Burning Man New Year's Gratitude!

[Michael Morgan]

Happy New Year Burners! 

  I've been reflecting a lot on this past year and am so, so grateful to everyone who has participated in making Christian Science @ Burning Man possible. 

It's been a little while since we've all had a cohesive conversation and I just wanted to kickstart a vision for Burning Man 2015 with some gratitude and potential ideas. 

First off, Burning Man 2014 was such a blessing on so many levels! The amount of harmonious team work, diverse unity, and care and compassion showed in our camp was remarkable and beautiful. Thank you so much to everyone who came - everyone made a special and unique contribution that was absolutely Love-appointed! 

Since we've returned, we have now had a few months to decompress and handle all of our business in the default world. In the case of Ansley and I, we've had our baby and just moved into a new apartment. We also took a very special donation from one of our fellow Burners given as a Christmas gift, spent it on renting a church space in Inglewood, and have started holding Christian Science Society Church services on Sundays. This Society is, unofficially, our Christian Science Society of Black Rock City and we've filed Articles of Incorporation and have set up a bank account that can receive donations as a 501(c)(3) non-profit religious organization. 

Our vision is to use this entity in future Burning Man ministries so that donors have a clear and tax-exempt way of giving money for Christian Science @ Burning Man activities. We'd love to hear some of your thoughts on taking this step towards organizing our work at Burning Man with a Board of Directors, Treasurer, Clerk, etc. If that doesn't feel like the right path for Christian Science @ Burning Man to take, we will continue our local church services in Inglewood, prayer calls, family ministry at Burning Man with those who attend, and do separate fundraising and organizing ourselves. 

In terms of a vision for Burning Man 2015, I'd love to continue building on the concept of the Christian Science, Life, Truth, and Love Experience by branching out into three main ministries: praise and worship music through a mobile Reading Room & Art Car (Life), Christian Science healing treatment and lecturing (Truth), and footwashing (Love). 

It might be best to hear feedback on this triune approach and see if there are individuals willing to staff and coordinate the different prongs of ministry. We'd also love to explore how we can work with outside organizations and donors (including the Mary Baker Eddy library) on setting up an official art installation that would feature The Pastor (The Bible and Science and Health) located in different parts of the Playa for people to read and experience on their own. 

Maybe after we hear some responses via email, we can set up a call by the end of January to solidify a blueprint for Christian Science @ Burning Man 2015?

After studying this week's Bible Lesson, such a beautiful exegesis on the Lord's Prayer, Section II really stood out to me as applicable to Burning Man. Here are a few thoughts that really connected for me: 

"Bless the Lord, all his works in all places of his dominion" - Psalms 103: 22

"Behold, the kingdom of God is within you" - Luke 17: 21

"He is all-inclusive, and is reflected by all that is real and eternal and by nothing else. He fills all space, and it is impossible to conceive of such omnipresence and individuality except as infinite Spirit or Mind" - Science and Health, 331: 20-14. 

Burning Man sparked a real desire in my heart to see our Church actively living what is often on so many of its advertisements and signage, "All are Welcome." After Burning Man 2014, Ansley and I started a weekly prayer call on Friday nights that we title "Friday Night Prayer Watch" - and much of its content is inspired by day-to-day ministry outreaches in and around Los Angeles modeled after the Sunday services we've held at the temple for two years in a row now which we call "Practitioners Without Borders." During these outreaches, we travel around with a set of marked books and invite people to read from them and pray with us. We've had some pretty wild experiences, and many of them feel like we are at Burning Man! 

The prayer call has touched a lot of people and we have a faithful group of Christian Scientists from all over the country who have been calling in every week for over four months now! We have taken up issues like sex trafficking, pornography, and drug & alcohol addiction and have experienced some great healing! As we get closer and closer to Burning Man, this prayer call will work to address issues specific to Burning Man and the kinds of individuals who participate in Burning Man. We hope you'll join us sometime! 

I'd love to hear where everyone is in their thoughts and prayers about Burning Man and if there are any other strategies for organizing our outreach there in 2015 including lecturer, camp name, camp activities, and metaphysical inspiration. 

God bless you all and here's to an AWESOME New Year!

 Michael Morgan 

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I love to tell the story. 

www.holyghostshift.com