Everything Must Change. . . In One Week

OK, so it will take longer than that a week to change everything. But the EMC tour is coming to Tampa Bay in one week. Several folks from our church, including Jim Harnish, will be attending.

The regular rate is $109, but if you email me I can give you a discount code for $20 off your registration. There is now a group student rate of $59 per person if 20 or more students register together. Normal student rate is $79. Register here.

Also, there is some scholarship assistance available (partial and full). People requesting scholarship assistance should send an email to EMCscholarship@gmail.com with their request.

Here are some deatils.

Fast on the tail of his recently released book, thought to be a "manifesto for Christian change," author and spiritual change-agent Brian McLaren is on an 11-city nationwide tour based on his most recent book, Everything Must Change: Jesus, Global Crises and a Revolution of Hope (November 2007, Thomas Nelson). The conference, also called "Everything Must Change," will be held at First Baptist Church in St. Petersburg on Friday & Saturday, February 29 & March 1, and will focus on how the radical life and teachings of Jesus address the most critical global problems in our world today.

Sponsoring organizations for the "Everything Must Change" tour include some unlikely partnerships with organizations including the ONE Campaign, the Sierra Club, Sojourners, Faith & Justice Churches, the Mars Hill Graduate School, Faith at Work and Emergent Village. Together these groups will discuss and initiate change to impact the world.

Known as a "paradigm-shifter" for Christianity and a leading voice of the Emergent Church, in his book McLaren exposes the flaws of traditional Christian religious systems and lays out a different structure by which to understand the teachings of Jesus. Incorporating this concept into his conference-tour, McLaren will go beyond addressing "typical" conservative religious issues to address questions about the global climate crises, terrorism and love, corporate and individual greed, destructive political and religious systems and other global problems.

Brian McLaren is an internationally known speaker and the author of more than ten highly acclaimed books on contemporary Christianity, including A New Kind of Christian, A Generous Orthodoxy, and The Secret Message of Jesus. McLaren has appeared on ABC's "Nightline," CNN's "Larry King Live," and PBS-TV's "Religion & Ethics Newsweekly." A popular speaker and lecturer, McLaren covers a broad range of topics including postmodernism, apologetics, church health and growth, ecology and the arts.

The event in St Pete will be 24 hours of interaction: a participatory experience of teaching, visual art, prayer, music, conversation, reflection, and more.

• You'll experience times of prayer and guided meditation, aided by some profoundly moving works of art.

• You'll not only sing new songs, but you'll participate in some new kinds of music, and you'll experience liturgical resources that you can bring home to your faith community.

• You'll be challenged to think about some important ideas, and you'll engage in some stimulating dialogue with people who sincerely want to listen and share.

• And you'll be challenged to action too - not with pressure or manipulation, but with encouragement and hope and opportunity. Our prayer is that this event will be for many of us a true and lasting conversion.

For more information and a schedule of the event, visit DeepShift.org.

We look forward to seeing you there!