A minor

After the wonderful Vespers service last night at the conference (yes, I finally made it, thankfully), Rich Bledsoe was to give the evening talk. (Rich pastors Tree of Life Presbyterian Church in Boulder, CO, where he is also practically a chaplain to the city.) Tipping his hat to Joel's lectures on postmodernism, Rich decided to tell a few stories - stories from his work in Boulder. He talked about being "one of the pastors of Boulder" and what that means, and about how - together - they serve the city by ministering to, eg, their police chief, district attorney, and homeless shelter. I had heard about this ministry before, but it was great to hear more, as they say, from the horse's mouth. If you know of my own vision for citywide churches, you can imagine what an encouragement this was to me. I would highly recommend ordering the tape of this lecture from Biblical Horizons.

TWO FREE, ADDED BONUSES!
First, here's a link to my old post containing a lengthy Bledsoe quote that deals with stories - larger stories, in this case. Second, here's a link (actually another re-link) to a good article, "Is Your Church a Good Neighbor?" by Eric Swanson (CT Leadership Journal XXIV.2, 78), which mentions and quotes Bledsoe; scroll about two-thirds of the way down to the section heading, "The city is my parish." This article also happens to have been republished in the most recent Auburn Analecta, the newsletter of Auburn Avenue Presbyterian Church.