The Antioch Gathering last week was one of the most important mission/church event of 2009. It was probably also the least blogged and least photographed church event this year.
Anyway, the innovative Christian leaders conference last week was held in Turkey which, although the birthplace of Christian missions, is now quite a sensitive spot to discuss these issues and thus the lack of publicity. A few bloggers were there, like Guy Muse and Marc Van der Woude but the blogger with the skinny on Antioch is actually Mercy Simpson at While We Slept. Who else was blogging???
The significant but understated Antioch Gathering involved 72 [now there’s a biblical number] church and mission leaders praying and talking for a week in Seleucia, near Antioch. My good friend Wolfgang Simson, who gave much of the inspiration to this event, just sent me some collected thoughts on the meeting and has given me permission to post the report here on my blog. Which I am doing right now. Happy reading.
Summary of Antioch gathering in Turkey, 2009
Was I there? Well, you would think so because I was planning on it and talking about it for a long time. And because I spent a good amount of time at Wolfgang’s house in Germany, discussing this meeting in Turkey and his Starfish Manifesto, which he officially released during the week. But, alas, as it worked out, I could not swing it due to lack of finances, my family on the road, and my passport getting processed for UK visa. But hey – a mission gathering of 73 Christian leaders would not have had the same music as a number like . . . 72.
Enjoy the read. I would be happy to host a conversation on some of the issues if anyone was interested. Let me know.
Related: John Piper just talked about The Legacy of Antioch
I imagine you were at the Vortex. Did you walk through a big skull?
I am very interested how often the word apostle or apostolic is used in this report and in starfish. This is something we as a church are having a season looking at. I have just been blogging about our apostolic link here.
wasnt the vortex, although we considered it. it was around the corner and they also had a great canadian trappist ale.
Wow this is exciting. Sadly I never heard about it until now.