Eikon Church - Little Rock, AR

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home sweet home: announcing our new meeting space Posted by Ryan Byrd 02.08.2010 8:54 am

confessional booth

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!

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Posted in announcements, childcare, core values, gatherings, information, worship | 4 Comments »



local ways to help our friends in haiti Posted by John Hardin 02.02.2010 4:14 pm

haiti relief

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.

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Posted in core values, information, social justice, theology | No Comments »



i do confess: our biggest announcement yet Posted by Ryan Byrd 02.02.2010 8:47 am

confessional booth

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!

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Posted in announcements, core values, events, gatherings, information, theology, worship | 2 Comments »



one more chance to CONNECT Posted by Ryan Byrd 01.26.2010 7:45 am

connect an eikon worship gathering

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!

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Posted in announcements, events, gatherings, information, worship | 2 Comments »



RSVP: worship gathering childcare Posted by Ryan Byrd 01.15.2010 6:13 pm

connect an eikon worship gathering

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!

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Posted in announcements, childcare, events, gatherings, information, worship | 1 Comment »



homeless shelter update & call for volunteers Posted by Ryan Byrd 01.08.2010 8:15 am

last night, our community had the privilege of serving dinner and getting to know a group of homeless people at the emergency homeless shelter organized by the city of little rock (you may have read about it in our previous post). we had a great time and it was good to help out a group of people who aren’t just “homeless people”, but fellow citizens of our city. we experienced a lot of grateful people who were happy to eat a homemade bowl of soup and escape the bitter cold for the 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.

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Posted in core values, food, volunteer | 1 Comment »



an urgent call to be jesus to our city Posted by John Hardin 01.06.2010 5:56 pm

There are times when saying lives are at stake is not hyperbole. This is certainly one of those. There are people in imminent danger of freezing to death on the streets of Little Rock in the next few days and our community has the opportunity to do something about it. The City of Little Rock is opening an emergency shelter at 2500 East 6th Street in the Nathaniel Hill Community Complex. However, they are relying on the community to staff the shelter with volunteers and provide meals, bedding and other essentials for the people staying there.

Eikon is providing soup for the 80 or so hungry mouths tomorrow (Thursday) evening, but we really need some help. The most immediate need we have is about 10 pots of soup; so far we have commitments for 4. It doesn’t need to be anything fancy, but it should be hearty. Please call Christen at 501.551.8117 to let her know if you’re willing to throw a pot together.

Dinner will be served at 5:30 pm tomorrow, so the soup will need to be there at 5:15. We need at least 6 people willing to serve it. If you want to cook but cannot deliver it at that time, you are welcome to take it to take it to Ryan & Christen’s house tomorrow (here’s a map). Call Christen to make arrangements. Additionally, you can call me (John) at 501.319.5363 to make arrangements for me to pick it up from you wherever you’re at.

The shelter is also in dire need of volunteers to get them through the weekend. If you can give some time this weekend, please call Libby DeLay at 501.773.9093 to let her know when you can be there. We also need towels, pillows and bedding. Contact us at any of the numbers above if you wish to provide those items.

This is a tangible opportunity to show the love and compassion that are central to the teachings of Jesus and central to the heart of what Eikon is all about. Ultimately, there can be no real of understanding of Jesus without believing that serving these folks is not just our obligation, but our sincere privilege.

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Posted in core values, food | 4 Comments »



announcing CONNECT: an eikon worship gathering Posted by Ryan Byrd 01.06.2010 8:45 am

connect an eikon worship gathering

avoiding all cliché, 2009 was a great year for eikon and we’ve got a decent feeling that 2010 is going to be even better. over the last several months of the past year, we connected several times for worship gatherings, concluding the year with a shared time of advent. as we forge ahead in the new year, we have a whole new slate of gatherings to help foster our ever-growing community.

we’re excited to announce CONNECT: an eikon worship gathering. on sunday, january 17 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. namely, this gathering will be much more conversational and talkback-driven.

along with the commitment of avoiding the creation of a rut, another value is that our times of worship don’t center around a single person or a single way of engaging in worship. often, the church has rallied around a singular “climax” to the service: the sermon. whereas we absolutely believe that the sermon can be transformative and deeply engaging, we want to also let the voices of our community be heard and shared on a regular basis. so, we’re excited to offer a time of voluntary feedback and idea-sharing. through a guided conversation, we’ll connect in a shared time of insight and reflection on god and what it means to engage in this thing called community.

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 17th at sticky fingerz!

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Posted in announcements, core values, events, gatherings, information, music, worship | 6 Comments »



altView: a series in review Posted by Ryan Byrd 12.23.2009 5:37 pm

altView

several months ago, i had the idea to let people hear the voices of various people in our ever-blossoming faith community. that idea became a tangible reality just over a month ago with the introduction of the series altView. personally, it’s been a great chance to further hear the stories of faith (and sometimes, non-faith) from the people i’ve come to know over the last several months. for others, as feedback in both conversation and comments, it’s been a time to see the breadth of points-of-view from a all kinds of people in all kinds of life situations.

in my intro to the series, i wrote the following,

there will be no filters and no agendas. these aren’t sales pitches for eikon. they aren’t a bunch of “come to jesus” posts, attempting to convert the masses. i’ve simply invited a cross section of our community—representing various points-of-view and levels of faith commitments—to share what’s significant to them. maybe it’s an issue or cause about which they’re passionate. maybe it’s a significant place in their life where faith came to the forefront. maybe it’s the point they decided, “i’m through with church.” maybe it’s the point they decided, “i need the church.” it’s really wide open.

i hope that’s what has transpired. i think it is. unfiltered. without agenda. and beautiful. and sometimes ugly. and sometimes scary. and sometimes doubtful.

before beginning the series, a pastor friend warned that doing this could lead to people “speaking on behalf” of our church. he warned that people—if unfiltered—could say things that could turn other people off and give the wrong impression if it didn’t represent “orthodox theology.” their point-of-view might contradict my point-of-view as the leader and visionary for the church.

my pastor friend was exactly right.

and that’s why i chose to do it.

one of the values of both altView and eikon in general, is that people are the church. not one man. not one pastor. not just the pastors and leaders. it’s people. it’s the collective conversation of a community of people who bring to the table their experiences and their hopes and their sensibilities and their deepest doubts and their most hidden insecurities and their most valued thoughts about god and the world.

eikon church isn’t ryan byrd. it’s a community of views. of alternative views that describe god and the world around us. sometimes they look like what you’ve heard your whole life. and sometimes they look like the buddhist philosophy of loving-kindness. and sometimes they look like a nebulizer. but they’re always representative of the collective conversation of people engaged in a community that is about pursuing the way of a man named jesus.

i hope you’ve enjoyed this series. this isn’t the last time you’ve heard from some or all of these people and some people you haven’t heard yet.

we will continue to grow with a myriad of altViews. some you will agree with. some you will not. some you will be deeply touched by. and some you will find dissonant from your experience. some will resonate so powerfully within you that you will be moved to action. and some will make you question yourself so intensely that you will be frozen for a moment until you sort out your feelings.

so, as we prepare to enter a new year that is sure to be a huge year for our community, we invite you to share your altView. it may not be here on a blog or written down somewhere, but we certainly invite you to the reality of our ongoing conversation in this thing called eikon.

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Posted in altview, blog stuff, core values, information, leadership, theology | 1 Comment »



modVent evaluation form Posted by Ryan Byrd 12.15.2009 8:16 am

modvent an eikon advent gathering

sunday night, many of you attended our modVent worship gathering 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.

thanks in advance!!

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Posted in gatherings, information | 1 Comment »



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