What does it mean to be the Church in North America in a postmodern, post-colonial and post-Christendom context? With decreased attendance, how do churches survive? Where do we find authentic community and spiritual formation? How does the Church respond to the growing list of local and global injustices and crisis? If you find yourself wondering about these things, the Ecclesia Collective invites you to join a small group of people in San Diego for a collaborative conversation (kind of like a “skill share”) on May 23 and 24 (little less than a month away) to discuss practices and principles that just might help us find a sustainable way of being the Church within the North American context.

Here’s how the weekend will go:

Schedule
On Friday, May 23, attendees will drop by the Hawthorn House around 7 p.m. or later. You’ll get a chance to meet each other, have some refreshments and just hang out. We’ll also have the dining table covered in butcher paper and we ask that you come by that evening prepared to write down on the table those things that you feel are most important for you to discuss. It’s an open book but we’ll encourage you to stay practical and aware of our time restraints. There’s no need to stick around for long if you have a full schedule. And if you can’t make it, come a little early on Saturday and write down your thoughts.

On Saturday, May 24, starting at 9:30 a.m. we will take about an hour to pray and organize how we want to approach the listed conversation topics. We will break around noon for lunch. Bring cash. There are inexpensive places in our neighborhood. We’ll pick something and walk there together. After lunch, we can address the remaining issues we have time for. We will end the day by ordering-in something for dinner around 5 p.m.

Cost
There is no charge for this gathering because we know that many of you have strained budgets already. We only ask that if you feel like it ends up being a valuable time for you to please make a donation to the Ecclesia Collective to whatever amount is reasonable for you.

Location
We will be hosting this gathering at the Hawthorn House.
RSVP
We will limit the size of this group because we want it to be interactive. So, please e-mail us at ecclesiasd@gmail.com as soon as possible if you are planning on attending. Attendance will be capped at a certain point, so this will be first respond, first served. And we’re going to give you some incentive! The first person(s) to RSVP gets a copy of David T. Olson’s book, The American Church in Crisis, second gets a STOP CASTE NOW T-shirt and third gets a copy of C. Christopher Smith’s book, Water, Faith and Wood: Stories of the Early Church’s Witness for Today.

To RSVP, please e-mail us with your name, contact information, name of faith community (if you have one) and how many people you will be bringing with you (don’t guess please!).

We look forward to hanging out with you!