But I did want to say there were two moments at the Congress on Evangelism that were transcendent. The group was really rowdy and boisterious. However, even through all the merriment, we had real moments of connection. There was a moment after we had attended the Jesus Pep Rally (or WorshipTainment) and had all put on really nice and tasteful bow ties, to honor one of my favorite youth ministers and gone to dinner. The blessing consisted of us doing the "God made the sun, God made the sea, God made the fishes and God made me" blessing, complete with hand motions (appropriate for all ages).
During a very energetic discussion of our basis thesis statement -- that chuch can indeed be found in digital venues, we were talking about what church really is. We talked about the hymn "We are the Church" -- I didn't know there were hand motions! So I asked for a demonstration and we sang the hymn together, complete with hand motions at Captain Jack's Seafood Shack. It was a real transcendent moment -- at that moment, we WERE church. It gave me chill bumps.
The second moment was when we retired back to the hotel and met in the local watering hole (establishment) in the hotel lobby. Ok, it was a bar. We had some laptops on the table and we had really good conversation (in the classic Methodist style -- agreeing to disagree on some items, but unified in others.) I had brought my portable communion set and we set it up and invite the local barkeep to join us -- and we went for a second round. Our communion in the bar was honest and real and it was full of promise and meaning. A moment of transcendence.
Both of these incidents were coloring outside the lines -- but we brought Christ back into our world and shared grace.
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