Back from San Diego

Christine and I returned home from San Diego late Saturday night. We had a wonderful time soaking up the sun and enjoyinig the company of Curt, Micah, John, Julie, and Nace (Oh, yea, there was a pretty good conference going on, too). No, that is not a misspelling--we met a dude from Mississippi named Nace and had a great time getting to know him and his family and his church (even though neither of the latter were present). The highlight of the week was an informal conversation with Scot McKnight over cigars by the pool. Better luck next time, Nace.

Also fun was a trip to the famous San Diego Zoo and dinner in La Jolla (both celebrating my birthday). Pictures to be added soon.

Here are some things on the horizon for my blog...
1. Lent is upon us. I will be offering some reflections on the Lenten season every Wednesday, starting this week with Ash Wednesday. I'd encourage anyone that's interested to find a local Episcopal Church (or maybe a Presbyterian Church) to take in some of the services they offer on Ash Wednesday, Maundy Thursday and Good Friday. Mars Hill will be hosting 2 Ash Wednesday services this week at 6 and 8pm. I wanna see those "plus" signs on everyone!!!

2. Having just spent some time at the National Pastor's Convention, I will give some thoughts, summaries, and/or questions provoked by the speakers I took in--Doug Pagitt, Scot McKnight, Donald Miller, John Burke, LeRon Shults to name a few.

3. A couple of weeks from now, I'll be blogging on the Enneagram. It should be interesting and fun. I have only recently heard of it, so I thought I'd do some reading and get some conversations going about it. Expect to learn more about me and yourself...

4. One of the things I took away from the conference was a renewed vigor for doing theology. So, a few of us have been talking about finding a night that we can meet at a pub for some "theology on tap." If you are interested or have ideas or suggestions for location, let me know. I'll keep you posted.

5. A bit more down the road...not quite on the horizon...are some discussions around "The Organic Church" by Neil Cole. I will allow this book to launch us into some discussions about doing church in new ways (at least new to me). Neil says in his book that scores of people are leaving the church...not to lose their faith...but in order to preserve it. What would a church without a building look like? What would a church without a 'senior pastor' look like? Send me (gmutch1@gmail.com) your questions and ideas and we'll work them in.