Here’s another invite to the locals who read this blog. Scot McKnight, blogger extraordinaire will be at up/rooted gathering on Monday, December 11 from 7-9pm. He’ll be discussing a topic that has always divided the church, Mariology. I’ve always thought us protestants needed to understand Catholics more carefully and engage in conversations out of our unity. I think this subject and his newest book, The Real Mary: Why Evangelical Christians Can Embrace the Mother of Jesus can help heal the divide. Scot has been an excellent conversation partner with missional and emerging church folk as well as me personally regarding my book The Great Giveaway. Scot’s a real friend and the world’s greatest blogger. See his Jesus Creed.
Uprooted will be meeting in a different location, and a totally different suburb this time. Pastor Fred has graciously offered to host us at Redeemer Lutheran Church in Park Ridge (near O’Hare) this month. (The address is 1006 Gillick St, Park Ridge IL 60068.) This means that for those of you in the north suburbs or downtown, we’ll be a lot closer to you this time! I hope you are able to come and join us, especially if we haven’t seen you in a while due to the distance.
Missio Alliance Comment Policy
The Missio Alliance Writing Collectives exist as a ministry of writing to resource theological practitioners for mission. From our Leading Voices to our regular Writing Team and those invited to publish with us as Community Voices, we are creating a space for thoughtful engagement of critical issues and questions facing the North American Church in God’s mission. This sort of thoughtful engagement is something that we seek to engender not only in our publishing, but in conversations that unfold as a result in the comment section of our articles.
Unfortunately, because of the relational distance introduced by online communication, “thoughtful engagement” and “comment sections” seldom go hand in hand. At the same time, censorship of comments by those who disagree with points made by authors, whose anger or limited perspective taints their words, or who simply feel the need to express their own opinion on a topic without any meaningful engagement with the article or comment in question can mask an important window into the true state of Christian discourse. As such, Missio Alliance sets forth the following suggestions for those who wish to engage in conversation around our writing:
1. Seek to understand the author’s intent.
If you disagree with something the an author said, consider framing your response as, “I hear you as saying _________. Am I understanding you correctly? If so, here’s why I disagree. _____________.
2. Seek to make your own voice heard.
We deeply desire and value the voice and perspective of our readers. However you may react to an article we publish or a fellow commenter, we encourage you to set forth that reaction is the most constructive way possible. Use your voice and perspective to move conversation forward rather than shut it down.
3. Share your story.
One of our favorite tenants is that “an enemy is someone whose story we haven’t heard.” Very often disagreements and rants are the result of people talking past rather than to one another. Everyone’s perspective is intimately bound up with their own stories – their contexts and experiences. We encourage you to couch your comments in whatever aspect of your own story might help others understand where you are coming from.
In view of those suggestions for shaping conversation on our site and in an effort to curate a hospitable space of open conversation, Missio Alliance may delete comments and/or ban users who show no regard for constructive engagement, especially those whose comments are easily construed as trolling, threatening, or abusive.