JFP Thank-Yous

by Andrew Stephens-Rennie

We had a great time with Shane, Chris the Psalters and Jon Brooks on the only Canadian stop of the Jesus for Prime Minister tour, just one day before Canada Day.

Again, we can’t thank our friends and partners enough for helping to make this event happen: PWRDF, The Meeting House, Church of the Redeemer and Freedomize Toronto. Thank-you all for all your contributions to the event’s success.

Despite some delays at the Border, some questions as to whether the bus was really powered by veggie oil (and was not, instead, a travelling meth lab), the JFP Crew made it for an incredible, packed evening at Church of the Redeemer in the heart of downtown Toronto.

“What are 400 people doing,” more than a few passers-by asked, “crowded on the front steps of a church in the heart of Yorkville?” It was quite the scene, to be sure! But why were we there?

We were there to listen to stories. We were there to listen to the story of the scriptures, and stories of living those stories out in 21st Century North America. We were there not only to listen, but to be inspired.

The spirit’s breath was with us, as we were challenged to think of Christians’ role in effecting change in this world. Faith means nothing without faithful living, and we were challenged to respond faithfully to the story of the scriptures, and God’s call on our lives to seek others’ welfare before we seek our own.

Monday evening featured three local groups - Sanctuary, The Gateway, and Sketch - we were invited to come alongside, and put faith into action. These are only three examples in the GTA, but they’re good ones - and so we’d encourage you again to call them up and get involved.

We’re reprinting the backs of programs below for those who weren’t able to attend, and for those who forgot their programs at the church:

Jesus for President - Toronto

Details for the Toronto stop of the Jesus for President tour with Chris Haw, Shane Claiborne and special musical guest Jon Brooks are now published. You can connect with others attending the event through our facebook group and event page.

Romans Disarmed :: Tickets Now Available

Tickets for our upcoming Romans Disarmed Salon Discussion featuring Marva Dawn and Sylvia Keesmaat are now available for $12 through Crux Books in Toronto. Drop by or give them a call to reserve yours today:

Crux Books
5 Hoskin Avenue
Toronto Ontario
416.599.2749

Romans Disarmed :: A Salon Discussion

So we’ve been running a series on Romans over here at empire.remixed. Did you know? Many of the pieces published here on the blog were originally delivered in sermon format throughout last year at Wine Before Breakfast.

WBB is a eucharistic community that meets weekly on Tuesday mornings at 7.30 am during the school year in Wycliffe College’s chapel, and sponsored by the CRC Campus Ministry.

Some of our favourite posts from that series include We’re All in This Together on Romans 3, Creation’s Groan on Romans 8, To Hell With Romans 13 on (you guessed it) Romans 13  and Letters From the Future on Romans 14.

And now, we’re happy to announce our second in a series of Salon Discussions, this time featuring two prominent biblical scholars with expertise in Pauline Theology and the book of Romans. Behold:

Jesus for President

by Andrew Stephens-Rennie

Welcome to all those visiting from Zack Exley’s blog or article over at the Huffington Post. We hope you’ve had a chance to scout out the Litany of Resistance, to poke around at some of the other resources, and to scan through some of the recent blog posts from Brian Walsh and other contributors to this site.

Those of you not arriving by way of Zack’s Revolution in Jesusland blog should probably go check out his first in a series of articles on Shane Claiborne and the upcoming Jesus for President tour. Zack notes:

In Jesus for President, Shane and Chris unambiguously take aim at capitalism and empire; and they are much more explicit that Jesus calls upon his followers to actively resist systems and structures of oppression in ways that will ultimately put you in danger.

Rodney Clapp Book Launch

The Man in Black at UofT!

Crux Books Inc. & CRC Campus Ministries, with “Music, Prophecy and Culture” are presenting Rodney Clapp on Tuesday March 11, 2008 from 7-10pm at Wycliffe College.

Clapp will be in town to promote the launch of his most recent book, Johnny Cash And The Great American Contradiction: Christianity And The Battle For The Soul Of A Nation. The book is published by Westminster Press.

Clapp will present a guest lecture, and the presentation will be interspersed with guest performances of Johnny Cash classics by Toronto-based musicians Michael Iafrate, Zoe Neuman, Tom Reynolds and Felicity Williams.

Wycliffe College is located at 5 Hoskin Avenue, Toronto Ontario, M5S 1H7. You can contact Crux Books at 416.599.2749 for more details.

Jesus for President: A Litany of Resistance

At “Local Pain:: Local Hope,” our springtime event with Shane Claiborne at BP Presbyterian, we ended with a prayer litany. The litany was composed by Christian Peacemaker James Loney, and modified by Brian Walsh for the event.

Well, that litany has made some travels since, will make its published debut in Shane’s new book, and will travel with his Jesus for President tour in June and July 2008.

We’ve posted the litany in our resources section, and will be adding more in the coming weeks. Enjoy!

Neo-Con Economics and the Injustice of Rape

On Monday November 26th, twenty people joined us for an engaging discussion of Naomi Klein’s newest book. We met together over wine and cheese to discuss Klein’s observations of what she terms “The Shock Doctrine,” watched the short film, and listened to two different responses to the book.

The following attachments are the presentations by Ericka Stephens-Rennie and Brian J. Walsh.

Ericka Steptens-Rennie’s presentation is entitled “Plots, Pressures and Penetration: Neo-Conservative Economics and the Injustice of Rape.” In it, she draws disturbing parallels between the biblical rape of Tamar, and the Chicago School of Economics’ treatment of Less Developed Countries. Definitely worth a read.

Plots, Pressures and Penetration: Neo-Conservative Economics and the Injustice of Rape

Brian J Walsh’s presentation, Entitled “From Shock and Awe to Shock and Grace” provides an analysis of Klein’s work, and pushes towards a liberated imagination that is not merely shock-resistent, but rather, shock-resilient.

From Shock and Awe to Shock and Grace

Upcoming Event

Shock and Awe :: Milton Friedman, Naomi Klein and Jesus: A Salon Discussion

In The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism, Naomi Klein tells the story of the relationship between electroshock therapy, free market capitalism, and the suppression of democracy.

But what can protect disaster-shocked victims from the exploitation of shock and awe tactics? Klein suggests that we need an alternative story to orient us in the face of disastrous disorientation.

And so, with the prompting of this text, we will seek to tell an alternative story, with an alternative imagination, for an alternative Kingdom.

Placing Klein’s text in dialogue with political theory and theological reflection, we seek to retell the story, with eyes and ears open, as we ask one another the question:

What’s your story?

Location
Wycliffe College, 5 Hoskin Ave.
Monday, November 26, 2007
7.30pm

Schedule
Viewing “The Shock Doctrine Short Film”
Responses by
Ericka Stephens-Rennie, MA student in Political Science
Brian Walsh, campus chaplain and theology professor

Wine & Cheese to be served. Suggested donation: $5.00

Thanks!

Thanks to everyone who came out to last night’s empireremixed event in Parkdale. We feel exceedingly blessed to have had over 175 people out to share in stories from front line workers both in Philadelphia and Toronto.

For those who have read Shane’s book, and came to hear him speak last night, we hope that you were encouraged not only by what he had to say, but also by the words, the stories, the music and the drama shared by some of our own, homegrown, irresistable revolutionaries.

Thanks to Erinn Oxford, Sam Sunder Singh, and Julia Churchill for sharing in music. Thanks to Joe Abbey-Colborne, Michael Blair, Shane Claiborne, Jacqueline Daley and Phyllis Novak for sharing their stories. Thanks to Dion Oxford for hosting the evening.

Thank-you to the many volunteers who helped to make this evening possible, and who helped us all get home earlier by helping to clean up. Thank-you to the people of Bonar-Parkdale Presbyterian Church for allowing us to host the event there.

We know that some of you took some pictures, and we’d love it if you’d either email them to us, or share them on our FLICKR group.

We’d also like to hear your feedback from the event, so post comments, get in touch with us, and let us know what you thought. If you found yourself challenged by the stories, and are looking for places to serve in that Irresistable way, here in the GTA, we’ll be collecting a list of opportunities over the next little while, and make that available as soon as possible.

Thank-you to all who attended, to all who helped, and to all who continue to praying for and seek the spirit’s movement in our city.