(home)
Sept 19, 2009
all day...
click here for
schedule/details
to be held at
Cooper Farm Pavilion
8602 Mormon Bridge Rd, Omaha NE
(click for map/directions)
non-denominational, no agenda, no institutional encumbrances...
Questions???
click here
others who are finding God outside of organized religion...
THIS
SATURDAY, Sept 19th
city-wide fellowship/potluck/picnic -
You're invited!
COOPER FARM PAVILION, 8602 Mormon Bridge Rd, Omaha (See schedule below)
food, music, conversation and more...
More of us all the time are escaping the bondage of
religious institutionalism, and finding more meaningful fellowship in
alternative communities, small groups, or simply with friends and family.
Since most such fellowships avoid denominational/organizational
affiliations, it may be easy to forget that we truly are connected (though
the connections may not be visible to us) to something greater that Father
is orchestrating through a wide diversity of expressions, groups and
individuals.
This is an opportunity for some of us to meet each other, celebrate our
freedom, share stories of the journey and encourage each other.
WHO IS "WORSHIP WITHOUT WALLS"?
"We" are nobody. And anybody. We are NOT an organization. We have no
structure, no agenda. My wife and I (the guy writing this) have hosted a
small-group fellowship in our home for the past 8 years or so. Along the
way, we've encountered other groups with stories like ours, and supportive
friendships have developed. Every so often, we plan some kind of event
where we can bring together groups and people we're already in relationship
with, and hopefully connect with others who may be walking a similar path,
or who perhaps are asking the kinds of questions that brought us here.
That's it. If you love Jesus but are fed up with "religion", or are seeking
His guidance in a ministry, direction, or fellowship that doesn't "fit" with
traditional church structures, we'd like to meet you. We promise we won't
ask you to "join" anything; we won't try to control you, offer "covering" or
demand doctrinal conformity. Jesus is our covering. We have one Father and
we are all brothers.
TENTATIVE SCHEDULE: (see details below)
- 9:00am-1:00pm - unstructured, no agenda (I'll be there by 9am, and will have a coffee pot on and probably some donuts. You are invited to come anytime, bring more snacks if you like, hang out and talk, help setup, whatever - there are no plans for lunch, brown-bagging welcome)
- 1:00-4:00pm - activities as desired: volleyball, horseshoes, conversation, etc (there's a sand volleyball lot, horseshoe pit, and variety of playground equipment. Feel free to bring frisbees, footballs, whatever [no water baloons, please]. If anyone would like to organize some childrens' activities, we would welcome that too. Face painting anyone?)
- 4:00pm - start grilling (we'll have grills fired up and ready - bring your own meat for the grill)
- 4:00-6:00pm - dinner (bring meat for the grill, plus a side dish, salad, or dessert to share, and whatever you'd like to drink. We will provide coffee and iced tea, paper plates & napkins and such [hopefully we'll have enough, but feel free to bring your own as well])
- 6:00-8:00 or so - worship/singing, panel discussion, time for some stories and presentations (if you have something to share, we want to hear from you, but be aware that time constraints may not allow time for everyone, and those who do share will need to keep their stories brief - see notes below)
- 9:00-10:00pm clean up and go home
BRING:
- Food: meat for the grill, a side dish, salad, or dessert to share, plus whatever you'd like to drink (no alcohol, please - coffee and ice tea will be provided
- Musical Instruments
- Toys: volleyballs, horseshoes, frisbees, games, etc for the unstructured time
- Screen and/or song transparencies for the overhead projector
- Bibles
- brochures and other literature and stuff you'd like to distribute can go on the "book table"
LOCATION:
Cooper Farm (Omaha Home for Boys) is located at 8602 Mormon Bridge Rd.
Enter the gate, drive THROUGH the farm compound, follow the road up the hill
- pavilion is at the top. Map/brochure/directions at
http://www.omahahomeforboys.
A FEW MORE COMMENTS:
You are welcome to come (and go) any time during the day that works for you,
but we encourage you to come for at least some of the "unstructured" time,
as it is our experience that so often more meaningful sharing takes place in
"conversations" than in presentations or lectures. Spontaneous singing and
jam sessions (without need for the sound system) would be cool too.
ALL ARE WELCOME: This gathering is intended as an opportunity for those who
follow Christ outside of organized religion to meet, share some of our
stories, worship and pray together, and encourage one another on the
journey. Of course, those who attend more traditional assemblies, as well
as well as anybody who's just curious, you are totally welcome too!
SOUND SYSTEM: We will have a sound system set up, an overhead projector,
and a collection of song transparencies. Hopefully there will be songs in
the batch that most people are familiar with. Feel free to bring more
lyrics on transparencies, if you have favorites. And does anyone have a
screen we can use to project on? You are encouraged to bring musical
instruments and join in (acoustic instruments only, please - Cooper Farm has
a "good neighbor" policy so we'll need to keep the volume down, and there
will be a limited number of channels in the sound system.
SOME NOTES ON SHARING: We'd love to hear everyone's story - we really
would! - but time is limited. So we're setting up part of the evening as a
panel discussion. This will allow for more interactive sharing, and
for more people to participate. Depending how well this works, and how
engaged everyone is, there may or may not be time for individual
presentations afterwards. Your participation is welcome and encouraged, but
some guidelines are in order:
- this is not a pulpit for you to preach a sermon - if you get long-winded, pushy or judgemental, someone will probably stop you.
- there may be more comments/discussion/stories than we have time for - please try to keep them brief, and please don't be offended if time runs out and you don't get your two cents in.
- no fundraising - if you've started a new work and are hoping to raise support for it, this is not what this time is for. We'll have a table where you can display materials (sell your books or whatever) if you like, and you're free to share your vision in one-on-one conversations.
- no doctrinal grandstanding - we are more concerned
with engaging the questions that draw us closer to Father than with
absolute agreement about the answers. We respect your opinions about
baptism, the rapture, holiness, transubstantiation, predestination, bible
translations, the nature of the godhead, valid worship forms, authority,
the mechanics of the atonement, etc, etc, and you are welcome to share
them, but please don't pressure us to conform or confess agreement if we
have a different point of view.
Whew! I've probably said too much, and probably left
important things unsaid - hope this covers most of it.
If this email leaves you with unanswered questions, visit
www.worshipwithoutwalls.us, and/or contact the Knapps or the Conroys
(contact info below).
And if any of you are coming from out of town and need places to stay, let
us know and we'll do our best to work it out - it would be our privilege to
extend hospitality to you.
See You Saturday!
Kyle & Gail Knapp
402-457-4372 hm
402-650-5160 kyle cell
email:
kyle@tuesdaytogether.us
website:
www.tuesdaytogether.us
Martin & Marsha Conroy
402-451-8492
email:
mdconroy@cox.net
