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Emergence Christianity 2013: My First Pechakucha Experience

Photo: Adam Walker Cleaveland from PechaKucha from Barry Taylor

This past week I was invited be part of a slate of PechaKucha presentations at the Emergence Christianity Gathering in Memphis, TN. Just before it was about to begin I tweeted . . .

Right about now all of the PechaKucha presenters are starting to feel anxious.

And Adam Walker Cleaveland, another of the PechaKucha presenters replied,

doing something difficult, new and crazy in front of 200 people!? No. No nerves here.

Nerves and all, it was wonderful.

What?!?!?! You have never heard of a PechaKucha presentation?
He says smugly as if he knew what it was when he was first asked to do one

In short, a PechaKucha (Japanese for “chatter”) presentation consists of 20 images projected for 20 seconds each, during which time the presenter talks about whatever he or she wants. 6:40 – Simple, concise and, when done well, beautiful and mesmerizing . [Read more on wikipedia and on www.pechakucha.org]

For some of you, this might seem like an exciting opportunity and for others a terrifying prospect. As one who talks for a living, it was both of those things: liberating and confining. No longer could I lean into comfortable stories and my normal speaking schtick, but I had to be clear about what I wanted to communicate AND free myself up to see where things would go in the moment. I suspect that I accomplished both tasks with varying degrees of success [my favorite response, albeit maybe a little much], but I did survive.

One of the things that I loved about the PechaKucha experience was that, for many folks, this platform was used as an opportunity to step outside of their normal of style and content bubble. I kind of wish that I had done that. While I think mine was well received, next time – and there will be a next time – I will definitely challenge myself to try something new. Maybe I’ll do some spoken word and/or take on a topic that I might not otherwise get a chance to muse about in such a forum: fantasy sports and the body of Christ, the spirituality of baseball or the beauty of 80′s culture.

Don’t judge.

In the end, I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and am grateful for the opportunity. I would also encourage any conference or gathering to hold an evening of PechaKuchas. Not only would it provide a change of pace for participants, but PechaKuchas create space for fresh voices to share new perspectives and seasoned voices to present in different ways.

And if you ever get an invitation to do one . . . say yes. You will not regret it.

If you are interested in more from the Emergence Christianity presentations, Adam has listed a few on his post, Emergence Christianity: PechaKucha Presentations. Below is my presentation as posted on Slideshare . . . and yes, the last slide has a type. Grrr.

2013 Emergence Christianity PechaKucha Slides on RACE

Originally published on www.reyes-chow.com.

Emerging in Memphis with Phyllis Tickle

For the next few days I will be hanging out with some folk who like to fancy ourselves thought leaders within the realm of the Christian faith. Oh who are we kidding . . . most of us are just huge fans of Phyllis Tickle and smart-assery. There will be skinny jeans, tattoos, ironic eye-wear, curious facial hair, beverage snobbery, other kinds of snobbery and hopefully plenty of genuine self-depreciation and humor. And all wrapped in a warm blanket of Jesus.

So fun.

Framed around Phyllis’ follow-up to Great Emergence, The: How Christianity Is Changing and Why, our conversations will center around her book, Emergence Christianity: What It Is, Where It Is Going, and Why It Matters. With hundreds of folks converging on St. Mary’s Cathedral in Memphis TN, we will gather to listen, talk and cavort all in the hopes that together we will find our way into what is next for the parts of the church we call home. The time will be spent listening to Phyllis, hearing from some panels, diving into Pecha Kucha presentations and just hanging out . . . and being community.

Yep, that vague. As usual.

I know — f or some people, the whole ”emergent” church thing is sooooo over and as a brand, sure. Not one to get too caught up in needed precise definitions *shocking* the core values of this population — the ones that have drawn me into relationship with these folks are still there: a genuine passion for the Christian faith, a curiosity about what may be happening and a willingness to try some things . . . and best of all – huge, empathetic and frustrating intentions about life and the world. From the conservative Baptist to the way-too-liberal Presbyterian and everyone in-between, I have been inspired by the many conversations – glancing and deep – that I have had over the years and so I look forward to yet one more gathering that will feed my soul and spark my synapses.

If you want to keep up here are a few networks that you may want to track.

The main website with all of the info: here.
The instagram/twitter hashtag will be #EC13
The twitter stream via twubs: here.

Plus, I’ll be live tweeting big concepts via @breyeschow and doing a little play-by-play tweeting via @brc_live and pinning resources here as they are mentioned. There is also a Facebook Group and a Google+ Community where people can connect who are attending.