Tuesday, August 28, 2007

You're invited--RSVP, please

Yes, I know, the "please" is redundant. Anyway, I'm tryng to pull together a get-together for posters to this blog. My idea is to get together sometime next June (second half of the month) for a weekend of face-to-face conversation. My thought for a location is Miami, since Jose is there and could coordinate details, but am open to other suggestions. Boston is real nice then, too!

AND I want to do some fund-raising so that finances don't keep any of you from coming, esp. younger guys for whom an unexpected expense like this isn't doable. I can't promise that I can enable you to travel for free, but I'll do my best to take something off the tab, and we'll keep the costs once you get to wherever-it-will-be as low as we can (while still accommodating the Old Boys' need for comfy beds, regular meals, nearby toilets, that kind of thing.)

Participation limited to 12 (OK, maybe 15), and must be somewhat balanced between oldsters and younger-sters, with the tipping headed in a younger-ster direction.

Interested? Committed? Need more info, have some ideas to offer (ooh, that's probably a bad thing to ask this group!)--anyway, let me hear something from you.

29 comments:

Patrick K Currie said...

Brian, you're the man for getting this done. Camp of Champions Mississippi is usually the third week of June. It ends that Friday about 1. It would benefit us young Southern men to work it out for another weekend. (For credibility, the Camp of champions site is below.)

Boy with a Ball's COC site
and also
COC Home

Joseph Holbrook said...

finding the right dates that works for nearly everyone may be the greatest challenge.

what about the first week of July?

I'll bring a box of cigars.

Brian Emmet said...

So Patrick--you're in?

Joseph, you're right on scheduling, but if we don't try something, we won't do anything! The more input we get as soon as possible, the better our planning can be.

Patrick K Currie said...

I am pricing tickets. I am testing the waters right now to see if it would work out.

Jose, are you in South Miami (homestead)? What airports would work? MIA, Ft Lauderdale, West Palm?

Joseph Holbrook said...

yes, I am. However, we can probably find a hotel on Miami Beach or Hollywood which is about equal distance from both MIA and FLL. So you could book tickets to either airport.

I'll check into hotels, if we can agree on dates. The end of Febuary would also work for me, but I don't know about the rest.

Brian, am I right in thinking that this invitation is only extended to participants in this blog? In order to come, you will have to at least have posted once or twice in here. That cuts out a lot of people who participated in our "organic cp6" email discussion.

Brian Emmet said...

Yes, I had in mind our blog group, as opposed to the wider email list. But this is not "my " party, I'm only trying to help get it going, so I don't want to dictate terms. I DO feel strongly that we need to have a small enough group (12-15) to make conversation and discussion workable, so a smaller invite list, at least initially, seems good to me. If nobody from covenant thinklings signs up, we can start placing ads in Charisma Magazine!

Patrick, please don't book any tickets yet! I think scheduling could prove something of a challenge--not that we can't do something whenever we chose, but trying to find the date that maximizes the greatest number of participants will be fun!

Now, where is everybody else?

John M. said...

Hey Brian, give us a chance. I just now came in and found the new thread!
Joseph, are you really going to teach these young guys to smoke?

I vote for summer. Since I teach, I couldn't do the end of Feb. With enough planning time, I should be able to make it in either June or July. Brian, some of us older guys could use financial assistance too!

Will Currie said...

I am in! The first week in June sounds good for me...
This is going to be good. real good.

Anonymous said...

I would love to be involved. Summer is definitely better than Feb. for me as well...

I'm not sure what my summer is going to entail, whether I have to take a course or not. But June is probably better than July, because I believe in July my wife and I may take a trip out west on an adventure of a lifetime.

Sean

Jeremiah said...

This sounds AWESOME!

Is everybody set on Miami? I would be more than happy to host in Cincinnati, we've done this sort of thing a lot. Other benefits are that I am sure we could put everybody up in homes of people in our church, saving on hotel prices. Also we are within 2 hours driving of Dennis Coll, Mike Cook, John Meadows, & Steve Humble. I'll be happy to go whereever, but Cincinnati has some significant benefits.

Joseph Holbrook said...

I think any financial assistance should be priortized to the younger guys who are still in college and operating with limited funds...this would prob include Sean who is in grad school. Us older guys with established families and employment need to assume our own responsability for expenses.

Most of the guys you mentioned in the Ohio area, Jeremiah, have not yet posted on the blog...we are hoping to keep this small and oriented toward theological discussion. We also want to insure a balance between generations that will not overpower the younger men.

Brian Emmet said...

"Cincinnati has some significant benefits..."??

Cincinnati?

[winkwink]

Patrick K Currie said...

I haven't bought a ticket yet.

how about Cincinnati for CovThinklings '09? My vote is south Florida for summer of '08.

Joseph Holbrook said...

it does not look like this is going anywhere Brian... unless you and I just want to meet with Jereimah, John and Patrick... maybe we should put it off until 2009.

Robert said...

How many of interested bloggers will be at ACM this year? That may be later than planning requires. We could schedule a thirty minute face time for those who are participating. I would join Joseph in suggesting an alternative time if it made the difference in maximum participation of the 12-15 who have contributed. Where Summer months are desirable for those involved with class schedules, others doing the stuff of church have short term missions, camps, weddings and other matters that fill the calendar. Summer use to be "down time"...that has changed in recent years.

I like the idea of doing a sub set to ACM for those who want to "do theology." In some ways it fulfills my hopes of fleshing out the conceptual and idea provoking impact of our annual gathering at ACM. We will surely enjoy fresh thinking about the Kingdom with Bob Mumford being present this year. What will that look like when we leave Columbus? Meanwhile...the digital string continues to join hearts and minds.

Joseph Holbrook said...

interesting that you should mention the digital "string" connecting minds and hearts. Makes think of "string" theory in Quantum Mechanics where everything and everyone is somehow inconnected.

John M. said...

Robert, great idea about getting together with those who will be in Columbus for ACM. Maybe we could eat lunch together -- giving us a little more time together.

Jeremiah said...

Yes, Brian, Cincinnati!

I know you philistines who live in the outermost parts of the world fail to recognize our benefits, but the Kentucky side of Cincinnati is one of the best kept secret garden spots of the world. We've got all kinds of stuff.

:) LOL I catch grief from Ohioan's I work with everyday, so this is standard fare.


ACM in Columbus is fine with me. Really anywhere is fine with me. Of course my own home town is always first choice so that I don't have leave my family, but outside of that I really don't care.

In all seriousness the actual benefits I was referring to were regarding geographic location, (we are within a 8 hour drive of something like 2/3 of the populaiton of the US) and our ability to host people with families in our church thus cutting down on expenses.

I would hope though, that whereever we go, we get more than just 30 minutes.

Brian Emmet said...

Let's look to ACM for a get-together, at least for those who can be there, and use the time to see if there's really interest in and commitment to the invitation that has been extended.

Once we know who's really interested in coming, that will help determine location. If the interested parties are mainly near (gulp!) Cincinnati, then we'll go to Cincinnati (sheesh!) Personally, I'm going to immediately begin lobbying all of us who live in the Aruba vicinity!

Hello? Hello? Anyone there?

Joseph Holbrook said...

I have found that it is often possible to get to Nassau as cheaply as South florida, and the hotel prices are occasionally lower...

If we do this, I would personally prefer "not" to be hosted by families in a local church. More of a retreat setting would better serve our purposes, although I appreciate the gracious offer from Jer.

Michael Tomko said...

Count me in. I am willing to make a contribution to help someone make the flight/drive. I would enjoy the fellowship, challenging conversation, and putting some faces to the fellow bloggers.

I am strongly leaning toward ACM in October. Is there anyone that is willing to share a room or knows someone that will share a room? I shower every morning and very seldom snore.

My wife can't attend, and $119/night is killer.

Patrick K Currie said...

What about limited inerrancy vs. absolute inerrancy of the Bible?

Joseph Holbrook said...

wow Patrick! you do like to toss out handgrenades don't you?

Robert said...

Patrick,

Define your terms:

Limited innerancy =

Absolute innerancy =

John M. said...

Here we go...!

Patrick K Currie said...

Absolute Inerrancy:
1. Scripture in its entirety is inerrant, being free from all falsehood, fraud, or deceit. (ICBI, 1978.)
2. when all facts are known, the Scriptures in their original autographs and properly interpreted will be shown to be wholly true in everything that they affirm, whether that has to do with doctrine or morality or with the social, physical, or life sciences. (Paul D. Feinberg)


Limited Inerrancy:
1. The Bible is inerrant if and only if it makes no false or misleading statements on any topic whatsoever. The Bible is infallible if and only if it makes no false or misleading statements on any matter of faith and practice.
2. Biblical infallibility

Jeremiah said...

Patrick,

If you follow door number 2 you are holding GOD in submission to the Law of Non-contradiction and are assuming that limited humans have enough facts etc at their disposal to make judgements regarding what is or is not true concerning statements made by an infinte being. I think door number 2 might be difficult to defend.

There are statements in the scriptures which seem contradictory etc. There are other options that declaring them untrue or inaccurate.

John M. said...

See my comments on the new string Brian started.

steve H said...

I am not absolutely sure that I can be there at a get together yet -- but I will do my best. Early summer would probably be best for me. Plan to see you all at ACM next month.