We’ve been heartened by the strong, positive response to our “If Love Wins … What Now?” series! Since the series began, our viewership has taken another leap forward – over doubling what it was for the last series and expanding more deeply into countries besides the United States. We even have a regular viewer or two from Uganda! Folks have been writing us from California to Australia to express their joy over having found a community like Darkwood Brew online.
The discussion on this blog and especially on our Darkwood Brew Facebook page has been lively and informative – sometimes even transformative. Lots of appreciation has been expressed for our Skype Guests thus far – Brian McLaren, Diana Butler Bass, and Rachel Held Evans. And we are deeply appreciative of our outstanding Guest Bloggers – Scott Frederickson and Beth Katz.
Several folks mentioned that they have formed (or are hoping to form) a small group in their area to meet regularly for discussion and fellowship. Others are sending out the word of Darkwood Brew to friends and groups to whom they’re connected. This is just what we were hoping would happen! I cannot encourage you strongly enough to try joining or forming a small group. The real power of anything we’re doing through Darkwood Brew is in providing online resources to help promote and nurture offline community. You are the biggest resource. While online community can be shockingly powerful and vital (the Darkwood Brew community continually impresses me in this regard), offline community can take all this onto a whole new level. Gather with your friends. Use Darkwood Brew’s full-episodes, or the shorter, “Guided Episodes” to help spark conversations that matter – conversations that are so engaging that no one wants to leave. And let us know if you’re part of a regular gathering that’s making use of Darkwood Brew in whatever way. We’d love to be in touch.
Stay tuned, Bishop Carlton Pearson will be our guest this weekend to close our series. Bishop Pearson and I be considering how the idea that “love wins” challenges and changes our understanding of the nature and purpose of the church. What does it mean to be a community who takes God’s love for all people seriously – even God’s love for people who (we think) work against God’s purposes or God’s intention for their lives?
What’s up next? We’ll start a new, 6-week series on June 12 called Praying for Revolution: The Lord’s Prayer In Its Ancient Context and Modern Voice. Josh Sawyer (Social Media Director) will be revealing who will be blogging/Skyping with us in the coming days!
