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Reflections: Congress on Evangelism - Part 1

This week, as I alluded to yesterday, I am at the Congress on Evangelism in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. My motivation for coming, I will admit, was solely to meet up with other methobloggers. Otherwise, I can’t say this is an event that would typically appeal to me. But I am enjoying myself and enjoying the event. More on that in a bit.

First, Myrtle Beach. I’ve never been to Myrtle Beach before. I drove down from Central New York because, if I haven’t mentioned it before, I have a huge fear of flying. I will fly if I have to, but I find that in the continental US you very rarely have to fly. Myrtle Beach is a 14 hour drive from my home, and I left at a god-awfully early hour on Tuesday to get here. Book on CD make this kind of drive feasible for me, but by the last two hours, I was well past ready to be at my destination.

I remember in elementary school that a few of my classmates always vacationed in Myrtle Beach. My family would take vacation in more manageable (read: inexpensive) places like Canada, or in a good year, Washington, DC. If we wanted to go to the beach, we’d go to the local State Park. Hey – they had a beach and a place to swim just like Myrtle Beach, right? Actually, looking back on things, I’m glad of how we vacationed. I can’t imagine how crazy Myrtle Beach must be in the summer. It is beautiful, for sure. I’m staying at the Dayton House, where my “efficiency King” room, which is the smallest I could book, has a stove and refrigerator and sink and sofa and living room area and king sized bed and a view of the ocean which is literally about 50 yards out the back doors of the hotel. This is a vacation city. In January, the Beach is stunningly quiet and empty. If you are smart, and you don’t consider vacationing at the ocean when it is only in the mid-sixties or seventies out a hardship, you should bring your family here on vacation in January at an easy $50-$60 a night for resort-like hotels.

Anyway, beautiful setting aside, this is an interesting event to be at. The keynote speakers include J. Ellsworth Kalas (whose book I reviewed earlier this week) as Bible Study leader, Bishop Scott Jones, and Adam Hamilton, among others. This is not an event I would likely have come to, as I mentioned, were it not for the methoblogging component. It’s not that I don’t want to learn about evangelism. Contrary perhaps to stereotypes of ‘liberals’ like me, I think most ‘liberals’ are very interested in learning how to better communicate the good news of Jesus. But I think ‘liberals’ like me often have stereotypes about what others, other more conservative folks mean by evangelism. So I was a bit nervous – or curious I guess – about what this event would be like. The atmosphere is certainly different than most gatherings I’ve been to – the speakers so far are surprisingly centrist in their presentations – not saying things the way I’d say them, but not generally saying things I totally disagree with. The worship and music is more traditional than I would have expected – a little disappointing, actually, but the content is solid. I will probably spend the next few posts focusing in on each speaker more specifically.

I’ve gone to four workshops – three sponsored by our methoblogging sub-conference, and one with blogger/DS Susan Cox-Johnson focusing on Wesley and the emerging church. I’ll also write about these in more detail, but my gut reaction is that I wish there were different ‘levels’ of workshops for people coming in with different ‘levels’ of knowledge. Re: web ministry, some people are here with a lot of experience already, but others don’t know anything about using the internet yet, and it is hard for workshop presenters to meet all of these various needs.

Of course, the most fun part of being here is hanging out with the other methobloggers. It is so much fun to meet people you’ve only known in part online. It is fun to see how my mental images match up with the real people and personalities. I won’t confess to them which is which, but let’s say some of these methobloggers are exactly like I expected, and others are nothing like what I expected! I’m reminded of taking my doctrine and polity courses online at Drew, and then running into the professor on campus, and being totally thrown off – he wasn’t what I had been imagining at all!

To be continued…

Comments

DogBlogger said…
I'm guessing I have less fur than you expected...
Anonymous said…
Beth,

I have to admit, I was a bit surprised when I read the other day that you were in attendance at the Congress of Evangelism. Not the place I'd expect to find a good liberal like yourself. (I won't have said it, if you hadn't first.)

But I'm really glad you're there. We who are on different ends of the theological spectrum have so much we can learn from one another. I hope you come away from your days at Myrtle Beach refreshed and with some new understandings and a renewed commitment to continue to share the good news of Jesus Christ in the ways God has called you to.
Anonymous said…
I have a question and I mean this in the most kind and loving way so please don't think I'm being mean.

What on earth does being a liberal or a conservative or anything in between have to do with being an evangelist?

An evangelist is one who evangelizes the lost and spreads the Gospel. As a population, why on earth would there be any fewer liberal evangelists as conservative evangelists. All Christians are commanded by the Lord to be evangelists in some form or fashion. Granted, some have the Spritual Gift of Evangelism, but as Christians we are all expected to do that.

So why, John B, would you be surprised that a "good Liberal" to not attend the congress of evangelism. Or am I missing something here?
DogBlogger said…
Attending this event was a good reminder that we are ALL called to evangelize -- introverts, extroverts, conservatives, liberals, tall, short, bishops, laypeople. And when it comes to that, we agree on a whole lot of stuff.
John said…
My motivation for coming, I will admit, was solely to meet up with other methobloggers.

Me too.
Anonymous said…
Keith asked: What on earth does being a liberal or a conservative or anything in between have to do with being an evangelist?


It shouldn't. However, in practice liberals tend to gather with other liberals and conservatives with other conservatives. The Congress of Evangelism is based on my limited knowledge, a conservative gathering that promotes a conservative theology. I've never attended one, so I may be incorrect in my perception.

This "flocking together with birds of a feather," which seems to me to be the norm, adds to our disunity and mistrust of those of different theological and political persuasions. That's why I was glad Beth broke through those artificial barriers. We as UM's need to do that more often.

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