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"alt" culture
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Started this discussion. Last reply by Ned Olson Feb. 4, 2008.

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Ned Olson left a comment for Thomas Knoll

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At 4:13am on June 22, 2009, Leila Pacheco said…: Wanna view my cam?, come see me here We'll really have some fun! freelocalcams.info

At 2:19pm on December 28, 2008, Jay Gamelin said…: I completely get it- and yes it is what i understood you to say. This very thing, of seeing faith as a process, orthodoxy as a right way of thinking instead of thinking the right way, I truly believe is the hope of the Emerging Church culture and exactly what turns off the more, for lack of a better term, fundamentalist church dogma that believes truth is utterly knowable, graspable, and obvious. Instead it is much more a mystery veiled in a riddle, wrapped in an enigma, etc. There is an absolute truth, for this I am sure, I believe the truth is Jesus, Lord of all, but after that i start to get hazy. "I believe! Help my unbelief!"

At 12:19pm on December 28, 2008, Jay Gamelin said…: I would imagine much that we have in common- of course since we serve specifically college students, we really are only young adults. Sometimes I do miss the intergenerational church, but not all too often. : )

I guess for the most part, we just get winked at by the LCMS. Our building is partly owned by the LCMS, but I do not believe they officially recognize us. We just say we still belong and folks still do arrive.

I really like your comment of bringing who you are and joining the others. That is truly our mission. We work very hard to allow space under Christ's banenr to discuss issues of faith without saying "you don't belong because you think differently." We have conservative and liberal in our community and we speak up about what we believe as opposed to ignoring our differences. It requires we are humble in our approaches, instead of proving our position we ask that we be taught if we are wrong, asking to be corrected. It brings a humility to our conversations. I am definitely very conservative on some issues and very liberal on others. I like being in between- besides, living between black and white allows me space to live in "gray" and thus "GRAY-ce" in knowing what I believe is not what saves, only the death and resurrection of the son could do so.

These two are related in that we won't walk away from issues the LCMS holds up. We dispute some in our practices, but challenge any to show us how we are wrong and ask for them to come humbly to the conversation. We do allow women to preach here, and are open to having a woman preside. Funny enough, this really isn't an issue with our LCMS students.

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Hometown:

Seattle, Washington

About Me:

Member of Church of the Apostles with former associations ranging from Lutheran to Assembly of God to Foursquare Gospel to Wesleyan with an obtuse dose of Presbyterian on the side. Former member of the University of Washington Husky Marching Band and current hack mandolinist.

Who am I? (Many ways to answer this -- be as creative as you want, or not.)

I am a longtime computer geek - back 3 decades - but an online social networking ludite. Just email me. I would call myself a liturgical evangelical these days - a not entirely unrepentant conservative who has found acceptance in a decidedly less conservative community where I have renewed hope toward growing into the likeness of Christ. I am also a person in recovery who has thankfully found a spiritual community beyond mere church walls who I share a common pain and suffering with and who offer safe understanding where I can share those things I really don't want to talk about.

How did I get into "emerging ministry"?

At the invitation of Karen Ward of Church of the Apostles in Seattle.

Say a little bit about the community you share life with...

I already shared a bit under About Me and Who Am I. I'm an old guy in a young church and find acceptance anyway. I would call us a Trinitarian community with both a strong belief in Jesus and a strong belief that we really don't know the half of what Jesus is all about. I am continually surprised and fascinated by the people God puts in our path to show us a bit more of his heart.

What are the most pressing questions (both theological and practical) you and your community have?

What does it mean to be an intentional community?
How do we reach out without falling apart?
We need to be who we are, but we also need to grow up. How do we learn to relate to each other, to the larger church, and the world at large in healthier ways?