Review: Finding the Groove, by Robert Gelinas

March 23, 2009 //

Robert Gelinas, lead pastor and resident jazz theologian of Colorado Community Church, uses wonderful & evocative imagery from the world of jazz (think John Coltrane and Miles Davis, not Kenny G) in Finding the Groove to help us dream of the Kingdom of God in fresh ways. Even for non-jazz fans, Groove’s stories & quotes (e.g., Coltrane’s search for the sound of God) are engaging and helpful in composing a vibrant, jazz-shaped faith.

In Groove, Robert builds on the jazz keynotes of syncopation, improvisation, and call & response to inform and give life to our theology, ecclesiology, hermeneutics, mission, and praxis — no small task! In many ways, Groove is a book for the church — Robert’s thoughts about ensemble community in chapter five are prophetic and powerful — but it is more than a “how-to” workbook. Groove‘s helped me reconsider the role of tension and suffering in life and community; instead of trying to minimize those things, learning to see them, instead, as means to creativity and engaging life as it really is.

One particular passage stands out for its resonance in pastoral leadership (p.155):

In a jazz ensemble, the drummer is the timekeeper. He sits obscurely in the back, ever keeping the beat, driving the tempo, and signaling time changes. His job is to keep time in a way that sets the others free. He listens and responds to the moments and in the process keeps time for all. He has the worst seat in the house. Think about it; as he sits in the back all he sees are the backsides of his fellow musicians. It’s not a great place to see, but it’s a great place to serve…

The essence of jazz is listening.

Even if you’ve never listened to Kind of Blue or have no idea who Billie Holiday is, I definitely recommend Finding the Groove. Sometimes, it is precisely the act of crossing into unfamiliar territory that stirs creativity and imagination.

Categories books, innovation, leadership, missional, music, reviews, third way

Friday Freebies: SXSW Dreaming

March 20, 2009 //

Some people dream of going to baseball fantasy camp – for only $5000 you and your spouse can go suffer alongside the Tigers! Me, I’ve always dreamed of going to South by Southwest (SXSW), which is basically a music, film and tech nerd’s dream.

In honor of my unfulfilled SXSW dreams, here is a free sampler from NPR featuring some great talent performing at this year’s SXSW festival.

Categories freebies, indie, music

Post-Idea Camp Rodeo: Diversity + Leadership

March 19, 2009 //

Part four of my ongoing series of reflections on The Idea Camp (catch up on part one, part two, part three):

I loved seeing a wide range of speakers and facilitators presenting from the main stage. It’s not just diversity for its own sake (which can so quickly devole into tokenism). As David Gibbons shared with us at the Camp, creativity and life come from the margins, from intersections you might not otherwise cross. When we hear the same people making the same rounds from the same book tour on the same circuit…. well, you get the idea. That’s why I appreciated William Paul Young, author of The Shack, urging the National Pastors Convention to highlight women’s voices from the main stage there (this past year, the main stage was not the most diverse bunch).

The diversity at The Idea Camp was more than just cosmetic: we heard from pastors, non-profit innovators, business leaders, men, women, young, old, people from a variety of racial & ethnic backgrounds, the tech-savvy, the well-known and the not-as-well-known. Kudos to Charles Lee for his vision of bringing together a remarkable group of people to lead & share.

For me, as an Asian American, every conference I attend is a cross-cultural experience. Occasionally my wife and I talk about how difficult it is to find our place in life & ministry – not quite here or there most of the time. It was encouraging to be reminded that diversity is an important part of creativity and listening for God’s voice.

Tags theideacamp

Categories asian american, church, communication, hope, innovation, leadership, ministry, race

Post-Idea Camp Rodeo: Friendship (Online + Offline)

March 18, 2009 //

Part three of an ongoing series of reflections about my Idea Camp experience (feel free to check out part one and part two)…

After I came home from The Idea Camp, my wife commented on how completely my inner geek had been unleashed. “I had no idea,” she said to me, shaking her head. It’s true — I spent a good deal of the weekend bathed in the warm glow of a small army of MacBooks running TweetDeck.

I definitely experienced firsthand what Charles Lee wrote, “Social networking is more than a nice tool, it’s cultural architecture.” For me, tech facilitated friendship. In some cases, I was able to connect with friends who I had only known through the blogosphere; in others, I met people face to face and have since been connected online. In both cases, the transition from online to offline friendship was pretty seamless. Gives me some hope for facilitating online/offline friendship and community in our church.

In terms of participation, tech opened doors for people to be involved in many different ways. As DJ Chuang observes, The Idea Camp was a great venue for connecting the online and offline worlds, “We had as many people online as in-person at the event, Q&A was interaction with both onliners and offliners, relationships initiated online came together in person, etc.”

On a personal level, it was so encouraging to gather with like-minded friends who are asking similar questions and seeking to build God’s kingdom in their local communities. Working in church ministry has an isolating effect, and sometimes it’s good to get together with people who are thinking in the same direction just to know that you’re not crazy. I heard that same refrain recently from Mike Bishop, author of What is Church?, in describing the close friendship he has built with a group of people around the country that started with the question, We’re not crazy, are we?

Tags theideacamp

Categories community, faith, health, hope, innovation, ministry

Is It a Snack or a Holy Symbol?

March 17, 2009 //

Like Rob Bell musing in this Nooma video, I used to wonder where God was. But after many years of walking with Jesus, now I wonder where God isn’t.

That being said, I’m not fully convinced Jesus is in that bucket of spumoni, piece of burnt toast, cheese puff, moth, rock, tree trunk, nasty scar, or the imprint left by a drippy cinnamon bun.

But I’ll let you decide for yourself [h/t: Serious Eats]. Let’s do this thing:

Categories design, faith, just grinning, video