Thursday, July 6th - Day 17

Today, I attended a student ministry intern meeting where each of them is reading a different book and making a weekly two page report to each other on the books content. We went to lunch together afterwards and had a great time of fellowship. Jeremiah, Jared, and I left the church location to go to a coffee house to talk about ways they can become supportive and involved in a street school in Colorado Springs called Pikes Peak Academy. http://pikespeakacademy.net/ They are excited about ways they can get involved in ministering to the struggling kids that attend the academy. As you may know, Ted Haggard is the President of the National Association of Evangelicals. http://www.nae.net/ The offices are located just down the hall from where I am staying in the World Prayer Center. I am trying to get a chance to make a presentation to someone in that office about the National Association of Street Schools. http://www.streetschools.com/ I believe that it could be an organization that the NAE might want to endorse to its member churches. Please, pray for me that I mighth be able to make that connection. This evening, I have done some laundry, watch President Bush talk about the Korean missle situation, and done some more internet work. You can see pictures of the day at http://drdangrimes.myphotoalbum.com/ I hope that all of you are well. Blessings.

Wednesday, July 5th - Day 16

As you probably noticed, I spent much of the day uploading this blog and to my photo album. I received a phone call from Jeremiah Parks. He is one of my former students who is in the student ministry staff at New Life Church in Colorado Springs, CO. http://www.newlifechurch.org/ He invited me to move from where I was staying in Greeley, CO. to the World Prayer Center next to the church. They have kind of a hostel for travelers and folks who want to seek God. http://www.theworldprayercenter.org/ I accepted his invite, packed up my things, and drove to "The Springs." I attended thair Wednesday evening junior high meeting called jvTag. http://www.jvtag.com/ There regularly have between 700 and 800 junior high aged students and their leaders on Wednesdays. Jeremiah led worship and Jared Newman preached. It was pretty impressive. I still have great concerns about whether large event ministry really makes disciples but, after discussing it with the guys, I am impressed with the small group ministry of jvTag. It seems like it could be pretty effective. Jeremiah, Jared and I went out to Friday's for a meal afterwards and talked until 2 pm. They are great brothers and I am blessed to have been a part of their development as ministers.

Tuesday, July 4th - Day 15

Earlier, I mentioned Tom Tillapagh. He is the founder of the Christian street school movement. He probably would not want to be called that but he is the one who got it all started. I got to spend 5 hours in a mobile conversation with him that started with lunch. He gave me a tour of all of their facilities in Denver. We talked and dreamed together about ministry that helps the throw away kids of our culture. He shared so many wonderful success stories of young people who had no hope and how now after 20 years of life, they are living successful and responsible lives. I was a great time. I will be attending the annual conference of the National Association of Street Schools from July 11 to July 14 here in Denver. After I returned to iMark and Cami's house we went to the Greeley Independence Stampede. It is supposed to be the country's largest rodeo and Independence Day celebration. We attended a concert of the country music group Big & Rich. Their popular song now is called "Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy." During the performance of this song they have a little person (midget) named "Two Foot Fred" come out on stage and dance with the aid of his crutches. The juxtaposition (putting next to each other) of all of the events of this day left me with a conflicted feeling. The human condition is quite a condition. God Bless those like Tom Tuillapaugh who are trying to make a difference for those without hope. Of course, that is everybody without Christ.

Monday, July 3rd - Day 14

Feeling much better (the drugs are working), I left Cheyene and drove to Greeley, CO to stay a couple of days with Mark and Cami Howell. I met them at the dinner the night before the wedding. I told them about my research and mentioned that one of the emergent churches I was to visit was in Greeley. They told me that they live in Greeley and that I had to come and stay with them. They have been so nice to me So, here I am. I met with Jeff Cook of the Atlas Church. http://www.whatisatlas.com/new/atlash.html We went on a 4 mile walk for our meeting. We walked mostly to occupy his very active little boy "Ausie." Jeff is reaching out to the university. He has a masters in philosophy and will begin teaching part time at the university in the fall. I am very excited about and interested in this new ministry. He wants to participate fully in my efforts. I spent my first night with Mark and Cami. They treated me like a king.

Sunday, July 2nd - Day 13

About 15 of Dan's family and friends met Dan and Valerie for breakfast at 9 pm this morning. It was nice. I said, "goodbye" and began to get ready to continue my journey. I drove to the trailer, hooked up, went to the laundry mat to do 3 loads before I left Spearfish. Man, what a beautiful place it is. Then I headed west on Interstate 90 to Sundance, WY. It was there that I turned south on Wyoming state highway 85. It follows the eastern state border of Wyoming through some of the most beautiful land I have ever seen. The terrain changes dramatically. I made it to Cheyene, WY just after dark. Check out the pictures at http://drdangrimes.myphotoalbum.com.

Saturday, July 1st - Day 12

Man what a beautiful wedding. There were about 30 family and friends present. I will never forget it. Surrounded by this mountain cathedral was awesome. Everything went well. We went to a nearby lodge for a wonderful reception meal and time together. Russell, Dan's longtime friend and mentor invited me to spend the night in the extra bed in the hotel where he was staying. We had a great time talking about life.

Friday, June 30th - Day 11

I went with Dan and Valerie to the county court house to get the marriage license. It was all becoming very real for both of them. It was fun to be along to make a photo record of the events. We drove around and met more of Dan's Spearfish friends. I got all I needed for the wedding and went with Dan out to the cabin in Spearfish Canyon where the wedding would be the next day. It was good to spend the time together.

Thursday, June 29th - Day 10

Danny Enguesser invited me to set my trailer next to his house. So, I relocated to his place. I went to see a doctor so I could get some help with my cold. He gave me a couple of scripts for medication which my HMO in Oklahoma would not cover. I got to pay full price. I had a great lunch conversation with Mark and Brian of Countryside Community Church. They are very interested in my research and want to participate. CCC is a 13 year old adolescent growing "church plant" that is just now building their own facilities. Dan and Valerie arrived in Spearfish today. I met Dan's Mom and Step-Dad. Dan took us all on a drive around Spearfish to meet some of his friends and to see some land he owns. We met the group for dinner at Dan's favorite Mexican restaurant called Guadelajara's. The wedding festivities began. I went to bed early in my little trailer.

Tuesday, June 27th - Day 8

I went to see my long time friend, Richard Bailey, at the guest home where he lives. I had planned on taking him for a drive through the hills for a long scenic conversation. He was not feeling well and decided that he should not venture out. At 4 pm, when the Knight's Cellar opened, I went there to sit for a few hours and do some internet work. The business next door to him is a used book store with free WiFi. So, I used their unsecured WiFi to do some university work, e-mailing, and blog posting. I decided to drive the hills to go and see Deadwood and Sturgis that evening.

Wednesday, June 28th - Day 9

Slept in trying to beat the cold. At this point sick. I went by to see Danny Enguesser at the car dealership and he asked me if I had plans for the day. I responded, "No." So, he decided to take the rest of the day off and drive me through the Black Hills to see some things. We went to Deadwood, Mt Rushmoire, Custer State Park (near the filming of "Dances with Wolves"), Needles Highway, and other points of interest. http://www.storyofthebison.com/ These are the pictures of that five hour drive. I got very sunburned in the convertible. So, sick and seriously sunburned and a wedding to do in two days.

Monday, June 26th - Day 7

Today, I had a great conversation with a Canadian couple next to me in the RV park. They were Jackie & Ken Littleford from Lac Du Bonnet, MB. It is amazing how willing people are to talk about spirituality and God when you are natural about it. There were wonderful to dialogue with. I met Danny Enguesser a close friend of Dan Dandridge's today. Danny owns a Prestige Auto Sales in Spearfish and he immediately offered to loan me a convertible to drive for the duration of my time in Spearfish. http://www.prestigeautosales.com/ He told me how great it is to drive the hills without a top. I put my 1991 Blazer in the shop for some repair and maintenance. I needed to do some laundry. So, my first trip with the convertible was to the laundry mat. I was stylin' - HA. I slept another night in the trailer in the city RV park. This summer cold is kicking my tail.

Sunday, June 25th - Day 6

I got up, took a shower at the RV park (a very nice shower) and decided to go find a gathering to attend. My first stop was a Lutheran Church that a wayward Lutheran PK had encouraged me to attend during a great conversation the previous evening. I have been getting sick and my coughing was becoming a distraction so I went back to the city park where I saw that a church named Countryside Community Church was meeting in the park (apparently a summer outreach of some kind). http://www.teamcountryside.com/ It was a very nice service and I set up an appointment with the lead pastor and youth pastor for later in the week. I spent the night in the city RV park again. Except for being pretty sick with a summer cold, all is well.

Saturday, June 24th - Day 5

This was a travel day from Mitchell, SD to Spearfish, SD. The wind was the biggest factor in my life today whipping me all over the place. Today convinced me that I need to spring for the money to buy anti-sway equipment for my trailer hitch. The countryside was beautiful in an ever changing sort of way. I drove through the Badlands of South Dakota and I understand why they are so named. I stopped at a couple of RV dealerships to inquire about having my generator repaired or replaced. I got no help. The transformation of the landscape when I arrived in the Black Hills was astounding. They are a slice of heaven. My friend Dan Dandridge recommended that my first stop be The Knight's Cellar (a wonderful English pub) and meet its owner David Potter. I did so and as I sat there getting aclaimated, I heard a voice that I thought I recognized. I looked down the bar to see a man about 60 years old who looked like a biker. He had long white hair and a matching beard. I motioned to David Potter to come my way and asked him if the man I described was from Tulsa, Oklahoms. He said, "Yes, his name is Richard Bailey." I was dumbfounded. I had not seen Richard since 1997 when I was an associate at First United Methodist Church in Tulsa. I had been doing some pastoral care with him just after he had endured open heart surgery. I have posted the picture of my travels today at http://drdangrimes.myphotoalbum.com. I hope that you enjoy them.

Friday, June 23rd - Day 4

Be sure to check out my day to day on-line photo album at http://drdangrimes.myphotoalbum.com. Sorry, I have not made more entries here. I have not had lots of time to write and internet access has been spotty. Please feel free to call me at (918)855-1813. I have plenty of roll over minutes on my cingular plan and although being with the church leaders is awesome, being alone during the in-between times is not.
BLESSINGS, Danny

Thursday, June 22, 2006 - Day 3

I took generator to a small engine repair shop. They changed the oil and spark plug and charged me $10 to tell me it has not spark and will require warranty work. I then went to meet with Bill Morrison Director of the Omaha Street School. http://www.omahastreetschool.org/ He gave me the full tour of the school and we had a couple of hours of great conversation. We really hit it off and I look forward to more time with Bill at the annual Conference of the National Association of Street School to be held in Denver, CO July 11th through the 14th. I called Pastor Jay Newland of an AG church plant in Omaha called New Creation Community Church. http://www.reallifechange.net/ They are moving in to a new facility and he is interested in being a part of my research. I motored on to Sioux Falls, SD and parked the Casita at a Flying J Truck Stop for the night. Be sure to check out my day to day on-line photo album at http://drdangrimes.myphotoalbum.com/.

Wednesday, June 21, 2006 - Day 2

After a great shower in a very clean Flying J Truck Stop ($6.50), I attended the Noon Prayer Meeting Jacob’s Well in Kansas City. http://jacobswellchurch.org/ Shayne Wessel began by inviting everyone to participate in an antiphonal reading of Psalm 21. http://jacobswellchurch.org/blogs/shayne/ There were about 15 people there and it was quite a variety of individuals. After the reading, there was a long period of silence broken by spontaneous prayers from the participants. After more silence, the worship leader got up with a guitar and led one song. After once or twice through the song, another young man went to the piano and played along. After some more scripture reading and spontaneous prayer, Shayne invited everyone to “gather up.” Everyone went to the front of the sanctuary, got into a circle, and prayed the Lord’s Prayer. That was the closing. It was a very cool and very contemplative worship experience. Afterwards, I met and had a conversation with David Washington. David is a participant at Jacob’s Well and is a radio voice over person who is seeking God for how to best use his voice. He has a great gift from God in his voice. After some goodbyes, I met with Samuel Newby of New Day Church (formerly AG). The church plant is running about 280 with 5 pastors on the leadership team. Sam is the youngest member of the team and is wise beyond his years. I was very impressed. They are going to help me out with the survey questionnaire. After we met for about 1 ½ hours, he prayed for me and I was off for Omaha, NE. I arrived at Omaha at about 9:20 PM and parked at a Flying J Truck Stop for the night. My generator died at about 2:30 PM and I did not sleep well for the rest of the night. Be sure to check out my day to day on-line photo album at http://drdangrimes.myphotoalbum.com/.

Tuesday, June 20, 2006 - Day 1

I left Tulsa, OK at 7:00 AM for Kansas City, MO. When I got to Claremore on the turnpike, I realized that I had forgotten my laptop computer. I called my wife, Candy, and she met me at Joe Momma’s Pizza just of the 61st exit on 169. That was the last I was to see her for 25 days. I arrived at KC in time to spend a good part of the afternoon with Jamie Roach. Jamie is the lead pastor of The Gathering, a new church plant near Lee’s Summit, MO. His leadership team and some of his church participants will be helping me out with my research. Jamie took me out to the Youthfront South Camp where there was a camp in progress. http://www.youthfrontzone.com/ Man, what an awesome place. It is 600 acres, has walking trails with “sacred spaces” and the Stations of the Cross and a great camp philosophy and program. They have noon prayer everyday of camp. It is a contemplative worship experience. I was very impressed. He explained to me the history of the camp and how Mike King, who is in Scotland for some kind of spiritual pilgrimage, had recently become the Executive Director of Youthfront Ministries. This is a camp that has been dramatically affected by what I would call “emergent thinking.” Jamie dropped me off at my sister Kristina’s apartment in Oletha, KS. She served me a wonderful dinner of salad and grilled halibut. At about 7:30 PM, I left her place because she had to get up very early for a clinical at the hospital. She is training to be a nurse and I am very proud of her. “Much love, Kristina.” From Kristina’s place I went into the city to find Jacob’s Well. I called Shayne Wessel (the #2 guy at Jacob’s Well). He was working on his car in the church parking lot with John Hansen (a soon to be missionary to Mexico for Jacob’s Well) and they invited me to join them for discussion over car repair to be followed by dinner at an authentic Mexican resaurante. We had a great time and some great emergent conversation. Shayne is going to help to get the leadership the and participants of Jacob’s Well to be a parrt of my research. I parked the Casita behind Jacob’s Well and plugged in to an electric outlet on the back of the church. It was a full day and I slept well. Be sure to check out my day to day on-line photo album at http://drdangrimes.myphotoalbum.com/.

Emergent Research Trip #1

As previously mentioned, this first trip will start in Tulsa (where I live) on June 20th and will end on Jult 15th. My stops, as planned so far, include Kansas City, MO; Omaha, NE; Sioux Falls, SD; Spearfish, SD (doing a wedding here); then on to the Denver and Colorado Springs area. Then, it will be back to the Tulsa area.

If anyone has recommendations about any ministry I should connect with in any of these areas, please let me know. I am getting lots of enthusiasm and help from the Denver Emergent Cohort.

Special thanks to Becky Pierson. BLESSINGS

The Emergent Label

Some have what seem to be real reservations about being pegged as an "emergent" ministry while others are quite comfortable with the term. For me, at first, the whole idea of trying to "rethink" church sounded a lot like the movement to "reimagine Christianity" that began among the United Methodists (of whom I used to be apart) a few years ago. My reaction then was that "Church" was born out of God's imagination and he had been tying to guide us into his idea of kingdom life from the very beginning - His people living together with him as their God.

Today, I think that this movement to rethink church is, for some, pretty scary and what is "emerging" from that rethinking is different in different places even in the same region or city. That is what I am interested in looking into. I am a very open-minded guy and hate to be stereotyped. So, I will not be doing that to anybody else (if I can avoid it).

So, if you are comfortable with being considered an emergent ministry – that's cool. If not that's cool too. After all, even many of those who are "leading this emergent thing" admit that the emergent church is difficult to define and what is emerging is difficult to nail down. The purpose of my research is NOT to peg any particular ministry but to listen to the thinking that is out there and try to answer the question – "What is emerging?"

There are over 50 cities that I plan to visit during my journey among "ecclesial thinkers." I am going to travel across the states in my 1991 Chevy S-10 Blazer with my little Casita travel trailer behind. It is going to be my "bohemian ecclesial journey." I can't wait to get started.

On July 1st, I am performing a wedding for a buddy of mine by a trout stream in Spearfish, SD in the Black Hills. I am going to use the trip to make a loop through the following cities.

Kansas City
Omaha
Sioux Falls
Denver
Colorado Springs

I will be leaving Tulsa around June 20th. This will allow me to visit Kansas City, Omaha, and Sioux Falls prior to the wedding on July 1st. Then I will have until July 14th to visit a number of ministries in the Denver and Colorado Springs area.

I think that this a great time in history for those who, as James Mills one of my respondents, call themselves "ecclesial dreamers." I am one of those. Let's talk and dream together and I will do my best to write up the results in a way that will benefit the Kingdom.

Some of you have asked if you can participate in this study via e-mail because you will be unavailable when I am in your area. The answer is YES definitely. I want to meet with you face to face but if it is not possible, I will still greatly value your input. I am finished with the survey questionnaire and I am ready to send it out so you can ponder and formulate your answers. I will still try to visit as many ministries as I can. I want to experience what you are doing and meet your community.

My Ecclesial Journey Continues

I am Associate Professor of Church Ministries in the Undergraduate Department of Theology at Oral Roberts University. I teach youth ministry, spiritual formation, leadership, and mission among the poor. I have been on my ecclesial journey for most of my life - at least 35 years.

The Spring 2006 semester has come to an end and I am beginning a two semester sabbatical from ORU to do some research writing about "The Emergent Church" phenomena.

During my sabbatical, I plan to decompress while traveling across North America visiting various expressions of the emergent discussion to talk, listen, ask some questions, and return home to reflect in writing about my observations. With the help of some friends, I have prepared a leadership survey and a constituent survey with questions that I hope will reveal what is emerging from the discussion. I would be happy to make the questionnaire available to anyone who would like to participate.

I hope to visit you for some discussion and fellowship while I am in your area. I would be happy to know of others that you would recommend that I should speak with while I am there. If there is an emergent cohort in your area, it would be great to have a meeting with them.

I am working hard to try to compile a relatively complete list of new ministries during this project. If you know of those who call themselves emergent or are emergent and do not know it, I would like to know their contact information.

Let me know if I can meet with you while I am in the area.

If you want to talk call my cell (918)855-1813.