Sunday, March 18, 2007
Emerging Women Gathering
Julie just got back from her Emerging Women Midwest Gathering this past weekend, which she almost (no pun intended) single-handedly planned and put on herself. They stayed in an actual castle a few hours outside of Chicago. The setting was great, and you could tell that a lot of the women were really getting into the ambiance and enjoying all the nooks and crannies, towers and secret passageways that the castle had to offer.
I was out there for one evening since I was leading a workshop session (Emerging Church 101) on Saturday morning (I was the "token male" presenter :), but I tried not to interact too much with the women otherwise. I didn't want my presence as a male to ruin the dynamic. Whenever you throw a guy into the mix the women will just act different. So I just hung back and observed and took care of Emma.
Emma, by the way, loved being at a castle. Even before we got out there she couldn't stop talking about it. And she loved stomping all around on the stone or hardwood floors and exploring all the windows and little rooms. She still hasn't stopped talking about it since we got home.
The other women at the conference were very interesting and very diverse in terms of ministry backgrounds and ages. I met one who is writing a book called "We the Purple" (about how many Christians are looking for a third way in politics), another whose job is to turn around failing Episcopal churches, another who was recently fired from her church ministry position for being Emergent, and many others. There were about 45 women in all, though I didn't have time to meet all of them - like I said, I didn't try too hard to engage.
Julie said the rest of the retreat went well after I left. I'm really proud of her. This is the first time she's pulled off one of these retreats herself (after attending all the other ones this past year) and I think she did a fabulous job. She's hoping to be involved in coordinating more over the next year or so (I told her she really should only do one per year, as it really is a lot of work) - I think the next possibilities are Estes Park, Colorado or Austin, Texas.
I was out there for one evening since I was leading a workshop session (Emerging Church 101) on Saturday morning (I was the "token male" presenter :), but I tried not to interact too much with the women otherwise. I didn't want my presence as a male to ruin the dynamic. Whenever you throw a guy into the mix the women will just act different. So I just hung back and observed and took care of Emma.
Emma, by the way, loved being at a castle. Even before we got out there she couldn't stop talking about it. And she loved stomping all around on the stone or hardwood floors and exploring all the windows and little rooms. She still hasn't stopped talking about it since we got home.
The other women at the conference were very interesting and very diverse in terms of ministry backgrounds and ages. I met one who is writing a book called "We the Purple" (about how many Christians are looking for a third way in politics), another whose job is to turn around failing Episcopal churches, another who was recently fired from her church ministry position for being Emergent, and many others. There were about 45 women in all, though I didn't have time to meet all of them - like I said, I didn't try too hard to engage.
Julie said the rest of the retreat went well after I left. I'm really proud of her. This is the first time she's pulled off one of these retreats herself (after attending all the other ones this past year) and I think she did a fabulous job. She's hoping to be involved in coordinating more over the next year or so (I told her she really should only do one per year, as it really is a lot of work) - I think the next possibilities are Estes Park, Colorado or Austin, Texas.
Technorati Tags:
Labels: emerging church
hey sweetie - a lot of people put in a lot of work to make this thing happen - you just saw my side of it! but thanks for posting about it.