A Gathering of the Heterodox

And we lived to tell the tale!

Jon and I hosted a BBQ for Dave and his wife, Julie, who were in town for a wedding this weekend. We also included Brian and his family, and Chuck and his wife, Deb.

Jon, kids and I literally slaved away all weekend getting ready. The Wallpapering and Painting Ordeal behind us, I had about a million bags of trash to take out and the requisite scouring of wood floors, mopping of dust and moving of furniture to complete. Jon leveled an assault on our overgrown backyard. The net effect? Clean, neat house and groomed yard. Worth it.

One of the funnies about this configuration of friends: I am on the email list that Dave hosts called pomoxian (lots of debate about how that word is pronounced!). I have known Dave for at least four years. Chuck found my blog through jesuscreed.org and we realized we were both in Cincinnati. Chuck discovered Dave through my blog and joined the pomoxian email list. Chuck then invited Brian, local friend, to join the pomoxian email list. As Brian posted, it slowly became clear to me that I already knew his wife! Tywana and I are a part of the same homeschool co-op and our daughters are friends.

Ah cyber space.

So I invited the whole gang over including kids for a little pomoxian reunion of sorts. Julie made a killer salsa dip, Tywana brought a tasty fruit salad, Deb offered yummy dessert baklava and Jon (my main squeeze) rotisseried pork loin and chicken on his Weber grill. Yummy!

Lots of Coronas with lime and a couple of bottles of wine later, we were all fast friends with loose tongues (spewing heresies right, left and center...).

We covered a lot of ground - universalism and the dangers of admitting it outloud to people, sermons by pastors who don't know theology, how to appreciate Brian McLaren's contribution to his evangelical fan base, papal infallibility (shout out to Beth for teaching me that not every word out of the Pope's mouth needs to be considered infallible), the future of Christianity, the nature of God, the Jesus Seminar, our journeys out of evangelical churches, how the Internet is like God... to name a few.

Dave (fellow ENFP) is the founder of the feast. Years ago when I posted on a little list that discussed A New Kind of Christian, I noticed Dave's irenic style and his in-depth treatment of most topics. I found his thoughtfulness on any subject relevant to my journey. When he started his own list (pomoxian), I jumped on it and might have been the first to sign on! Since then, he and I have a joke between us - more often than not, he speaks my mind or I speak his... a little theological synergy happening there. However, there is one major difference between us: he remains aloof to pop culture, while I, I must confess, remain a pop culture whore. :) Survivor, American Idol, pop radio, So You Think You Can Dance... yep. Total slut.

My mission: to suck others into the pop culture vortex. Come on Dave, you can do it - watch Survivor... it's a must for all serious pomoxians. Even Brian and Chuck watch!

Lucky for me, Brian, Chuck and Deb are talking about continuing these in-person theological tangoes and I hope to attend. Nice to finally have some local friends to discuss with. Sorry Dave can't make it (he hails from Grand Rapids, after all...).

Thanks to all of you for making last night a beautiful evening!