to work and helps provide resources for aspiring artists to network and become professionals.

An artist’s work is incredibly personal, he said. “By showing them we care about them and what they do, we are serving where it is most personal; it’s a tangible way to speak of the gospel.”

All echo that engaging culture is an essential part of faith. Collier believes influencing culture is theological in nature.

“Creating a culture that lives in line with kingdom reality is an act of Christian obedience,” he said. “God meant what he said—he intends to ‘make all things new.’ He is in the work of creation and recreation. Do we believe that and join him, or do we stay about our own narrow agenda?”

All Souls is planning film nights and book events to help identify the art forms’ inherent value.

“Our conviction is that God speaks in all sorts of ways—and we actually short-circuit the subversive and wildly true nature of the gospel when we try to manipulate everything,” Collier said. “And in truth, with that kind of shortsighted mentality, we often miss the truth that form is offering us.”