The Arrival - Sunday, June 4

I arrived in Minneapolis late Sunday night. I had a difficult time finding the hotel. It is a bit of a dump in what look's like a run-down part of the city. When I arrived there was no bedding, towels, or toiletries. After looking through the drawers for some (I thought maybe I was supposed to put them on - it is a cheap hotel!), I got some from the clerk. The TV is absolutely horrible (fuzzy, unfocused, and poor sound). The phone doesn't have any numbers on it, but I was able to find the number to give to my wife.

I am here for the Emergent Village Summer Institute. I will be here until Thursday. At that point, I drive home and immediately leave again to attend the UCC Wisconsin State Meeting. So, it's a busy week.

Over the course of the next few days I hope to summarize my experience, so check back daily. Tomorrow I have the first of a three-day session on "Transforming Spirituality." The leader is LeRon Shults. He teaches at Bethel Seminary, but unfortunately I never had him for any class. But, I constantly heard great things about him, so I am greatly looking forward to the sessions. In the evening I hope to attend the class on "Homosexuality and the Emerging Church." During the break I am going to run to Bethel Seminary to take advantage of their awesome library for some upcoming sermon research.

Also, I am scheduled to post a review of Scot McNight's Praying with the Church as part of Paraclete Press's Blog Tour.

Check back tomorrow night for a summary of the Summer Institute and a first look at my review of McNight's book.

Finally, on a sad note, my friend, Erik Steffen finally lost his battle with cancer. His wife, Kelly, was a very faithful member of my single's group years ago. Please pray for her and her two boys during this very difficult time!

Latest Update (June 10, 2006)

I've attempted to summarize the main body of F. LeRon Shults' three-day session. Click HERE to read it. Be warned that the text is dense, but hopefully, faithful to the core content of his teaching.

In the next few days I'll post some other random and assorted insights I gathered from his teaching.