Mid-December Miscellany

Here we are… 12 days to Christmas and my mind is filled with miscellany. So why even try to focus? Here’s a hodge-podge, a menagerie, a winding journey through a wandering mind.

Advent Conspiracy

One occupant of my mind that only seems to grow stronger is the sense that I should be a part of helping everyone get it right when it comes to Christmas. No, I’m not talking about the culture wars of who has the almighty guts to actually say “Merry Christmas”. It scares me to oblivion to think of three Christian fathers showing up at Best Buy for the only remaining Nintendo Wii, pounding each other to a pulp for it, and then all being careful to wish the “Happy Holidays” clerk a “Merry Christmas” on their way out.

Imago Dei is a church in Portland that has made a real effort to instigate a change in the rabid commercialization of the birth of Christ. It’s called Advent Conspiracy, and it urges everyone to spend less, and give more… specifically to provide clean water for those in the world who have none. I encourage everyone to check it out, and I could definitely see The Core jumping on board with this in 2008. There’s a great video on Tim Keel’s blog about the joy of giving clean water.

Downtown Conversation

There’s a lot of new stuff coming in downtown. Artist Susan Sommer-Luarca renovated, and now opened, a gorgeous new gallery just across the intersection from the Front Porch, a new coffeehouse on the square, called The Coffee Ethic, has now come online, and at the same time a quaint little shop called Global Fayre has hit the Campbell Avenue scene just a block away. The best part is, In the last 24 hours I have had great conversations with the proprietors of all three of these new establishments, and they have all been actually quite deep. I pray that there will be many more opportunities to connect meaningfully with our downtown neighbors.

Vocationality

And speaking of great conversations, I am having some of the best conversations so far with my co-workers now that I have decided, after 2 1/2 years working at Second Baptist Church, to move on. In case you weren’t aware, I took a position at Second in May 2005, primarily to handle their graphic design and layout. But now I have accepted the role of Office Manager/Graphic Designer at a downtown print shop called Trader’s Printing Company. It’s a small, family owned business that has had a strong presence downtown for over 80 years, so that’s pretty exciting. Not to mention the fact that my round-trip commute will be reduced from 18 miles to 3 miles, and that I’ll be working full-time only a block from the Front Porch!

It’s Getting Easier to be Green

I’ll have to post some pictures on this topic soon, but I did want to let everyone know that the Front Porch‘s green room (the room behind the stage) is getting a make-over. We were donated a couch and easy-chair set from a furniture store across the street the went out of business. And check this out… it’s a very hip set: two-tone leather worth $5500! In addition to that we’ve been donated a 32″ flat-panel TV. So now we can deck out the Green Room and make it a comfy spot for Discussion Groups, Counseling, Prayer, Study Groups, and the older kiddos (pre-schoolers) who come on Sunday mornings. Just throw in an end table and a floor lamp and we’re in business.

Merging and Changing

I’m keeping the details a little bit quiet at the moment, but we’re looking forward to our new year of Sunday morning Worship Gatherings. Stay tuned as new ideas unfold…