We had some really interesting speakers at the Vineyard National Gathering this year. I think there are going to be podcasts up at some point. Gary Best introduced the speakers and talked about how all of them were calling us forward as a movement. Considering the transition we are in, from a couple leading us (Gary and Joy Best) to a team leading us, I think it was a good call. Most of the speakers made no bones about their specific agendas. Wess Stafford called us to not miss the children from his intense passion to see children come into the Kingdom. Sam Owusu was passionate about the need to address our white ghetto reality, because he is passionate about tackling racial boundaries in our churches. And Christy Wimber, in her uncareful way, called us to not forget our roots as a movement of risk, betting it all on the Kingdom time after time. (I had a love hate relationship with her talk, but that is similar to how I feel about John Wimber's theology.)
Probably the most balanced voice we heard from (apart from Gary who is such an excellent communicator) was Terry LeBlanc. You would think that Terry would call us to not ignoring the natives in our churches - that'd be in keeping with the rest of the speakers - but instead he showed us how to walk our path with wisdom, paying careful attention to the past as we move into the future. His reading of the Creation stories reminded me of Paul Ricoeur's treatment of the Adamic myth in Thinking Biblically. It was excellent.
All in all the speakers gave us a lot to think through. I know I came away encouraged and ready again to take some risks for the Kingdom.
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