Back from Off the Map

Last week I drove up to Seattle with my friend Nancy to attend Off the Map's annual gathering. This year it was touted as The Born Again Church Tour.

Off the Map, an outfit that I describe as a progressive Christian organization. Launched by Jim Henderson, OTM has been around for a few years and it's mission is primarily to help Christians be normal. In other words, OTM seeks to free Christ followers from the religiosity and beliefism that has paralyzed our faith.

This was my fourth year to attend the conference. Speakers this year included

• Unchristian author, David Kinnaman

• Church leader, Todd Hunter

• journalist and author, Christine Wicker

• Jim Henderson, founder of OTM and Matt Casper, his
  atheist sidekick and co-author of Jim and Casper Go to Church

In tow with me this year was my 14-year old daughter. She has heard me talk about OTM for the last several years and since she didn't have school last Friday, it was the perfect opportunity to introduce her to my OTM community.

Ok, observations about this year's Seattle conference: smaller. Definitely it was smaller, and I know this was deliberate. I loved it. Small, it has been chanted, is the new big. Smaller crowd, smaller venue, smaller workshops. It was great. I don't care for mega-events where the glitz and the glam can quickly feel artificial and overly scripted to the point of appearing soulless. The people who plan the OTM gatherings are brilliant in creating an atmosphere that is at once welcoming and inclusive, no matter your church, or faith, affiliation. It is, for example, the only gathering I am aware of that not only invites the non-churched, but gives them center stage for dialog.

It is a refreshing alternative to the deluge of the Christian conference industry where the like-minded schmooze on all points of uniform agreement. Critical thinking is a skill which many decry that the Church is in need of. OTM certainly helps up the ante on that, as well as raise the emotional intelligence quotient of evangelicals. Here's an example of what I mean by that:

One big room session included a panel of four young people who were described as "outsiders." These were a cross-section of everyday people with a variety of backgrounds, including churched background, unchurched, and agnostic. Todd Hunter was the panel moderator. He asked questions such as "If you thought Christians were listening, what would you say?" The audience, made up of mostly over 40's, listended attentively as each person commented, their answers all similar. "Listen respectfully to others and be nice." Pretty basic. Kind of reminds me of a teaching of Jesus' that's called The Golden Rule. "Do unto others as you would have to unto you." (wouldn't that make the world...the church...a better place if we lived like that with everyone we came into contact with?)

Another highlight of the Born Again Church tour for me was David Kinnaman. President of the Barna Research Group, Kinnaman was at likeable at once. A very capable communicator, he rattled off statistics and numbers about the decline of the perception of American Christianity among young people. For
instance, 91 percent of unchurched people ages 16-29 view
Christians a being anti-homosexual. This might seem like a no-brainer, but consider this: in today's post-modern society, acceptance of those in same-sex relationships is growing. For Christians to be viewed as anti-homosexual is like being described as a racist.

(btw, follow the link above to Kinnaman's Unchristian website which offers free downloads of some of his key research as well as chapter excerpts and podcast interviews.)

Listening to Kinnaman was very sobering. It's hard to refute research and he had plenty of it revealing just how dismal the state of modern Christianity is in this country.

Then, to add even more creedence to his message, Christine Wicker, a former religion journalist turned author, shared her findings with us from her new book, The Fall of the Evangelical Nation.

Wicker, who I've met before at previous OTM gatherings, is a Texas-born former Baptist who has been very public about her drifting away from her church roots. She is not anti-religion. In fact, she is very kind in her remarks about the Christians that she knows. Her passion is truth and she applies that fire to the subject that has held her fascination: the evangelical movement in America. In her book, and at the conference, Wicker cited how she started out writing one book about the megachurch scene and the force of evangelicals in the 21st century, only to realize, "I have written the wrong book." Back to square one she went, setting out to find a true pulse of who, what and how many conservative evangelicals really are in the US trying to shape our nation's culture and influence legislation. Is this group of truly as powerful as they appear in the media?

No, says Wicker, and she has the research to back it up. She described how she learned that the Southern Baptist Convention, which represents one of the largest blocks of Christians in the US, more than 16 million, launched an ambitious plan to baptize one million converts in one year. The results, after an aggressive campaign across the nation, was actually a decline in baptisms, the lowest in twenty years.

What does this mean? Wicker, like Kinnaman, gather these stats to capture a portrait of the religious landscape in America. Wicker's data proves the decline of the number of evangelicals in the country, while Kinnaman helps explain why there is a decline.

My daughter, Rose, at age 14, was soundly bored by all the mish-mash of numbers and cited sources of facts, stats and data. I kept telling her she could go hang out in the Green Apron Room, but she wanted to stay close to me. Her interest perked up, though, when Jim Henderson and his co-author, Matt Casper, took center stage. These two are both humoreous on their own, and together, they create an energy of laughter that is entertaining as well as engaging. Rose listened to their playful banter as they played off of each other, and laughed on cue at all the jokes and punchlines. I emailed Matt later and told him he was her favorite session. I think he and Jim might have a new demographic to explore!

The best part of any OTM gathering for me is the people. I had an amazing time catching up with old friends like Randy Siever, director of Doable Evangelism, a church training program that's aim is to help Christians learn how to cross the room and just be themselves in living out their faith in the world today. I went to Randy's workshop. The whole room dialed in to what he was saying as he basically talked about how to engage with people in everyday life rather than forcing the gospel in a contrived, or worse, disengeneous method. He's a great communicator and I hope more churches will book him for the DI seminar. One of the women from his workshop remarked that it was extremely helpful for her in feeling like she can share her faith and be herself at the same time.

I also had a great, great time seeing the inimitable Benjamin Ady and his lovely wife, Megan. Ben is a blogger for OTM, despite the fact that he is fiercely atheistic. He guffawed loudly at certain points of speakers who said anything overly religious that tickled his funny bone. I sat by him at one session and he kept me in stitches with his running commentary on the overt usage of churchified language. When one speaker used the metaphor about "fruit," a common image in Christian rhetoric referring to results and success, Ben leaned over and whispered, "Whenever I hear Christians talk about fruit I think about figs." I giggled and revealed that it makes me think of pomegranates. He shook with laughter. {check Ben's blog here for his perspective about the conference}

When his wife Megan showed up Ben just lit up. The two of them are sooooooooooo good together. Meg has a very sunny disposition and just sparkles wherever she goes. She's the kind of woman who lights up a room just by walking in it. I loved sitting nearby them just to bask in their glowiness. Yes, I said, glowiness, and I can make up words if I want since it's my blog. (Just bask in my blogginess and we'll call it good!)

There were many others who were so good to see and chat withL Mike O, who I remember meeting two conferences ago, Chuck Conniry from George Fox seminary who I met last spring and then later interviewed for an article about The Shack, Lisa Wellington and Lisa Domke, both Seattleities whom I've enjoyed seeing year after year, Rose and Rich Swetman, pastors of Shoreline Vineyard near Seattle, and great friends to OTM. I loved being able to introduce my Rose to Pastor Rose. They are such good people. Rich grew up in Portland, not too far away from our neighborhood.

I also loved seeing Bridge people at OTM. Nancy, of course, whom I drove up with and roomed with. She was so great to Rose, including her in conversations and she even gave her a lovely gift of very warm and soft socks. How did she know that a soft pair of socks is part of Rose's love language!? Amber unexpectedly popped in. A part of The Bridge for several years, Amber joined Ken Loyd when he started Home PDX for Portland folks who live outslde, but she recently moved back to her hometown in Washington to take care of some educational needs. We'll look forward to when she returns back to Portland in the spring.

Also, Agents of Future, the rauceous and rowdy worship sound navigated by the very talented dynamic duo, Todd and Angie Fadel, made me proud as they shook it up with their fiery music. They brought their kids, who Rose has babysat before, so it was an enjoyable time for all to hang out. Plus, they had Mary Doyle with them, a young woman who's a part of our Bridge community and is an infectious dancing worshipper of Jesus.

When AoF launched into their set I quickly found Mary and together we stood, the only two in the entire room, giving God our fervent praise. Benjamin's wife, Megan, jumped to her feet and joined us. Uninhibited and unabashed, we three sisters of three different decades of age, honored the Lord with our singing and dancing as Todd and Angie did the same. I thoroughly loved it. (be sure to read the comments at Ben's link about why he, an avowed atheist, would go to church if there was anything like AoF in Seattle...!)

So much more I could say, and I'm sure there are quite a few other people, and moments, that I am omitting.

It was good to go, to be with my OTM community. It wasn't the same without Erin or Esther, or Helen or Nancy Murphy. But I'm glad I got to go and hang with my friend Nancy and daughter Rose. If you have an opportunity, ever, to attend an Off the Map of Doable Evangelism event, Do It. You'[ll meet and mingle with some great people and more than likely leave more encouraged then when you first arrived. I know that I always do!


**Off the Map's Born Again Church Tour wraps up in Denver, CO this Fri and Sat, Oct 21-22. Go to Off the Map's website for location and ticket info. And then get your butt in gear and GO!