Wednesday is a relaxing day because the only class is Old Testament from 11:40-12:30. Therefore, I can sleep in. Therefore, I could catch up on homework last night. Part of me wants to make it to chapel every day but I also know that is just not realistic at all, and it sets up expectations on me that are impossible to meet with all other expectations of school. I would prefer to make it to the majority of chapels but also show my faithfulness to my body and to my work; gifts given to me by God that I want to be a better steward of.

Anyway last night Liam and I went to the Central NJ Emergent church cohort (www.emergentvillage.com). There were a lot more people there than I had expected. I brought my friend Geila. During the question and answer period, she asked an important and often posed question about diversity to Tony Jones because her and Li were the closest people there to people of color. To her (and myself), he seemed pretty defensive and dismissive about the question. I recognize it must be difficult to be the spokesperson for such an ambiguous movement of people, but I agree with Geila that if the church's goal is to move towards relevancy, they simply can't do it if they write off churches of other races that 'just aren't interested'. But yet our hands are tied a little aren't they? Should Emergent change its core value of ongoing conversation about theological progression? What is turning off some of the churches that are primarily black or hispanic? Liam suggested maybe those churches just dont have these questions because their membership in general is thriving.

But it isn't just about membership because mostly people are coming from Evangelical backgrounds which is the strong church right now, not mainline or whatever else. In my view, people are coming because they want to know that they can still be Christians and be honest with the community about their doubts and ways that they don't buy modernist theology. I hope she doesn't mind but I think of my sister and how much she has wrestld with her faith in the last few years. And the churches' response to her has often been inadequate if not downright irresponsible. So I am not giving up on Emergent for a while I think. I think it is so great that Emergent at its core cares about people's stories no matter how jaded or unorthodox or weird. I think there is something to be learned from that as I study ministry because I think God is more that way than we think.