By Bob (Can you say Bob?) Bowen

[photopress:bob_bowen_bw.jpg,thumb,alignleft]Ten weeks ago Pam Hogeweide wrote Off The Map to protest her perception of the costs and self-promoting associated with the Generous Orthodoxy conferences. She unsubscribed from our monthly newsletter. I engaged in a dialog with Pam and as a result, she agreed to be our guest at the Seattle Generous Orthodoxy Event. She agreed to come to the conference with an open mind and I agreed to keep Off The Map’s promise that we are not like any other conference that she would attend. Pam attended the Seattle Generous Orthodoxy conference and I followed up with her this week about her thoughts regarding the conference and if she would consider re-subscribing. BTW – Although Pam may not read the Idealab she has been willing to write several articles for us. The most recent article “Why does church feel so empty” has been our all time most discussed piece.

Pam, based on everything we talked about leading up to the event, what were your expectations heading into the event?

Let me start off by saying thank you again for having me as your guest. I was a bit nervous about how you guys at Off the Map would receive me. When I first got there I kind of hid my nametag as I scouted the place out. I wasn’t sure what to expect. But I felt relaxed very quickly and soon stopped hiding my nametag.

I didn’t have a lot of expectations for the conference itself. I tried not to anticipate anything, but to keep an open mind.

I did, however, expect a lot of sales pitches to buy books and self-promoting to go on. I don’t go to conferences very often, but honestly that’s what I’ve usually experienced. But that didn’t happen at the G.O. conference. Instead, OTM folks were giving reviews of different books that they had read, not written – and I am not even sure if those particular books were even for sale at the conference – but it wasn’t self-promoting or even salesmanship. Even Brian McLaren didn’t promote his book, A Genereous Orthodoxy, which I thought for sure he would, since his book was the conference’s namesake.

I was also expecting a love offering. I haven’t gone to many conferences, but there is always, always at least one offering. I have to say that was refreshing to have this missing from the G.O. conference: especially since I thought the ticket price was too high. I’m glad this expectation was not realized.

I did expect to be challenged about what it means to follow Christ and I was. This was good – I like to be challenged.

What were your initial impressions as the event kicked off?
Deborah Loyd was the first speaker. As she told her story she used some four-letter words. I have been a Christian for a long time and I have never heard someone use the real language of real life, like swearing, when talking about their relationship with Jesus from the platform. I fell in love with her straight away. Just the week before, my husband had said, “I wish we could find a church where you can say f**k.” So this got my attention. Not because I get my thrills from four-letter words, but rather it demonstrated an atmosphere of freedom. Some might be offended by swearing, but for me, I could relate to it. Sometimes I cuss when I tell my stories, too.

Besides Deborah and her husband Ken cussing, I also noticed right away all the techno stuff going on, the laptops and wi-fi and so on. That was cool. I wished I had wi-fi so I could have I.M’ed. Jim a corny joke while he was on stage doing his thing with his laptop.

I have to say, I realized quickly that you guys kept your sessions fairly short. The speakers didn’t ramble on since they had only a little time to make their point. They each did that very well, particularly Brian McLaren. He said so much in such a concise way. Everything kept moving along. I liked the quick pace of the sessions. It kept my mind focused. I guess I’m part of the Short-Attention Span Generation.

Were your expectations met, missed, exceeded?
You know, I really wasn’t sure what to expect, but I have to say that the casual atmosphere was very disarming. The interaction of the audience with the speakers was great. I think this helped to create a kind of intimacy in the sessions, not deep or anything, of course, but it shortened the distance of the person on the platform talking to me who was sitting in the audience. I liked that a lot. It had that whole living room-café feeling going on.

The variety of live music was a great treat as well. Instead of one worship ensemble there were three different kinds of bands, each with a distinctive, amazing sound. I loved them all.

I noticed that there was a wide range of topics in the workshops, like sessions on Christians and environmentalism, or U2’s theology (I didn’t even know they had one) and Joe Myers’ session on Organic Community about small groups and why they don’t work. His workshop alone was worth the three hour drive from Portland – that and also hearing Deborah cuss from the platform!

I want to also say that the Gay Forum completely engaged my attention. I thought it was going to be some kind of free-for-all pseudo debate disguised as an interactive dialogue between speakers and the audience. Instead, I listened to two young, gay men tell about their lives with humbling transparency. When one of them was asked what message would he give Christians about what it is to be gay his answer was, “Just listen.” So simple and heartfelt (fragment). I also resonated very much with Jason (the Christian, straight guy who also was on the Gay Forum) when he said, “I really want to honor gay people.” I wrote that down in my Off the Map Official Blank Book I was given at registration. This affirmed my belief that I want to accept and love gay people and trust God to work out the details of their sexuality when they come to Christ. I’m so glad people didn’t try to sort out my sex life when I was in the process of coming to Christ.

What was the one “big idea” that you took away from the event?
Well, really, it’s the vision of Off the Map that solidified inside of me more. The idea that we can share the love of Jesus with others in our everyday lives in all kinds of ordinary ways. I think Jim called it “Seinfeld Evangelism”. Also, what Dave talked about, the vision for otherliness, what he defined as “practicing the art of being unusually interested in others”(fragment). I thought about this just today when I was at Powell’s bookstore in downtown Portland, one of my favorite places to go. As I left the store, I got in a conversation with a man about his dog, both who had parked themselves outside Powell’s front door on the sidewalk. He just started talking to me about his dog and how the companionship of this pet literally changed his life. As he spoke, I realized that his dog had been a gift from God to him. When I told him, “God must love you a whole lot to give you such a special dog”, his whole face lit up. For the next several minutes he described his thankfulness to God and how he prays everyday, grateful that he is living sober and clean, all because of a dog. We didn’t have a very long conversation. I didn’t quote any scriptures to him or even invite him to church. As I said good-bye to him, after shaking his hand and finding out his name (which is Gordon), I walked away thinking about Off the Map’s vision of helping people like me discover the love of Jesus in otherliness, not to miss it or despise it. I’ve done that a lot, for years, despised my weak attempts at communicating who God is with others. The Big Idea that I took away from this conference is to not despise the simple acts of kindness I can show others, but to instead discover Jesus in them. Jim said at his “Doable Evangelism” workshop that we need to learn how to measure our evangelism differently. This is a liberating concept for me.

Did anything make you laugh?
Yes, Jim Henderson made me laugh. A lot. A whole lot. He is hilarious, especially when he is trying to pronounce my last name.

Did anything that was said make you scratch your head and go “hmmm”??

I don’t remember anything being said that stumped me. Yet I have to say I was puzzled that there wasn’t very much time given to worship. David Ruis was such a powerhouse of a worship musician and only two songs in his set? Huh? Also the other groups, Harp 46 and Restoration Project, their music was so inspiring. I wanted to worship longer. I know the sessions were packed out and it was fast-paced. Still, I longed for more time to worship God.

Did anything that was presented help you with your disillusionment of the church?
Yes, that I am not the only one who does not function well in the typical home-group. Joe’s session on Organic Community was comforting and validating. My husband and I have gone through four small groups in the past 3 years. This is unprecedented in our marriage of 17 years and I have wondered what is wrong with us. How come we are not connecting to others in the home-groups we have attended? Isn’t that the answer to friendship and fellowship when you attend a large church like we do? I honestly have thought, “It’s just us. We must be too picky.” Listening to Joe’s analogy of painted number sets versus creative artistic expressions as a metaphor about programs and relationships gave me some light on why my husband and I are at odds with the whole home-group scene. We’re not so screwed up after all. This doesn’t necessarily solve my disillusionment, but it certainly was somewhat of a relief.

Will you be re-subscribing to Idealab?
Um, well, I guess I should, so at least I can read my own articles and interviews!

Other thoughts?
You know, I’ve had lots of conversations over the past few months about the whole Christian conference scene. I know it costs money to put these things on. I am probably naïve about the financial effort required to pull a conference off. I don’t go to conferences very often, because of the cost as well as the time. In my idealism, though, I hope for more otherliness to be demonstrated to a wider range of people who want to come to these gatherings. I experienced that and I’m grateful for it, but how many more could have come, or would have come, if they had had the means? I wonder how we as Christ followers can creatively slim down the gap between the haves and the have-nots when it comes to triple digit conference fees.

I have been provoked by this experience with the G.O. conference. I am provoked to go further and deeper in my friendship with God. I have been provoked to keep breaking free from the religious and social traditions that inhibit me from sharing Jesus’ love with others, whether their gay or straight.

And I’m provoked to come back next year, and bring my husband and maybe a friend or two, if I can figure out some creative otherliness with the ticket prices and overall costs.