House Keeping

[Andrew Seely]

Hi Everyone,
I gather that most of the participants of EmergentSoCal have wandered
else where.

For those few new members who have been active on the site in the last
few months, hello.

Here's the scoop.

EmergentSoCal exists as an entity on the web for people in the
Southern California area to connect with others who seek conversation
and dialogue about questions raised about faith and Christianity as it
intersects today's culture.

At this point in time, I serve as the guide for the community that is
found within EmergentSoCal.

The idea is that EmergentSoCal at this point, is an open-source,
community led space, where connections can be made and people can
offer information and share events that are happening in the Southern
California area.

Which means to say that if you want to form a cohort - do it. If you
have an event that you want to promote - do it. If you want to have a
conversation - do it. There is no "formal leadership". If someone
wants to take on the role of a guide to facilitate conversation or
events by all means, self nominate and gather people. It is within
your power as a member of EmergentSoCal.

I am always available to try and answer questions, though I would
first encourage people to post and open questions to the group.

There is a longer history of EmergentSoCal, which I am a part of and
am open to discuss.

Over and over people have shown a desire to meet and converse, yet,
the numbers do not add up in any one geographical area to facilitate
regular gatherings or events, hence EmergentSoCal. The one exception
is the San Diego area. We have hosted events, book tours, speakers,
and cohorts over the existence of EmergentSoCal, interest was always
shown, but attendance lacked, making it difficult to continue the time
and energy of organizing events.

Multiple times have we opened it up to suggestions on how to create a
vibrant community, and have re-stated that this is an open leadership
model, yet for a variety of reasons it has not stuck. Members have
come and gone, and for me having been around pretty much since the
inception of this group, it feels like spinning tires in the mud.
That is not to say, that I don't desire to connect with those who are
seeking community and space for discussions about church and culture,
I do.

At one point we had developed a "pod" model for cohorts, where "pods"
were interconnected. If you belonged to one, you belonged to all.
With a "guide(s)" for each pod that served as a hub for connecting
people.

At this point I am going to clear all the pages of the stagnant
information that has accumulated over the years and re-open them to be
re-populated. At this point I think I am the only one who has access
to change those pages, but as I stated before I am more than willing
to give access to others (as long as there is no abuse of the
privilege) so I do not have to burden the entire load.

Please feel free to continue discussion about the future of
EmergentSoCal. And if you are new to the group we encourage your
first post to be in the <a href="http://groups.google.com/group/
emergentsocal/browse_thread/thread/9982110abc33336c">New To Emergent
thread</a>

You can reach me at andre...@gmail.com or leave response to this
thread.

Chasing Christ,

Andrew Seely