Organic Conference -- questions answered

Some have inquired for more details, mostly from where this blog feeds to. So, quickest to respond to them all from here.

First of all, how did I hear about it? I signed up on this website to find organic churches. Back in August, Milt Rodriguez, a partner to Frank Viola, contacted me about my interest and the potential of hosting a conference and help with local details. Couldn't help, but was interested in the conference.

Milt, Frank, and a couple of others in different parts of the country are looking to help hook up some interested in organic church in different parts of the country. Since starting that website linked to above and fueled by interest sparked by Frank Viola and George Barna's book Pagan Christianity?, they've had several thousand inquiries around the U.S. from folks looking to connect with others interested in organic Christianity. Colorado Springs had a pretty decent concentration, so it was picked for one of the early conferences.

So what happened? Well, we met with Milt from Friday night to Sunday morning in someone's home (thanks Edith for hosting!). Friday night was for two and half hours, and a bit more than half the time was spent on introductions and why the interest from everyone, while the second half Milt did some teaching on Christ and Christ in us. Milt on the weekend was trying to really drive home that it was about Christ, not church. A secondary theme was that he also heavily emphasized was that there is mystery to it all, and that God still uses revelation -- it is a spirit of wisdom and revelation.

Saturday morning continued in the teaching of mystery, more on Saturday with the emphasis on reconciliation - that fact of equality due to each of us having Christ in us so we each have valuable contributions -- we don't need the preacher to reveal God for us, we each have it in each other for that. He tied it back to Genesis 1 and 2. Great teaching (though a couple of the finer points I have a bit of an issue with -- but it was those finer points) about the work of Christ about restoring to the original intent of Genesis 1 and 2. I really liked it because too many preachers make it all too simple ... and trying to explain the points Milt made here in this short account won't do justice. It really is about being separate and joint at the same time, and the Trinity being one and three, et al.

So, anyway, setting a stage about Christ in us, we in Christ and how we are one and Christ is one ... Saturday afternoon was about answering questions. This was the open forum for Milt to answer questions about organic church. Interestingly, little was about practical matters as I suspected. I think most had read enough of the available books to get the practical matters, so we got to heart matters and brushed some theological matters about it. Saturday night was more of the teaching that draws us to Christ first, and a little instruction about how to spend the first few months together -- things like taking time to detox from traditional church, focusing on relationships with one another. That continued a bit Sunday morning, and we also got to the practical matters of organizing who goes where in our trial attempts at forming organic fellowships.

That is it in a nutshell, short of the time we spent just talking with one another over our long lunch and dinner breaks.

Milt's website is Rebuilders. That first link will take you to a joint resource with his allies around the country -- I'd advise that as a place to start unless you might be in Colorado or Utah (Milt's based in the Western Slope region of Colorado).

My reaction -- I'm diving into this. I've been to so many churches that promise "authentic" fellowship. I think organic type fellowship holds the best hope for that. I look forward to this attempt we're making, with some caution, but no plans to hold back.