Dear Friends –
Fall 2005 has gone by in a flash. I’ve been part of events and gatherings in Grand Rapids, Indianapolis, Chicago, New York, Pennsylvania, DC, Santa Fe, Portland, Los Angeles, Seattle, Kansas city, San Antonio, Corpus Christi, and Miami. I’ve lectured or taught at six seminaries – Grand Rapids Theological Seminary, Wesley Seminary, George Fox Seminary, Fuller Seminary, Bakke Graduate University, and Princeton Seminary. I’ve met with a wide variety of denominations and met a wonderful array of people – from theologians to college students, from bishops to youth workers, from church planters to seasoned pastors and lay leaders. It’s been a great time of networking for the emergent community (emergentvillage.com).
I’ve also enjoyed my last season of ministry as senior pastor at Cedar Ridge Community Church (crcc.org). Grace and I anticipate staying involved at Cedar Ridge as our home base, but in January I’ll pass the baton to the church’s second senior pastor, Matthew Dyer from Exeter, England. A lot of people have asked how I feel about this transition – and the honest answer is “thrilled.” I think Matthew will be a tremendous leader for Cedar Ridge and will lead to places I could never have led. And I think Cedar Ridge will provide a great community for Matthew, Lisa, and their four beautiful kids. I’m also thrilled about this next season of our lives.
I will be doing a lot of international travel in early 2006, and not much domestically. Between January and May, I’ll be traveling to Dominican Republic, France, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Switzerland, England, Wales, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Southern Ireland. I’ll be hoping to strengthen the emergent network globally, and I hope to meet many of you who check in at this website from these countries.
My new book, The Secret Message of Jesus, will be out in April. I’m really looking forward to seeing what kind of impact it will have. In many ways, most of my previous books have been a preparation for this one. I hope you’ll find it helpful – and I think many of you will find it the kind of book you want to give to spiritually seeking friends. I hope it will be good for group dialogue too.
During my travels I'll be working on the sequel to The Secret Message of Jesus. It will tentatively be called Jesus and the Suicide Machine. I've completed the outline for the book, and am already feeling highly motivated about getting started. After that book, I've been invited to write the first book in a series of which Phyllis Tickle will be the general editor, called "The Way of the Ancient Practices." I've been dreaming of writing a book about spiritual practices (or disciplines) for some years, and this will be a great opportunity.
Thanks for your interest in my work. You’ll notice that we’ve been posting replies to your questions in monthly batches now. If your question didn’t get directly answered, it’s probably because I’ve answered a similar question previously.
I am so grateful whenever I hear stories of how people have been helped by my books or speaking. As you know, I receive some “hot and spicy” criticism from time to time, but the positive feedback makes the critique much easier to bear.
Plotting kindness - Brian