princeton

princeton has been good... this time of year the colours on the trees are amazing reds and yellows and browns. i got a couple of e-mails recommending small world coffee as an essential part of the princeton experience so have duly checked that out.

the first evening was an emergent cohort - i.e a get together in a bar - triumph is the local microbrewery. was a great evening and good to catch up with friends from emergent - doug, karen, tony, adam, tim and to meet some new people. adam has posted some pics - i look terrible...

brian maclaren met with the faculty who had read his book generous orthodoxy. there was some discussion around that and then a lecture for students and staff to attend. i thought brian was on great form - gentle as ever but had some hard hitting lines. i think it's significant that this conversation is impacting these kinds of institutions...

i have then been taking part in a conversation between emerging church and theological educators from princeton theological seminary and wesley theological seminary who have jointly sponsored the event. we have a similar conversation at the beginning of december in the uk. i presented what the church of england has been doing with the mission shaped church report. it seemed to go down well. it will be interesting to see what outcomes there are from this conversation. i have put my notes here if you are interested... one of the things that seemed to touch a chord was a comment bob hopkins had made when i asked him what advice he would give a mainline denomination seeking to change - his comment was the need to encourage loyal radicals.

last night i led a worship service with karen ward - it was a communion. a few people have asked about music tracks, liturgy and video loops. most of the liturgy was from the book alternative worship that i put together with doug gay and jenny brown - the breathing exercise, creed, eucharistic prayer etc. several of the video loops were from the CD ROM that accompanies the book. the video loops projected on the side wall were from highwayvideo i think (karen put those together). the loop on the tv was done by andy, a friend of adam,  and the music playlist was as follows.

before the worship:
so beautiful - urban myth club
i never question god - ikon

worship:
azzolini and the branch brothers meet being - two lone swordsmen
space and time - baker/birch from alternative worship:spirit of the new
hush - eucharist
all our ancestors - TUU
swear word - martin wroe
14:31 - global communication
one perfect sunrise - orbital
table of christ - baker/birch from spirit of the new
eucharistic prayer - eucharist

during communion:
yearn - ikon
living bread - sister gertrude mixed by king britt

here is love - old hymns in dub
love theme - ikon

after:
everything in its right place - radiohead
far i have come - arsenal on idjut boys album press play

Technorati Tags: princeton, theological education, alternative worship emerging church

Comments

[Matt G]

Bonjour!

Princeton is definately one of the most beautiful compuses in the US.

Thanks for the notes.

[Existential Punk]

Great stuff, Jonny!

[Existential Punk]

Jonny, you don't look terrible. At least you don't look like Doug Pagitt, who looks as if he is about to puke in his pitcher of beer! LOL!

[darren]

puke?

looked like doug was just about to down the rest of the jug...

jugs aren't made to be drank from, unless your mouth is big enough to catch the excess you'll end up spilling a lot on your pants...

not that i'd know...