Eikon Church - Little Rock, AR

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Archives > August, 2009

EIKON | WHY: tonight Posted by 08.30.2009 12:15 pm

EIKON | WHY

a couple weeks ago, we announced our upcoming gathering called EIKON | WHY. tonight, at 6 p.m., we’ll be hanging out at the house, engaging in a conversation about “yesterday.” what that ultimately means is that we’ll be hearing each others’ experiences with the church—for better or for worse. we think this will be another great entry point and a chance to connect with people through hearing shared experiences.

let me give a few, quick, final details.

as mentioned, we’ve been working with the chef to create a special menu for us that will give you a choice of 5 entrees and your choice of any of their beverages (beer, wine, coffees, soft drinks). (as a reminder, eikon isn’t picking up the tab, but we think you’ll find the menu reasonably priced). instead of the usual ordering downstairs, go ahead and come upstairs, grab a seat (anywhere upstairs) and they’ll do service at the tables. here’s your menu choices:

SALADS:

mixed green salad
seasonal salad (ask the wait staff for details)

SANDWICHES:

bacon, lettuce and tomato

BURGERS:

house burger
bbq burger

so, we think there should be a little something for everyone.

we’ll spend the first hour just eating/drinking and hanging out. AS PER REQUEST OF THE CHEF, PLEASE TRY TO BE THERE AS CLOSE TO 6 P.M. AS POSSIBLE. we’ve reserved a small room to the right upstairs, but during the first hour of dinner, feel free to sit anywhere upstairs. around 7 or so, we’ll transition into our conversation into the smaller room (where people might have to squeeze in, stand, lean, squat or engage in other means of fitting a large mass into a small space).

alright, that’s the story. come hang out with us. if you’ve hung out with us before, be sure to come again and if you haven’t been able to come or have been hesitant to come, this is a great entry point. see you tonight!

see you all in a couple weeks!

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Posted in events, gatherings, information | 2 Comments »



announcing midrash and our newest leader, derek blaylock Posted by 08.30.2009 12:58 am

A QUICK WORD FROM RYAN

as the title suggests, we have a couple very exciting announcements to make. the first one is that we have a new leader on board at eikon, derek blaylock. derek will be leading the second half of this announcement—which i’ll let him do below—called midrash. we’re super-excited to have derek on board. he’s a great guy who i know you guys will want to get to know more.

when derek isn’t rambling about politics and theology, you can find him enjoying a good cigar and a hoppy pale ale or obsessing over some tiny school in the midwest called kansas (or maybe it’s mizzou…we can’t remember…). his blog, dialogo de derek, is a great way to find out a little more about him (not to mention a good place to find a good cigar or beer recommendation). if you want to know even more about him, you can check him out on our leaders page.)

alright, enough from me. here’s derek.

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midrash little rock

Midrash is a Hebrew word that—when roughly translated—means “commentary.” We’ve taken the word Midrash as the title for our group and created an avenue for people from all walks of life to get together and discuss pertinent topics that impact our lives, our culture, our city, our state, our nation and our world.

THE WHY & WHAT OF MIDRASH

With Midrash—and Eikon—we value engaging culture to show that God’s truth is evident everywhere. The main crux of the issue is that we realize the Bible isn’t an authority for everyone and as such, we want to be involved in different happenings that show how God’s truth intersects everyday life. As a community of Jesus followers, we need to find ways to engage culture in a compelling manner and meet people where they are both spiritually and socially.

Art—of all forms—is a major influencer in our culture, so we base a lot of our gatherings around different art forms. But, we don’t envision a bunch of high-brow art critics standing around sipping dry martinis. :) We’re very ordinary people who enjoy fun and lively discussions about all sorts of topics (and you can even choose your own beverage…).

We host various types of gatherings including the following: coffee shop discussions, film nights, art gallery viewings and the occasional large panel forum. The main types of gatherings, though, are large group discussions in which we throw out a culturally relevant topic and allow for open conversation, facilitated by a moderator. Topics in the past have ranged from violence in the U.S. to animal rights to racism in Little Rock. Our discussions are held at local restaurants, coffee shops or bars—places that are able to accommodate group discussions.

No doubt, people want to talk about the topics we discuss, but just haven’t had the opportunity. We want to provide that opportunity! Our group is open to all kinds of people: religious, irreligious, atheists, nihilists, spiritual, and non-spiritual…everybody.

Does all this sound familiar? Midrash isn’t, in fact, new to Little Rock. You may know that we took a bit of an extended break over the last fews months. We’re excited to say that Eikon is now sponsoring Midrash, as we think Midrash and Eikon make a perfect marriage. The core principles of Midrash are the same ones that guide the Eikon community. So, we’re now refocused and excited to get things going again!

THE WHERE & WHEN OF MIDRASH

We’ll return with a coffee shop discussion on Wednesday, September 9 at The House (in Hillcrest)(check their website for address and subsequent directions) from 7:30 p.m. – 8:30ish p.m. (NOTE: Midrash gatherings will change locations and times from month to month.)

bowling alone by robert putnam

We’ll be discussing the role of social media in our lives, spawning from the book, “Bowling Alone” by Robert D. Putnam. (NOTE: By all means, reading the book has no bearing on your level of participation. It certainly is not a prerequisite for attending and engaging in the conversation. It’s simply a jumping point for a broader conversation.) By plugging into our computers and phones, are we unplugging from each other? Is our social capital as a nation declining or improving as a result of these technological innovations? Is it just a passing fad or is it a step towards our society becoming more reclusive?

Midrash is a welcome place for respectful discussions and we hope you’ll come out, grab a brew, share your view and lend an ear to others’.

(Not only do we just enjoy the social and personal growth aspect of Midrash, but we also think there’s a Biblical connection. Check out the following passages of Scripture: Acts 17: 16-34, Matthew 6: 10, II Corinthians 3: 16-18, Genesis 1: 26-28. These verses speak of God’s calling for us to redeem creation through him.)

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Posted in announcements, core values, culture, events, gatherings, leadership, theology | 2 Comments »



announcing EIKON | WHY Posted by 08.14.2009 1:46 pm

EIKON | WHY

i’m excited to announce our upcoming spectacle/shindig/gathering (it’s your choice of the 3 words…we’re all about free will at eikon…) for august. on sunday, august 30, at 6 p.m., we’ll be hanging out at the house—the great new addition to hillcrest—engaging in a conversation that we’re calling EIKON | WHY: a conversation about yesterday.

why is it a conversation about yesterday?

  1. 1. we like to use really intriguing-yet-bordering-on-pretentious titles for our gatherings.
  2. 2. we want to encourage the spontaneous singing of the beatles’ yesterday, being that we currently lack a solid british element at eikon. (we also encourage the boyz 2 men cover version of yesterday, being that it includes exponentially more “oohs” and “uhhs” and probably includes a spoken word part by an otherwise under-utilized bass singer…)
  3. 3. (seriously), we’re all experts on yesterday. we just lived it and need to process it. knowing the what of our past speaks to the why of our present/future.
  4. 4. we think your yesterday story is probably much closer to others’ stories than you think and thus, closer to the story of why we’re starting this thing called eikon.

ok, well, we are now equally confused and intrigued. how about yourself?

in the event that you find yourself confused and/or intrigued, you should definitely come hang out with us on sunday, august 30 at the house. our conversation about why we’re starting eikon will be a great entry point if you couldn’t make it to our gathering at vino’s last month and likewise, a great conversational entry point for those who have already been hanging out with us.

here’s the quick minutiae of the gathering. try to be there fairly close to 6 p.m.. we’re working with the chef to create a special menu for us that will give you a choice of 5 entrees and your choice of any of their beverages (beer, wine, coffees, soft drinks). just to be clear, eikon isn’t picking up the tab, but we think you’ll find the menu reasonably priced (and well worth it). instead of the usual ordering downstairs, go ahead and come upstairs, grab a seat and they’ll do service at the tables. we’ll spend the first hour just eating/drinking and hanging out. we’ve reserved a small room to the right upstairs, but during the first hour of dinner, feel free to sit anywhere upstairs. around 7 or so, we’ll transition into our conversation into the smaller room (where people might have to squeeze in, stand, lean, squat or engage in other means of fitting a large mass into a small space).

my (ryan) goal is to talk a little and listen a lot (though I can often be more successful in the reverse scenario…). i’ll intro the conversation and serve as a guide, but my hope is that the conversation will revolve around the group rather than myself.

NOTE TO THE INTROVERTS WHO ARE CRINGING AND DRY HEAVING RIGHT NOW (which actually includes myself, in terms of the introvert personality type): because I can certainly empathize, you don’t need to worry about being called on, called out or singled out. it’s your choice about how much or how little you contribute to the conversation. while we encourage active participation, we want to honor the fact that everyone engages in different ways. some do it by talking, while some do it by listening. so, please discontinue your dry heaving…no need to panic…you’re in good hands with eikon. :)

alright, that’s the story. come hang out with us. if you’ve hung out with us before, be sure to come again and if you haven’t been able to come or have been hesitant to come, this is a great entry point. (we’re a friendly bunch, despite our generally hairy, frightening exteriors…)

see you all in a couple weeks!

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Posted in announcements, core values, events, gatherings, information, leadership, theology | 3 Comments »



defining eikon: what we are vs. what we aren’t Posted by 08.08.2009 4:11 pm

our community is shaped and defined by a number of ideas and guiding theologies (which, of course, you can find here). our list isn’t a chiseled-in-stone final statement of authority, but rather, an evolving list of descriptions of god that help us to grow in community in biblically and culturally relevant ways. so, as our community grows and begins to flesh out, we hope to revisit the list every now and then and think through ways to tweak language or even add to or subtract from the list.

one of the things, though, we hope to remain consistent is our desire to define eikon by what we are, as opposed to what we aren’t.

what’s the difference?

we think the church–particularly in the united states over the last hundred years or so–has claimed its identity primarily in the form of rules, cultural blacklists and social dichotomies. we don’t drink. we aren’t gay. we think harry potter is corrupting our youth. we disengage from artforms that aren’t explicitly “christian”. the list could go on.

please don’t misunderstand or over-imply our point: we certainly affirm that there are plenty of great churches who don’t define themselves in these ways. no doubt, even here in little rock, there are churches who have made a decision not to make exclusion their chief mode of description. our point is that, by and large, american christianity has become virtually synonymous with this type of self-branding.

one of the key words we like to use at eikon is alternative and we certainly hope to practice an alternative way of defining than what we’ve described thus far.

instead of a church who defines itself by what we aren’t, we hope to define ourselves by what we are.

so, what are we?

we are people who try to follow in the way of jesus. we’re a community that says grace is more compatible with jesus than judgment. we are guided by scripture in ways that help us to engage and embrace culture rather than run from it and create false dichotomies. we are a community that lives in a space of humility rather than arrogant certainty. we want to be a community that serves our city by meeting the needs of those who are broken, oppressed and voiceless. we want to offer new life and hope to the “least of these.”

much like the previous list, this list could go on.

are we all these things right now? certainly not. are we striving to be these things? absolutely. are we connecting with people with like sensibilities and like communal expectations? of course.

so, we invite you to be a part of what we’re doing and what we’re trying to be. our invitation isn’t based on a commonality of “anti-” but rather a commonality of “pro-”.

if you connect with these sentiments (or even if you don’t) :), take a minute to read over our list of guiding theologies. everything we are isn’t there, so hit us up with an email or a phone call and we’ll talk more about this thing called eikon.

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an invitation to give Posted by 08.06.2009 5:59 pm

ADMIN NOTE: on a regular basis, we hope to have bloggers besides just ryan offer their voice and point-of-view. these will be various people connected to our community, whether they be leaders, people in the community or just “friends of eikon”. so, for the first time, christen—our spaces leader—will be blogging.

some of you might know that our friend and music leader, rob toon, was diagnosed with leukemia in 2008 and is currently preparing for (another) bone marrow transplant. the following post was first put up at her blog, babybyrds.com.

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today my blog is dedicated to my friend rob. (please forgive me if i get some of the details wrong, rob…i’m not up on all the medical jargon:) it is hard for me to even approach this subject without getting emotional sometimes…but here goes. rob and stephanie toon are some of our very best and closest friends, not to mention family, and leaders in our new church. they have four beautiful kids, michael, jack, lily and averi, who are some of lucy’s favorite people!

over a year ago rob was diagnosed with leukemia, and underwent all kinds of chemo treatment to get rid of it…which he did…until around december. they found out it was back and started the search for a donor so rob could get a bone marrow transplant. they’ve found a match and he has already had one transplant, a few weeks ago. however, it didn’t work, due to a viral infection. after a few very rough days for rob and steph, they finally got word that the donor was willing to donate again. this is very time sensitive and has to happen immediately. they are currently having people donating white blood cells to hold him over until the transplant. hopefully everything will work this time. they will get more cells this time and the viral infection should be gone, so they can do what they need to do. this transplant will take place august 11.

i must mention that this whole process is taking place in houston. which means that their kids are back home with stephanie’s parents in bryant, ar. on top of the sadness of not getting to see their kids for months, stephanie is not able to work so she can be with rob in houston. thus…no income. this is obviously a very stressful situation for everyone involved…rob and steph, the kids, grandparents…you get the idea. and now that rob has to have another transplant, their stay has been extended into mid november at least. the whole situation just makes me sad…

i am asking anyone who reads my blog…to help, if you can. here’s how:

  1. 1. please pray for this family and rob’s transplant and recovery.
  2. 2. if you live in houston, rob may need more people to donate blood for him before or after his transplant. he needs more white blood cells. i’m not sure when, but if you are interested in giving, let me know and i can get you the details.
  3. 3. if you would like to donate any money, i know they would greatly appreciate it.

thanks for reading this and helping in anyway possible. rob and stephanie mean so much to us. we are hoping to go visit sometime soon and maybe even donate some of our blood, if they need it. which terrifies ryan…ha. you can keep up with rob on his blog. please email me if you have any questions about anything or want to help, christen [at] christenbyrd [dot] com. here is a picture of their family i took right before they left for houston.

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Website Launch Posted by 08.02.2009 4:10 pm

so, i’m not sure if everybody noticed, but you’re looking at a brand spankin’ new website here, ladies and gentlemen. i’m very excited that you guys have finally been able to see it all. It’s been a long time in the making. over the last couple months, i’ve been working with a great web developer, chris earls, to get things up and running. as a designer, i had pretty specific ideas and chris was patient and made pretty much everything happen that was possible.

in terms of web development, this isn’t the end, but rather, the beginning of many new things. we’re very open to suggestions. someone has already mentioned the idea of forums and we already have plans to add some kind of virtual art galleries and maybe even some kind of interactive writers space. so, we need your feedback and suggestions. if you have ideas, feel free to leave a comment or email us at info@eikonthechurch.com.

finally, since i don’t believe in actually proofreading what i write…then you get that job! :) if you see typos, errors or even things that just aren’t clear, we need to know. so, feel free to email us at the aforementioned address.

enjoy!

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