Eikon Church - Little Rock, AR

Loading...

Archives > information

join us in beginning a new chapter at eikon Posted by Ryan Byrd 09.01.2010 7:56 am

new building kickoff september

we recently shared about the big changes occurring here at eikon and we’ve really been glad to receive overwhelmingly positive feedback, with many sharing in our excitement. if you haven’t heard about the changes, take a minute to read through the blog post that lays out the basic ideas. following those announcements, we gathered a few weeks ago at our new space for a bit of a preview of sorts. once again, we were excited to get great feedback and create an energy surrounding our upcoming move.

well, we have now reached the time for that move.

on sunday, september 12, we’ll make the permanent move to our new space at 101 n. woodrow st. (a block east of the markham/kavanaugh intersection near pizza d’action). as you’ve read in the aforementioned (linked) blog post, this gathering will include a shared meal, conversation and a teaching time.

one of the things we’re most excited about is that it will kickoff not only a new space and new format to our gatherings, but a 3-month look at all things jesus: his life, death, birth, ministry, values, ethics, trials, fears, relationships and everything you might imagine that jesus did that now informs our lives. to be frank, we’re really trying to cut away the crap and fluff and hone in on what it means to be people who follow in the way of jesus.

it’s a big time for our community and we’d love for you to be a part of it. what about those reading this that are already a part of our community? pass this blog post along. put it on twitter. invite a coworker. invite friends we’ve missed on our facebook event. spread the word.

so, if you’ve desired to come check out eikon, there absolutely couldn’t be a better time than now. see you on september 12 at 6!

if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to email me (ryan) at ryan [at] eikonthechurch [dot] com.

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in announcements, core values, events, gatherings, information, worship | 1 Comment »



you’re invited: preview our new space this sunday night Posted by Ryan Byrd 08.13.2010 1:36 pm

despite it being relatively quick notice, we’re excited to share with everyone about our preview gathering this sunday night at our new building. we recently shared about the big changes occurring here at eikon and we’ve really been glad to receive overwhelmingly positive feedback, with many sharing in our excitement. if you haven’t heard about the changes, take a minute to read through last week’s post.

while we won’t be making the official, permanent move to the new space until september 12, we’re having a preview of the the new space and the new direction this sunday night. we’ll no doubt have a few kinks and a few moments of playing it by ear, but we hope to offer a fairly fully-realized version of what we’ll be doing beginning on a weekly basis in september. at 6 p.m., we’ll serve a dinner prepared by a couple in our community (in this case, john & shannon hardin) and at about 6:45, we’ll transition into a teaching/discussion time (children will move upstairs to their own space at that time). it will be extremely casual and a great opportunity for new people to get to know a few of our people.

the new building is at 101 n. woodrow st. (a block east of the markham/kavanaugh intersection near pizza d’action). there’s a little parking available on woodrow street in front of the building and more than plenty of parking in a small gravel lot behind the building (in the frontmost yard of the arkansas school for the deaf & blind).

so, if you’ve desired to come check out eikon, there couldn’t be a better time than now. see you sunday night at 6! if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to email me (ryan) at ryan [at] eikonthechurch [dot] com.

Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in announcements, core values, events, food, gatherings, information, worship | 1 Comment »



a new direction: announcing the new look of eikon Posted by Ryan Byrd 08.02.2010 1:29 pm

[ok, let's just go ahead and put it out there that we've got some serious blog FAIL going on here… yes friends, we're blog slackers here at eikon, but we promise guarantee swear will attempt with great fervor to update more regularly. ok, onto the news at hand…]

i love quotes. i have a running collection of them that i’ve compiled over quite some time. awhile back, i came across one that i’ve repeated several times in conversations as we’ve prepared for the next steps for eikon. novelist ellen glasgow once said,

all change is not growth, as all movement is not forward.

as we’ve prepared and planned the big changes here at eikon, we’ve steadily kept in mind that change should be forward-oriented, plotting steps to help us grow and progress as a community.

we think we’ve done that with this new direction.

last night at our weekly gathering, we laid it all out, but we wanted to share it with our online community as well. obviously, online discourse is a bit more limited than actually being a part of our gathering, but i’ll try to relay the news as close to how it occurred last night as possible.

VALUES

more than anything, change that is actually growth is steered by a set of guiding values. while you can read a more a more church-defining set of guiding theologies here, there were some specific values that led to the new direction:

• jesus as primary value
• first church values (taken from an ongoing series)
• flattened leadership
• social justice
• financial responsibility - 50/50 value
• jesus-centered community

MEETING SPACE

we’re moving! we’ve been deeply thankful for r street community church’s willingness to let us crash at their place for the past 6 months, but it’s time to move on.

the space—at 101 n. woodrow st. (near the corner of kavanaugh & markham)—will allow for a hybrid house/”traditional” church setting and atmosphere. on one hand, because of the fact that it’s a converted house, it has retained an intimate vibe that corresponds with the surrounding neighborhoods (stifft’s station, capitol view, hillcrest). on the other hand, because it’s been converted into a meeting space, it will allow for larger groups and teaching/conversation times.

additionally, it will provide upstairs round-the-clock office space, allowing for meetings, quiet space and storage). we’re also excited that the building comes equipped with a full kitchen, which will lend itself to other announcements (keep reading!).

here’s some pictures of the building (interior pics to come):

new building new building

CHILDREN

as we’ve searched for meeting spaces over the last year, one of our primary concerns was a space for children. quite frankly, some places met every single criterion we had, but was shot down due to lack of a children’s space. despite the small size of this space, we’re still excited to offer a dedicated space with structured learning and activity time for children 5 years and younger.

SHARED MEAL

as we’ve discussed in previous gatherings, there’s something transcendent, something sacred about a shared meal. now, we’ll make that a core feature of our weekly gatherings. every single week, we’ll begin our time together at 6 p.m. with a meal that’s prepared by us. whether it’s a single family, multiple families or potluck-style, each week will feature a family-style dinner.

we’re particularly interested in sustainability, recycling and waste reduction, so we’re committed to using real plates/utensils/glasses/etc and encouraging people to use locals meats/produce/etc when preparing the meals. we also think this will be a great way to involve people outside of our community. do you have a friend who loves to cook? or a friend who loves to eat? get them involved. sitting down to eat is a universally unifying experience and we hope to incorporate that into our gatherings.

TEACHING

quite frankly, it’s good to hear more than just ryan and the occasional john-led night. we want and need to hear from multiple voices with varying viewpoints and leadership styles. from “traditional” teaching to conversational times to interactive learning sessions, we hope to incorporate a wide array of gatherings that will connect with a wide array of people.

we’ll be asking a number of people to lead the teaching times. whether you think you’re a “teacher” or a “pastor” or even a leader, we’d love for varying voices to lead our discussion time together. in addition to standard teaching/discussion times, we also plan to have “open mic” nights that are open forum conversations as well as “traditional” worship nights.

GATHERINGS

we want to allow plenty of time for dinner which will include conversational time and getting-to-know-you time with others. we encourage families to eat together. whereas children are welcome to stay, we strongly encourage parents to take their children to the upstairs children’s room at 6:45. for the next hour-ish, we’ll engage in a teaching/conversation time.

GATHERINGS

we’ll continue to gather at 6 p.m. each sunday night (for those bringing food, please arrive in time so that people can begin eating at 6 p.m. sharp). we want to allow plenty of time for dinner which will include conversational time and getting-to-know-you time with others. we encourage families to eat together. whereas children are welcome to stay, we strongly encourage parents to take their children to the upstairs children’s room no later than 6:45. for the next hour-ish, we’ll engage in a teaching/conversation time.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE

we’ll officially make the permanent move to our new space on sunday, september 12. in the meantime, here’s the schedule of what/where we’re doing:

august 8: regular gathering :: r street building
august 15: preview night :: new building (101 n. woodrow st.)
august 22: regular gathering :: r street building
august 29: worship night :: TBA
september 5: off for labor day (possible casual gathering somewhere)
september 12: kickoff event :: new building (101 n. woodrow st.)

so, there you have it. we’re really excited about the new direction and we think it will be an opportunity to spark growth and help us to engage much more in the way of jesus. like i said, a lot of information is just not best communicated in this format, as compared to our gathering last night. so, if you have any questions, feel free to leave comments or email me (ryan) at ryan [at] eikonthechurch [dot] com.

in the meantime, spread the word: tweet it, update it, text it, email it, blog it. maybe even tell a real life human being! :)

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in announcements, childcare, core values, food, gatherings, information, leadership, little rock, social justice, worship | 5 Comments »



cityView: in review Posted by Ryan Byrd 06.04.2010 7:59 am

cityView blog series

we began this series with the following introduction:

faith is everywhere. or lack of faith. or a little faith. regardless of which it is, there’s a bigger conversation occurring in our city than just a single church or a single faith perspective. instead of becoming an insular community, we hope that eikon can be a place that listens to & engages in the broader faith conversation in our city.

over the past few weeks of this series, i think we’ve begun to do just that. we’ve poked around in the faith conversation in and around little rock. we’ve turned over a few of the loose rocks. certainly, it hasn’t plunged us into the deeper waters, but we’ve waded in, getting our feet wet.

the conversation continues, though. in just the fledgling stages of this thing called eikon, we hope this series has been an introductory connecting point with the larger community around us. we simply don’t want to be an island church, floating in the waters of ecclesial and social isolation.

we want to continue conversations with people like thomas hudson, who is seeking out an image of jesus that actually does, instead of just says. we’re seeking out more conversations with people like darren huckey, who’s looking past our modern christian notions of god to capture the essence and jewishness of jesus. we’re looking for ways to connect with people like rich wiebe, who is seeking a life filled with deeply abiding love and compassion for others. all of our writers have expressed a unique dimension of the conversation revolving around faith in our city.

certainly, these aren’t the totality of perspectives in our community.

so, we’ll continue to seek people beyond our “four walls” that are trying to figure out if there’s some Thing beyond us or more to life than what we see in front of us. we’ll continue to talk and write and dream and debate and grow and engage the our city.

there’s a broader view in this city, in our community of little rock. our hope and prayer is that this series is only the entry point to engaging those many views.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in cityview, core values, culture, information, leadership, little rock, theology | 1 Comment »



help support lauren and cure international Posted by John Hardin 05.07.2010 7:58 am

cure international

EDITORIAL NOTE: One of the values we have here at Eikon is putting our money where our mouth is. No doubt, we have limited financial resources and aren’t able to give to every person or organization, but we certainly want to help out when we have the opportunity and ability. One of the people in our community, Lauren Stephens, has the opportunity to travel with Cure International to Uganda this summer. It’s an incredible organization and opportunity for Lauren, but it comes at a steep cost. So, I asked Lauren to write a little about the trip and what it will take to get here there. Eikon is going to make a significant gift (well, for our little church anyway), but we want to invite you to contribute as well. If you want to give through Eikon, simply write a check to Eikon Church and in the memo line put Lauren Stephens – Uganda. *100%* of those funds will go to this specific cause. Mail the check to:

Eikon Church
2501 Kavanaugh Blvd, Unit B
Little Rock, AR 72205

Thanks!

—————————————————————————

I will be going to Uganda, Africa with CURE International July 26 – August 10. CURE International is a non-profit organization that has established hospitals in five different countries in Africa, two in the Middle East also in Honduras, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic. CURE has seen 1 million patients and performed 70,000 life-transforming surgeries. The hospital in Uganda specializes in the treatment of children with cleft palate, hydrocephalus, club foot, spinal deformities, and other crippling orthopedic conditions. Along with the treatment of these beautiful children they also educate the parents and families on living healthier lives with the resources they have.

I have chosen to go into the nursing field because I have found that my passion is to help others and to try to make a difference in the world. I want to go on this mission trip so that I can be a very small part of what will be a turning point in these children’s lives of living without fear of them and their families being ridiculed for what their culture calls a curse but is a medical condition that can be remedied. While there, I will have the opportunity to be in the operating room observing, but mainly working with the children who are recovering from the surgeries, spending time with the families serving them food and offering support, and also with the children before their operations and their brothers and sisters. We will also take five days to travel with a mobile clinic to reach out to surrounding villages and communities to offer basic healthcare needs.

In order to go and be given this opportunity I need to raise a total of $3800. I am coming up on a few deadlines. The first being $2000 by May 15th, next one is on May 26th to have $900 and the final payment of $900 will be due on June 26th. The funds raised will cover the majority of the costs for me but it also covers a portion of what it takes to get supplies there and helps keep the hospital functioning such as food, medicine, beds, etc…

-Lauren Stephens

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in core values, information, missions, social justice, theology | 1 Comment »



point/counterpoint week 4: politics audio Posted by Ryan Byrd 05.06.2010 5:58 pm

point/counterpoint

this past sunday, we wrapped up a series called point/counterpoint. in it, we tackled some hotly-debated topics: homosexuality, the death penalty, war and politics. the format consisted of two speakers who presented opposing viewpoints of a topic. each speaker used the bible as their primary starting point to present their viewpoint. ultimately, our goal wasn’t to “tell you the answers”, but to present two thought-out, bible-centric options to guide your own thinking. it wasn’t a debate or an argument or a one-up kind of thing, but rather, a healthy, balanced presentation of the issues.

this past sunday, two speakers engaged in a great conversation about politics. the basic premise was whether or not the core values of jesus were more compatible with democratic values or republican values. presenting the democratic point-of-view was r street community church pastor mark currey and presenting the republican stance was our very own derek blaylock.

the conversation was really great and, at minimum, got a lot of people thinking, examining their inherent viewpoints and engaging in conversations after the gathering. i was glad we got to hear from two intelligent, well spoken people like mark and derek.

as mentioned previously, we hope to have our podcast up and running very soon, but in the meantime, we thought we’d just post it here. you can listen to it in the player or you can download it by clicking here.

if you’ve been looking for an opportunity to come hang out with us at eikon, there’s a great chance to do it in the coming weeks. this coming sunday (may 9), we’ll be talking about biblical egalitarianism in honor of mother’s day. the following week (may 16), we’re really excited to be kicking off a brand new series called prose: writing the story of community. you can find more about that series by clicking here.

hope to see you soon!

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in core values, gatherings, information, leadership, theology, worship | 2 Comments »



tell me the story: announcing our upcoming series ‘prose’ Posted by Ryan Byrd 05.03.2010 8:03 am

prose sermon series

where did you come from? what made you the person you are now? who shaped you? what life circumstances deeply molded your worldviews? what moments of crisis made you reorder the world around you? how have you wrestled with spirituality and truth and this whole god thing?

simply put, what is your story?

we’re very excited to announce that our upcoming series, prose: writing the story of community, asks this very question. what is your story?

beginning may 16, we’ll begin to hear the stories of not only the people who are a part of this faith community called eikon, but the bigger community of little rock. each week, we’ll hear the stories of 2 or 3 different people. we’ll discover where they came from, what has shaped them, how faith has impacted their stories and many other questions.

in addition, we’ll be compiling written pieces each week that will be distributed as booklets that contain both artwork & writing. throughout the series, we’ll be asking both our speakers and any others to submit art and written pieces to be a part of the booklets. we’ll give more details about how to submit pieces in the next several days.

so, mark your calendars and do your best to join us for this series. we’re convinced that people connect better with each other and with god when we learn the stories of others. so, see you on may 16!

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in announcements, art, core values, events, gatherings, information, photography, theology, worship | 1 Comment »



point/counterpoint week 3: war audio Posted by Ryan Byrd 04.29.2010 8:04 am

point/counterpoint

a couple weeks ago, we kicked off our new series called point/counterpoint. in it, we’re tackling some hotly-debated topics: homosexuality, the death penalty, war and politics. the format consists of two speakers who present opposing viewpoints of a topic. each speaker uses the bible as their primary starting point to present their viewpoint. ultimately, our goal isn’t to “tell you the answers”, but to present two thought-out, bible-centric options to guide your own thinking. it isn’t a debate or an argument or a one-up kind of thing, but rather, a healthy, balanced presentation of the issues.

once again this past sunday, two speakers engaged in a great conversation about war. on the affirmative side of the the issue was brent buie and on the oppositional side was tad delay.

the conversation was really great and, at minimum, got a lot of people thinking, examining their inherent viewpoints and engaging in conversations after the gathering. i was glad we got to hear from two intelligent, well spoken people like brent and tad.

as mentioned previously, we hope to have our podcast up and running very soon, but in the meantime, we thought we’d just post it here. you can listen to it in the player or you can download it by clicking here.

so, if you missed this past sunday, there’s always this week! we’ll be engaging a conversation about politics. specifically, our speakers will be exploring whether or not the most important values of jesus are more compatible with republican values or democratic values. it should be fun, needless to say. :) as always, we meet at 6 pm on sunday nights at the r street community church’s building (more info). see you there!

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in core values, gatherings, information, leadership, theology, worship | No Comments »



point/counterpoint week 2: death penalty audio Posted by Ryan Byrd 04.21.2010 7:57 am

point/counterpoint

last week, we kicked off our new series called point/counterpoint. in it, we’re tackling some hotly-debated topics: homosexuality, the death penalty, war and politics. the format consists of two speakers who present opposing viewpoints of a topic. each speaker uses the bible as their primary starting point to present their viewpoint. ultimately, our goal isn’t to “tell you the answers”, but to present two thought-out, bible-centric options to guide your own thinking. it isn’t a debate or an argument or a one-up kind of thing, but rather, a healthy, balanced presentation of the issues.

sunday, two speakers engaged in a great conversation about the death penalty. on the affirmative side of the the issue was chris abrams, a husband/father/christian from north little rock, and on the oppositional side was me (ryan byrd).

the conversation was really great and, at minimum, got a lot of people thinking, examining their inherent viewpoints and engaging in conversations after the gathering. i was glad to engage with an intelligent, well spoken person like chris and we were all able to engage in a helpful question-and-answer time.

we hope to have our podcast up and running very soon, but in the meantime, we thought we’d just post it here. you can listen to it in the player or you can download it by clicking here.

our apologies for the poor sound quality. at the last second, we had some technical glitches with our sound board and it led to unfortunately low volumes.

so, if you missed this past sunday, there’s always this week! we’ll be engaging a conversation about what the bible says about war. as always, we meet at 6 pm on sunday nights at the r street community church’s building (more info). see you there!

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in core values, gatherings, information, leadership, theology, worship | No Comments »



point/counterpoint week 1: homosexuality audio Posted by Ryan Byrd 04.14.2010 8:07 am

point/counterpoint

a few days ago, we kicked off our new series called point/counterpoint. in it, we’re tackling some hotly-debated topics: homosexuality, the death penalty, war and politics. the format consists of two speakers who present opposing viewpoints of a topic. each speaker uses the bible as their primary starting point to present their viewpoint. ultimately, our goal isn’t to “tell you the answers”, but to present two thought-out, bible-centric options to guide your own thinking. it isn’t a debate or an argument or a one-up kind of thing, but rather, a healthy, balanced presentation of the issues.

sunday, two speakers launched the series with a great conversation about homosexuality. on the “traditional” side of the the issue was todd erickson, an eikon regular, and on the biblically-affirming side was randy mccain, pastor of open door community church.

the conversation was really great and, at minimum, got a lot of people thinking, examining their inherent viewpoints and engaging in conversations after the gathering. both speakers were incredibly well spoken and we were all able to engage in a helpful question-and-answer time.

we hope to have our podcast up and running very soon, but in the meantime, we thought we’d just post it here.

so, if you missed this past sunday, there’s always this week! we’ll be engaging a conversation about what the bible says about the death penalty. as always, we meet at 6 pm on sunday nights at the r street community church’s building (more info). see you there!

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in core values, gatherings, information, leadership, theology, worship | No Comments »



« Older Entries