An Introduction to Submergent
Written by Mark Van Steenwyk : February 11, 2008
My friend Jess Walter posted a great intro/update for Submergent at the Young Anabaptist Radicals site (which you should definitely add to your rss feed). Everything we’ve done in the past 6 months has been very casual, and very informal. But I feel like momentum is building whether we put energy into things or not. We’ve got a couple events coming up in the next two months:
1. Submergent will be at the New Conspirators Conference in Seattle at the end of this month and intend on hosting a lunch “table talk” for those interested in Submergent. We will be introducing ourselves, discussing what the emerging church and anabaptist tradition needs from each other, and dreaming and scheming about the future of Submergent.
2. On May 9-10 Submergent will be co-sponsoring Brian McLaren’s “Everything Must Change” book tour stop at Goshen College.
It is weird that we’re co-sponsoring something already. It really is more of a way of getting the word out than it is a formal “sponsorship.”
These events are to stir up interest. The big push will happen later this year. We’re trying to network with emerging anabaptist types so that we can have a networking gathering in Minneapolis sometime before the summer. Our hope is to get 30+ people to come to talk about the possibilities, get to know one another, and begin to tentatively plan for a larger conference/gathering that can cast the net wider.
I think things will start picking up rather quickly this spring, culminating with the networking gathering. From there, the possibilities are endless. This is a conversation whose time has come–I feel that emerging Anabaptist expressions have been lurking in the shadows. We’re ready to walk out into the light and start dreaming together.
for further reading . . .
- None Found
Christarchy! is a growing network of small groups for people who want to put the ethical teachings of Jesus into practice.
Submergent is a network of leaders who, embracing the Anabaptist impulse, are living into the Kingdom of God in a postmodern, post-colonial, post-Christian world. Together, we will re-baptize the Christian imagination!
Anchored in the West Bank neighborhood of Minneapolis, Missio Dei is committed to following Jesus' way of peace, simplicity, prayer, and hospitality.
The Missio Dei Breviary includes morning and evening prayers for one month. Edited (and freely shared) by Missio Dei, it draws primarily upon the Gospels, reflects Anabaptist convictions, and emphasizes missional commitment.
great to hear submergent getting off the ground. it is unfortunate that i cannot participate in any of these events. hopefully i can in the future.
Yeah, right now we’re just trying to connect where we can in order to get the word out that we want to start something with like-minded folks. It will be interesting to see where things are at in a year, when we start trying to do some stuff together.
Mark,
I love the way that you are going with connecting the anabaptists with the emergent types. Let me know when you bring that group together, I would like to join the conversation. also let me know if there is anything that i can do to help make this happen. I know some people in North Minneapolis that might be interested and I am know working at bethel so i have connects that way as well.
thanks for starting this needed conversation.
Hey Tanden, you’re not on Facebook, are you? Most of the communication for Submergent has been through that. So it would ease things a lot if you were connected through facebook. Otherwise, I’ll try to keep you in the loop as things develop via email.
No i am not part of that facebook world but i think that soon i will be. once i am up and going with that i will let you know. otherwise just keep me in the loop with e-mail.