Last weekend I drove Kara out to Princeton, NJ to get her all moved in to her dorm room and ready for this next year where she’ll be starting her PhD in New Testament. It was a long but fun trip and we got to eat lunch in Pekin, IL with her Mom and Great-Grandmother which was a relaxing break from the road and a welcome time of visiting and sharing a wonderful meal together. We also got to stay with family friends of the Lyons, the Nielsons, at their home outside of Mount Vernon, OH. From there we drove to Princeton, NJ and unpacked the pink Ford truck and U-Haul trailer in under an hour! Oh how I love dolleys. I was able to stay at a friend’s house near the Princeton campus (and their cat didn’t even bother me!).
        The next day Kara and I took a train up to New York City and just wandered around taking it all in. Here is my photo set of the day, and here is hers. We got to catch the Broadway musical Spamalot, which was GREAT! If you like Monthy Python you’d love this musical. It’s pretty much a stage adaptation of Holy Grail, but with enough twists to make it fresh for those of us who have seen the movie a thousand times. After a long day in NYC, I got up early to head back to Kansas City (which comparatively seems like a rural farming town after experiencing the Big Apple). I miss Kara already but have already bought a plane ticket to visit again next month!

        This past Sunday I had the chance to visit and hang out with the folks at Church of the Sojourners in the Mission district of San Francisco, CA. I happened upon this community last year at the Ekklesia Project gathering where the Sojourners were presenting on Christian community. They are very similar to other Christian communities around the United States like Simple Way in Phillly and Reba Place or JPUSA in Chicago.
        Unlike Reba Place, Sojourners does not live on a common purse. Instead the Covenant members commit to live on an allowance, after paying for necessities like healthcare etc. They tithe everything else. Like most of these new monastic communities, hospitality is at the core of who they are and one of the most important ways they express their love for God. I was a welcome recipient of this hospitality last Sunday as I ate some fish tacos with a few people from the Double Deuce house (as Ryan calls it anyway), went to a small meeting where I learned more about the life that Sojo members live and finally as I broke bread with the community at their Sunday worship gathering.

        This is the second year I’ve been able to attend the annual Ekklesia Project gathering held at DePaul University in Chicago. By the way, I am still very impressed with Chicago’s public transportation, way to go CTA! I met up with Kaz again for this year’s EP gathering and as always it was good to see my old friend. This year’s theme was about imagining what the Kingdom looks like. There was a heavy emphasis upon artistic expression of the Kingdom. We Ekklesia folk can tend to get bogged down in “resisting the Empire” (which was last year’s theme) that we often forget to do the positive work of creatively expressing what the Kingdom looks like. There was talk of Christian discipleship looking like improvisational theatre via Sam Wells. At the end of the first day we heard the music of the Psalters. This was the first EP “concert” that I’m aware of, and it was nice to see old theologians and pastors get into the upbeat nomadic sounds of the Psalters.
        The second day was about “Kingdom Practices.” Brenna Cussen, a young woman from a Catholic Worker House in South Bend, IN told us about her life with CWH and the daily practices of caring for the poor and homeless and practicing hospitality that her community finds to be essential to their life together. Fred Bahnson and Grace Hackney spoke to us about Anatoth Gardens, which their church began after the shooting of a man in their community. It was a really encouraging story of how a church was able to “practice resurrection” in the midst of a violent world. We ended the day with a “coffeehouse” which is academia for “variety show.” Many of the artists were inspired by Wendell Berry, including a photographer, a fashion designer and a painter. Songs were sung and poetry read... it was a great time together.
        For more on this year’s Ekklesia Project check out, AKMA’s thoughts on day one, day two and day three.

        I’m finally back home after a 12-day zig-zag trip across the United Sates. I started off going to the wedding of good friends Wilson and Amy Ryland in super hot Phoenix, AZ. I arrived in time to get some good hang-out time with Wil before the all-day bachelor party. We got to hang out on the Lake, have tons of fun in town and go bowling. It was good to see old friends like Ty and Kay and catch up with new ones like Zach. Wil and Amy are enjoying Hawaii right now.
        From Phoenix I flew to Chicago for my second visit to the annual Ekklesia Project conference held on the campus of DePaul University. It was also a chance to catch up with old friends from last year and make new ones this year, as well as just enjoying my time with Kaz.
        Next on the itinerary was Jeff and Meredith’s wedding in San Jose (that link will continue to update as people add photos). I got into SJ on Wednesday and was able to put things together for Jeff’s bachelor party with the help of Sammer. We had a blast making Jeff do all kinds of crazy things in San Jose as well as some more serious time of loving on him and praying over him. The wedding was amazing and beautiful. It was such a delight to see those two finally get married.
        Right after the reception I drove up to San Francisco in the middle of the night to hang out for a day with the awesome people at church of the Sojourners. They’re a Christian Community/Church in the heart of the Mission district of San Francisco who are striving to live out Jesus’ love for us by practicing communal living, simplicity and hospitality.
        I will be posting more on each of these trips, but I thought I’d give a quick run-down of where I’ve been recently.

create your own visited states map.

I’m sitting in the Phoenix airport after a wonderful week of hanging out with Wil and celebrating his marriage to Amy. From Wednesday to Saturday we had one big party. We went to the lake and boated/jet-skied until we ran out of gas, all the while enjoying Wil’s blue Speedo. We got to watch Wil walk by his future In-Laws in nothing but the same Speedo and a cowboy hat while at dinner in a local Phoenix restaurant. This of course would pale in comparison to the embarrassment Wil was put through at the bowling alley, where he was patted down by a “police officer” (if you have pictures SEND THEM to me!). It was great catching up with Wil and talking about ministry and life, as well as meeting up with old and new friends. Blessings to you both, enjoy Hawaii!