mark scandrette

A Letter to your Twenty-Something Self

May 7, 2012 By Tony Jones 5 Comments

Mark Scandrette has written a letter to himself twenty years ago:

Twenty something self, I speak the truth from kindness. So far life has been easy for you.. You’ve gotten by on natural talents and charm, but in the future you will have to work harder and smarter. You have good dreams and ideals, but it will take time to turn your bravado into tangible actions that others can see and affirm. The people around you are a mirror, giving you feedback on what you put out there. Sometimes you are impatient and proud and not that self-aware. Listen to your frustrations. Reflect on where you find energy and keep moving toward what makes you feel alive.

Read the Rest: Mark Scandrette » Dear Twenty-Something Self.

What would you say to yourself twenty years ago?

On Uniting Heart and Mind

October 12, 2011 By Tony Jones 3 Comments

This sponsored post is part of the Patheos Book Club on Richard Foster’s new book, Sanctuary of the Soul: Journey into Meditative Prayer. This edition of the book club also includes some video responses from the author.

One of my dearest friends, Mark Scandrette, was in town earlier this week. Mark is, dare I say it, the Richard Foster of my generation and tribe of Christianity. He’s a guru of spiritual formation, as seen in his new book — though, I must say, Mark’s got a much more urban edge than the spiritual formation gurus of the past generation.

Anyway, Mark and I spent most of Monday catching up, talking about our lives and our careers. By the end of the day, Mark challenged me to start writing more personally, about what has gone on in my life lately, about how I’ve gotten through it.

The last few years have been, in short, rife with struggle. Divorce, foreclosure, custody battles, financial troubles have all confronted me. There’s also been new love, new friendships, and new opportunities. I won’t be writing about the details of these things, but Mark thinks I should write about what has happened to my soul during these times.

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Filed Under: books, spirituality Tagged With: mark scandrette, prayer, richard foster 3 Comments

Practicing the Way of Jesus

July 3, 2011 By Tony Jones 6 Comments

Mark Scandrette's alter-ego, Preacher A.L. Withee

I just finished reading Practicing the Way of Jesus: Life Together in the Kingdom of Love by Mark Scandrette. It’s an eminently practical book about real, lived spiritual formation in Mark’s ever-changing ReIMAGINE community in San Francisco. For years, Mark has invited people to join him on days- or weeks-long experiments, many of which fall under his concept of the Jesus Dojo (described by Mark in the video below).

What I’m most interested in when reading a book — especially one, like this, written by a friend of mine — is what I can decipher about the underlying theology. I happen to know a lot about Mark’s theology, having spent the better part of the summer of 2008 on an RV with him. And here’s what I’d say:

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Filed Under: books, spirituality Tagged With: church basement roadshow, dallas willard, mark scandrette 6 Comments

The Wild Goose Festival: Gratitudes

June 27, 2011 By Tony Jones 4 Comments

WGF logo

This week, I’m going to be posting on different aspects of the Wild Goose Festival, which was, from my perpective, an overwhelmingly successful gathering. Truly, I cannot imagine that it could have gone much better than it did, and I’m proud to have been a volunteer at the first Goose.

I’ve got lots to say, so I’ll address different aspects of the festival, like the music, the talks, sexuality, and even some of my friendly suggestions to make the festival better next year.

But to begin, I want to post my thanksgivings:

Day Two in Australia – Brisbane

October 1, 2008 By Tony Jones 1 Comment

Carolyn Kitto and I both got up early and left for the airport. Carolyn works for World Vision Australia, and she was heading for their annual day of prayer in Melbourne. She was meeting Mike Pilavachi there, and he led the prayer day.

I flew to Brisbane. As we pulled away from the jetbridge, I saw my suitcase on the tarmac and thought, “Oh, shit.” It’s now 24 hours later, and I still don’t have it.

In Brisbane, I was retrieved by Duncan MacLeod, a long-time emergent blogger and networker. He currently works for the Uniting Church in Australia (a 1970s merger of Methodists, Congregationalists, and Presbyterians). We went to Duncan’s office for a couple hours and I caught up on emails, etc.

At noon, we left to have lunch and a 90-minute conversation with a group of about two dozen Baptist church planters. The conversation was cordial and passionate. We found areas of agreement and disagreement, to be sure.

After that, we went to meet up with Dave Andrews. Dave is also known to many emergents around the world. He and his wife, Ange, spent many years in India, living as a Christian communal presence. A few years ago, they moved back to Brisbane where they founded the Waiters Union. The name, Dave told me, comes from the idea that a good waiter is a helpful but not overbearing presence at a restaurant. They’re trying to be the same in the West End of Brisbane.

As Dave describes a bit in the video below, the West End is Brisbane’s most eclectic, diverse, edgy area. It’s full of ethnic restaurants, has a large aboriginal population, and is also struggling with gentrification and the concomitant rise in housing prices.

The Waiters Union is a collective of a few dozen people who live in several houses in this neighborhood. As Dave told me, “It’s Christocentric, but not Christian. Our value for membership in the community is not whether you ‘believe’ in Christ but whether you’re living a Christlike life.” They’re quite involved in the activity of the neighborhood, and they’ve got several ventures like a fair trade, organic coffee roastery, which I’ll be visiting on Thursday morning. The whole thing reminds me a bit of ReIMAGINE, and Dave said something that I’ve heard Mark say: “We’re caught between the emergent church and the new monastics. Now quite one or the other, but a little of both.”

After dinner (see below), Dave and Matt drove me to a nearby church where Duncan hosted the local emergent network, called “Postcards.” We chatted for a couple hours about all things emergent, then back to Dave’s house for a few hours of sleep.