{"id":533,"date":"2012-02-16T12:09:20","date_gmt":"2012-02-16T17:09:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slowchurch\/?p=533"},"modified":"2012-02-16T12:42:37","modified_gmt":"2012-02-16T17:42:37","slug":"inhabit-conference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slowchurch\/2012\/02\/16\/inhabit-conference\/","title":{"rendered":"Inhabit Conference"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>
One of the key convictions of Slow Church is that God\u2019s plan for reconciling all creation involves not only gathering a people, but gathering people in particular places that span the globe. The language of Englewood Christian Church\u2019s covenant (where Chris is a member) puts it this way: the church community is \u201ca manifestation of the Body of Christ in a particular place.\u201d\n

Happily, there is a vibrant conversation happening in the church now about the importance of placedness.\u00a0Christianity Today<\/em>\u2018s\u00a0This Is Our City project<\/a> is one example. So is Jonathan Wilson-Hargrove\u2019s essential book,\u00a0The Wisdom of Stability: Rooting Faith in a Mobile Culture<\/a>. <\/em>And so\u00a0is a comment a George Fox University professor made during a lecture at the Benedictine abbey near my house (which I heard about secondhand), that if one wants to understand what is happening in American Christianity today one has to be familiar with the work of Wendell Berry, the farmer-writer from Kentucky whose fiction, nonfiction, and poetry often explore the intersection of human community (the \u201cmembership\u201d) and the land.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Chris and I have both been challenged and inspired in this area by the work of the\u00a0Parish Collective<\/a>, an organization based in Washington State. The Parish Collective works at a grassroots level to \u201croot together\u201d churches, faith-based organizations, and community groups in particular neighborhoods. \u201cThen we link them to other parishes regionally and globally for mutual support and innovation.\u201d<\/div>\n