Wherever Jesus went, there seemed to be a celebration; the tradition of festive meals at which Jesus welcomed all and sundry is one of the most securely established features of almost all recent scholarly portraits.”
N.T. Wright, The Challenge of Jesus, 43.
At MSA we love this image of Jesus, and this is certainly a year of celebration for us! We started the year celebrating Tom Sine’s 80th birthday and now, in conjunction with our favourite Seattle event – the Inhabit conference – we are getting ready to launch his new book, Live Like You Give a Damn! Join the Changemaking Celebration.
We invite you to join the MSA team -Tom and me, Andy Wade, Katie Metzger, Forrest Inslee and Stefan Schmidt – for the conference this week and for the launch party Friday night. (If you are not in the Seattle area, join the celebrations from afar taking advantage of the special 40% pre-order discount which is still available (last chance is April 16th). Gary and Evelyn Heard, and Mark and Robyn Pierson, long term MSA contributors, are flying in from Australia and New Zealand respectively to join the festivities, and we would love to see you too.
In July we plan to continue the celebrations at the Wild Goose Festival in North Carolina. Tom, Christine, and Andy will present workshops, man the MSA booth, talk about the new book, and enjoy celebrating with friends from around the country. We will be joined by Jensen Roll, a young social entrepreneur who is currently building a tiny house on wheels, which will be a major focus for our talks. It promises to be an exciting event.
On August 5-7 our summer celebrations conclude with our 25th Annual Celtic Prayer Retreat. This year’s theme is Celebrating the Goodness of God with All the Saints. We have expanded the program to include a time of celebration and song on Friday evening and a festival of music on Saturday evening.
On Saturday morning we will once again gather for a time of worship, responsive reading and scripture reflection. As always, we’ll share an amazing potluck feast together, and in the afternoon there will be time to walk the prayer trails and labyrinth as well as participate in creative spiritual exercises.
Many of us will camp on the land, but there are plenty of other accommodation options available from B & Bs on Camano to motels in Marysville and Mt. Vernon.
Mark the date on your calendars and join us for a time of fun, fellowship and festivity.
On Godspace during this Easter season, we are celebrating the resurrection and how we live into Christ’s resurrection world in our daily lives. As Earth Day approaches we are particularly focusing on creation and where we see God’s resurrection glory shine through at this season.
Andy Wade launches the series with Resurrection in the Neighbourhood. Visit Godspace this week for revised resource lists and more inspiring thoughts from those who practice resurrection through their faithful and sustainable practices.
And be sure to check out what Tom’s up to over on his new blog, New Changemakers, where he’ll introduce you to new ideas and young people making a real difference in our world today!
How are you celebrating the resurrection of Jesus and living it out in your life? We hope that you too will discover the party spirit of Jesus this year.
God bless,
Christine Sine
Executive Director MSA