several days ago we made the exciting announcement that this coming sunday, february 14, we’ll be kicking off weekly gatherings. we’ll begin this new phase of our community with a series called confessional booth that will take a look at the guiding theologies of our church. think eikon meets postsecret. it should be a really great time to learn about this thing called eikon and connect with a new faith community.

as promised, we’ve got a few new details to share between now and then and this is the biggest. we’re incredibly excited to announce that after meeting in temporary spaces for the past several months, we have a new, (semi-)permanent home. since the inception of eikon in mid-2009, we’ve built a relationship with r street community church and have begun the process of finding ways to build partnerships with them in order to better connect with little rock. so, just as any other good friend does, r street is letting crash on their proverbial couch for a little while. :)

so, beginning this sunday, our new meeting space will be at r street community church’s building, located on the corner of r st. and university ave. in the midtown/heights area. it will be more than sufficient for our growing community and should be a great space until we transition into our own space in the late summer/early fall.

one of the things we’re particularly excited about with this new space is the fully functional children’s areas. whereas we’ve been limited with our childrens’ activities due to our previous meeting spaces, this new space will allow for us to begin to fully realize our commitment to families with children. so, if you have children, know that your child(ren) will have a space committed to them with competent and caring workers.

we’d love for you to partner with us in getting the word out and making this a big night. so, feel free to forward this blog post on to friends, twitter it, post it on facebook or—as crazy as this sounds—have an actual real life conversation with friends and coworkers. :)

see you on sunday, february 14 at 6 p.m. for confessional booth!

EDITORIAL NOTE: A few weeks ago, immediately after news of the earthquake, I posted a roundup of various ways to contribute financially to some of the prominent causes and relief organizations. Those things are certainly still viable and you can find them here. The following post offers more local means of helping.

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It has been three weeks since Haiti was tragically struck by that terrible earthquake. Celebrities have raised money and awareness, organizations have worked tirelessly, people have given their resources generously, and churches have trafficked children (alright, bad joke…maybe). However, there is still a lot of work that needs to be done, and some of it is being done by Central Arkansans.

Local businesses M2 Gallery, Capi’s Restaurant and others have organized Relief on the Ridge: A Benefit for the Red Cross Haiti Fund. The event is Thursday, February 4th from 6:00PM-9:00PM at the Pleasant Ridge Shopping Center. (Map here.) Live bands, great food, silent auctions, important cause.

Also, a friend of some Eikon folks, Thomas Hudson, is currently on his second trip to Jacmel, Haiti to help with cleanup, volunteer organizing and every other thing he can possibly do until he wears himself completely out. Thomas helped collect crucial medicines, tents and countless other supplies, loaded them on a boat in Miami and set sail for Haiti on Saturday. His last Facebook status writes: “We are MILES out at sea, and I still have cell service!!! Due to reports of piracy at sea between Haiti and Cuba, we are sailing around the DR to Jacmel (Haiti).”

He is prepared to stay down there for a while and even make more trips over the coming weeks and months, but he is doing it at his own expense. The bottom line is the more money he can raise, the more trips he can make. He and his team are literally performing life-saving work. 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 contribute through Eikon, simply write a check to Eikon Church and in the memo line put Thomas Hudson – Haiti. *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

Please let me know ASAP at john@eikonthechurch.com the amount you would like to contribute. Eikon will cover the cost of those contributions until your check arrives. This is truly a great chance to serve.

last june, this thing called eikon kicked off, publicly, with a little cookout with some burgers, some beers and a handful of sorted people. since that time, we’ve connected with new friends and grown over the course of informational meetings, guided conversations and, over the last few months, a handful of worship gatherings. in just the last 6 or 7 months, we’ve come a long way in the initial phases of forming this thing we call a church.

now, we’re incredibly excited to share with everyone that we’ve reached the next step in the process of fleshing out our growing community. on sunday, february 14, we’ll take a big step forward by kicking off weekly gatherings. as mentioned, so far we’ve had worship gatherings every few weeks, but now, we’re ready to move to something more regular that will help to foster a more fluid community.

along with the announcement of moving to weekly gatherings, we’re also excited to announce that we’ll be kicking things off with a 6-week series called confessional booth. one of our deepest convictions at eikon is that the church—in the universal sense—has certainly made innumerable positive contributions to the world, but we’ve also helped to create quite a bit of warranted mistrust, division and disbelief (among other things). throughout this series, we want to take the opportunity to address and confess some of these shortcomings and dream together about some ideas that will hopefully help to chart a new course. no doubt, we at eikon will do our fair share of screwing things up, getting things wrong and even adding to the problem at times, but we hope, throughout the themes of the series, to share our values that offer an alternative to those missteps.

as opposed to the typical scenario where the “congregant” confesses to a clergy member, the thrust of our series will be us confessing to you. we want to be honest and offer a sense of humility as we talk frankly and openly. at the same time, we’re excited to offer everyone a chance to bear their soul a little. now, we’re not going to have an actual confessional booth or some kind of awkward moment where we call people out, but we think we’ve come up with some creative ways to “come clean”. think confessional meets postsecret. that’s the idea, so we hope you come out to experience it!

over the next several days, we’ll trickle out some other helpful details, so be sure to check back regularly. throughout this and upcoming related announcements, the general theme—in the end—is that we’re incredibly excited and we would really love for you to be a part of this important time for our growing community.

we’d love for you to partner with us in getting the word out and making this a big night. so, feel free to forward this blog post on to friends, twitter it, post it on facebook or—as crazy as this sounds—have an actual real life conversation with friends and coworkers. :)

see you on sunday, february 14 for confessional booth!

last night, many of you attended our worship gathering at sticky fingerz and helped to make it a big success! we had a great time and we hope you did as well.

certainly, there were plenty of places where things didn’t go as planned or that we would have loved to have a re-do, but all in all, we were well pleased. to ensure that we make it the best we possibly can, we ask you to sacrifice just a few minutes of your time and fill out this evaluation. it will greatly help us to improve these types of gatherings and provide a better experience for everyone.

**also, as a sidenote, we have what is likely our biggest announcement to date coming up by day’s end or first thing tomorrow morning. so, make a point to check back soon as we’re really excited to share it with you!**

thanks in advance!!

a couple weeks ago, we gathered, once again, to worship together at sticky fingerz. all in all, we had a great time of connecting, continuing to build community and engaging in a great conversation. through this series of gatherings called CONNECT, we’ve looked at the various ways that eikon is looking to focus on and build connections. we’ve looked at our focus on connecting with our city and connecting with each other and now we hope to add another layer.

so, we’re excited to announce CONNECT: an eikon worship gathering. on sunday, january 31 at 6:00 pm, we’ll be gathering, once again, at sticky fingerz (see map here).

for those who have joined us at our past worship gatherings, you’ll notice we’ve expressed ourselves in a number of ways including the following: engaging in conversation, singing, listening, sharing stories, praying, eating, drinking, watching, hearing, thinking and, ultimately, connecting with god and each other. one of our values in regards to our gatherings is that we want to create a sense of familiarity, but not predictability. so, for this gathering, while you’ll notice many of the same elements as those in the past, we will certainly be employing some new modes of expression and connection. in the end, we think everyone will find something in which they can connect with both god and each other.

as with our other gatherings, we’re excited to once again offer free, quality childcare. we’ll have some more info very soon here on the blog about childcare and how you can RSVP your children for those services.

so, mark your calendars, invite some friends, retweet this, put it on facebook. this should be an incredible night to CONNECT with both god and each other.

see you on sunday, the 31st at sticky fingerz!

this sunday night, we’ll once again be gathering for a time of worship at sticky fingerz. if so inclined, you can find all the details here. much like our other gatherings, we’re excited to once again offer free, quality childcare.

since our worship gathering will be at sticky fingerz, the space won’t lend itself to onsite childcare. fortunately, though, our (ryan & christen’s) house is only 5 minutes from the venue, so we’ll be hosting the childcare in our home (google maps link).

having our own children and understanding parents’ concerns, we are committed to having quality, competent care in a clean, child-friendly space. so, a qualified (trained with background checks) worker will be taking care of the children. if you have any questions about our home or the type of care your children will receive, please feel free to contact me at 501.551.8118 or christen at 501.551.8117.

we ask that you drop your children off at our home between 5:30 and 5:50 pm (at the very latest) and pick them up within 30 minutes of the gathering ending. we ask that anything you bring—diaper bags, bottles, food containers, pacifiers, etc—be clearly marked with your child’s name.

an RSVP email is required for attendance. using the form on our contact page, please include the following information:

1. primary parental contact name
2. children’s name(s) and age(s)
3. parent/guardian phone number

address

see you sunday night!

By now each of us has surely heard of the tragic earthquake that struck the island of Haiti on January 12th. It measured a whopping 7.0 on the Richter scale and has left death, destruction and sheer desperation in its wake. Death toll estimates are ranging from 50,000 people to a few hundred thousand and the number of injured will certainly dwarf that. This would be devastating to even the richest of nations, but the devastation is amplified in what is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.

Rather than spend time waxing (un)poetic about pacts Haitians made with the devil, it’s imperative that Eikon and other faith groups be part of the solution. There is something that each of us can do.

Most of us are not in a position to physically go to Haiti to offer assistance. If anyone is interested in that, let me (John) know and I’ll track down a contact that can get you set up. For the rest of us, the best thing to do in situations like this is get as much money as possible to good organizations that are supplying life-saving materials and services.

As usual, the American Red Cross is doing an incredible job. They have used new communications and media to make it ridiculously easy to give. Simply text Haiti to 90999 and $10 (which will show up on your next phone bill) will be given to the organization. Maybe it’s not the $1 million that Brad and Angelina gave, but those texts have collectively added up to over $4 million.

Also, Haiti native and incredibly talented musician Wyclef Jean is working tirelessly to raise money and support through his organization Yele. You can give $5 to them by texting 501501.

On a local level, Boulevard Bread is giving 50% of today’s (1/14) profits to Haitian relief and The House restaurant is donating 100% of today’s (1/14) net profit. So, go have a meal and know that the money is going to great food and a great cause. Despite the fact that they aren’t—as self-described—”traditional first responders”, local organization Heifer International has issued an emergency appeal for funds.

There are literally dozens of organizations providing crucial assistance, and many of them have dozens of ways in which you can contribute. The most comprehensive clearinghouse I have found is at the Huffington Post here.

Eikon is sending a donation to Doctors Without Borders, but we also encourage you to find some way to contribute individually. Please share your thoughts about how we as a body can do more. Additionally, if there is a local organization providing relief that you feel strongly about, let us know and we will get the word out.

Finally, let’s keep these beautiful and shattered people in our thoughts and prayers.

Orthodox or “Monodox” (Keith Ward’s word)? Orthodoxy=right beliefs: Monodoxy=1 belief, 1 right way to believe, only 1 set of true beliefs.

intriguing.

his thoughts were particularly engaging to me because i think they point to a value of eikon that’s worth exploring. as we’re still in the initial phases of development and growth, we have a lot of people seeking information about what kind of community eikon is and will become. as a part of this process and as people begin to join us at our various gatherings, we get a wide range of commentary like the following:

you guys aren’t very churchy.
you guys are more churchy than i expected.
i can’t really pin down what eikon believes.
eikon seems to be pretty narrow in its beliefs.

in other words, everyone has their own particular perspective and set of presuppositions which lends itself to seeing something very different than the next person. i think a part of this comes from, ultimately, the fact that we’re a little more fluid in the way we define our set of “truths” or hard-and-fast standard of so-called orthodoxy.

don’t get me wrong, we certainly have a series of “guiding theologies” that help to bring some cohesion to our community and shape the way we interact with each other and make decisions as leaders. these things are at the core of what it means to be a part of this faith community, but we’re careful to distinguish—as len sweet points out—between “orthodoxy” and “monodoxy”.

without going into tangential detail, we’re a little leary of a word like “orthodoxy” because it’s simultaneously broad and narrow. on one hand, it encompasses so many things to so many different people. “orthodoxy” to those in the roman catholic tradition might be heresy to those in the pentecostal tradition (or vice versa). on the other hand, “orthodoxy” can be seen as a very narrow window of beliefs that disallows a robust conversation about ideas and theologies. ultimately, though, i think what len sweet is getting at is simply some kind of shared beliefs that help to garner a cohesive theological conversation.

on the other hand, though, his suggestion (as i see it) that “monodoxy” is a dangerous element within the church is one we most certainly share. whereas, again, we have a set of theologies that help to communicate the vision for our community, a key theme of those theologies is that there’s room for a wide variety of interpretations of those values. when we say that our most fundamental guiding theology is the centrality of jesus, the question, naturally, that we’ve received from people is, “which jesus are you talking about?” the jesus who wept over the death of a friend or the jesus who used a whip to clear out the temple money collectors? certainly, one’s way of viewing jesus can be fundamentally different than the next person without straying away from a shared sense of “orthodoxy”. this, though, isn’t true with the concept of “monodoxy.’

monodoxy insists that there is only one view of jesus and if one strays from that singular viewpoint, then they have violated a sacred sense of “rightness”. if you worked your way through our list of guiding theologies, you could use any as an example. take ’scripture.’ for many, scripture is the inerrant, infallible word of god. for many others, though, there’s a sense of “limited inerrancy”, which is a nuanced version of the preceding view of scripture. both of these views can certainly fall in line with an orthodox understanding of bibliology, but would certainly violate the singularity of one’s monodoxy.

ultimately, the point i’m getting at is that we certainly have overarching shared beliefs that characterize our faith community, but never want to be guilty of monodoxy. we have room for a variety of beliefs about god (or even lack of beliefs about god). we hope eikon can be a place where people don’t have to agree, but can engage in a conversation that leads to mutual understanding and growth. we absolutely hope to make jesus known and guide people in living in a way that resembles the life and person of christ, but we think there’s a bigger conversation involved with that than just a singular angle or a narrow monodoxy.

so, we’re currently in the process of adding voices to this community called eikon. there’s certainly room at the table for you and the perspectives you bring. we hope to both connect with and learn from you soon.

over the course of the last 6 months, we’ve begun the process of the actual physical formation of eikon. we’ve had an incredible response and we’ve been able to connect with so many different kinds of people that we would have never guessed. over the last couple months, we’ve offered people a chance to marry their verbal intentions with a physical means of carrying them out. that process has been called the START team. in essence, it’s just a group of volunteer people who have committed to learning more about eikon and taking an active role in the start of the church.

with the dawn of 2010 (twenty-ten or two thousand ten??), we’re turning a corner in terms of the nature of the START team. whereas we’ve spent our previous sessions dealing with the theoretical aspects of eikon (i.e. why? what? who? when? etc.) and have asked for an initial, concrete commitment, we’re now asking others to join with us in the pragmatic aspect of forming a new community. what that ultimately means is mobilizing people to just do stuff. all kinds of stuff: offer further insights, seal envelopes, move chairs, fold handouts, design graphic pieces, do photography, shake hands, be a smiling face…just stuff. with the official start day (regular, weekly gatherings) for eikon coming in mid-february (be on the lookout for some more clues on that very soon), we’ve got plenty of stuff to do. and that ultimately means that we need some more helping hands. we need you! (see, i used an exclamation point to tell you that…so it must be important! see, there’s another one…)

UPCOMING MEETINGS

we’ll have 3 meetings in january (and likely 1 in february), so we’d love for anyone and everyone to be a part of those. the first one was this past sunday and we’ll be having another this sunday night, january 10. at 6 p.m., we’ll gather at john and shannon hardin’s home once again (see map here), so it will be a very casual environment. we’ll build in some time for drinks and a light dinner, so you’ll have a chance to catch up and hang out a little. also, we’ll be offering childcare on location, so feel free to bring the kids (if you plan to bring children, please drop us a note letting us know asap).

if you have any additional questions, feel free to shoot us an email at info [at] eikonthechurch [dot] com or leave a comment. see you sunday night!

there are quite a few observations i could make, but, ultimately, none would be fully adequate to describe the great time we had. all in all, i think my overwhelming observation is how many people i saw myself in. i don’t mean people just resembled me or had similar characteristics, but it’s more to say that the stigma of dirty, drug-addicted, crazed people on the streets simply isn’t true. literally 99% of the people at the shelter were just regular people like you and me. connected to that observation is also the thought that, with a couple different decisions in my life, i could easily be the one finding a cot on the gym floor instead of the people i was serving. undoubtedly, i could see myself in the people we served.

ultimately, what i’m getting at is the invitation for you to share in the experience i just described. whereas we—formally, as a church—served dinner last night, there are still a huge need for volunteers. one of our people, libby delay, is the volunteer coordinator for the shelter and she has expressed the need for many more volunteers, with jobs ranging from clean-up to security to just people who are there to have conversations and be a friend. here’s a schedule with shifts:

friday
midnight-8am: need 8 volunteers
8am-4pm: need 8 volunteers
4pm-midnight: need 8 volunteers

saturday
midnight-8am: need 8 volunteers
8am-4pm: need 7 volunteers
4pm-midnight: need 8 volunteers

sunday
midnight-8am: need 8 volunteers
8am-4pm: need 8 volunteers
4pm-midnight: need 8 volunteers

monday
midnight-8am: need 8 volunteers
8am-4pm: need 8 volunteers

so, if you feel compelled to lend a helping hand, give libby a call at 501.773.9093.

finally, i wanted to take a minute to specifically mention a few people who were instrumental in pulling together last night’s dinner. first, a big thanks to my wife, christen byrd. she took the reigns early and organized quite a bit up front. also, as always, john hardin, our community leader, stepped up and was a big piece of why this came together smoothly. despite the fact that she wasn’t working in an “official eikon capacity”, libby delay has done an amazing job and put in a lot of sacrificial hours. bradley phillips, traci berry, cara beth buie and kimberly roth helped us serve food. we also had several people take their time and energy to cook pots of soup including kat hills, amanda morgan, kyran pittman, denise brockinton, bekah caraway, keely kaffenberger and cathy dean. i’m sure i missed some people, so my apologies if i missed you!

thanks to everyone for a great night of connecting with some people here in little rock that we might not otherwise.