jonathan stegall

A friend of ours that we camp with at Cornerstone recently posted his tentative schedule for this year (being aware that the schedule will change). I think that’s a wonderful idea.

This includes seminars (in the daytime) and shows (in the evening/night). There are overlapping events, and simultaneous events in different places, so I clearly will have to make a few choices on some of these. Also, of course, there is Tooth & Nail Day, and are the random generator shows that are so much fun (Tooth & Nail Day has been posted, woo hoo). And that’s ok. We’ll cross that when we get there.

Monday, June 30

12:00 (am) - Anchor Fellowship Church Service

Tuesday, July 1

10:10 - Anchor Fellowship Church Service

3:00 - Neocracy

5:00 - Once Nothing

7:30 - Inhale Exhale

8:30 - Destroy The Runner

9:30 - Becoming the Archetype

10:30 - The Showdown

11:30 - The Glorious Unseen

12:00 - Anchor Fellowship Church Service

Wednesday, July 2

10:10 - Anchor Fellowship Church Service

4:20 - Gwen Stacy

7:00 - Thieves and Liars

8:00 - I, Sleepwalker

8:45 - Frosthardr

10:00 - Sixpence None the Richer or Headnoise or Once Nothing

11:15 - With Blood Comes Cleansing

12:00 - Becoming the Archetype

Thursday, July 3

10:00 - Brad Culver on Micro Missional Communities

11:00 - Peter Wohler on 24/7 Boiler Rooms

12:00 - Brad Culver and Peter Wohler on The Shaping of Things to Come

2:00 - Miroslav Volf - Us Vs. Them

3:00 - Cleetus Adrian - Back to the Cross

6:00 - Kingston Falls

7:00 - Inhale Exhale or Neocracy

8:00 - Drottnar

9:00 - Immortal Souls

9:55 - Impending Doom

10:00 - Bridgeshadows or The Famine

11:00 - Aletheian

11:30 - The Glorious Unseen

12:00 - The Chariot or War of Ages or Frost Like Ashes

Friday, July 4

10:00 - Brad Culver on Micro Missional Communities

11:00 - Peter Wohler on 24/7 Boiler Rooms

12:00 - Brad Culver and Peter Wohler on The Shaping of Things to Come

2:00 - Miroslav Volf - Us Vs. Them

3:00 - Shane Claiborne - Jesus For President

5:00 - Feast Eternal

7:00ish - God Of Justice: Worship With Dirty Hands Celebrating The 25th Cornerstone Together

12:00 - Living Sacrifice

Saturday, July 5

10:00 - Brad Culver on Micro Missional Communities

11:00 - Peter Wohler on 24/7 Boiler Rooms

12:00 - Brad Culver and Peter Wohler on The Shaping of Things to Come

2:00 - Miroslav Volf - Us Vs. Them

3:00 - Cleetus Adrian - Back to the Cross

5:15 - Cool Hand Luke

5:30 - Still Remains

6:35 - Haste The Day

8:00 - Headnoise

8:25 - Demon Hunter

9:00 - Sanctum

9:45 - As I Lay Dying

10:00 - The Awakening

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I received the following letter as a resident of Georgia who supports the National Religious Campaign Against Torture. Apparently, Georgia is one of ten states that do not yet have a congregation signed up to express opposition to torture.

Atlanta is a city that has an absurd number of churches. It’s impossible to drive more than a mile or two without seeing at least one, and many of them are incredibly large and wealthy, and can certainly afford to buy a banner. There are at least five churches within a mile of my apartment. And yet, the entire state of Georgia doesn’t have a congregation signed up to oppose torture?

Please consider the letter below, should you be in a position to influence a Georgian congregation.

——

Dear Pastor/Rabbi/Congregational Leader:

I am a supporter of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT), an interfaith coalition of more than 160 national, regional and local religious organizations joined together to ensure that the United States does not engage in torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment of anyone, without exception. (For more information and to endorse NRCAT’s Statement of Conscience “Torture is a Moral Issue,” visit the website: www.tortureisamoralissue.org.)

As part of my work with NRCAT, I encourage your congregation to participate in the “Banners Across America” project this June. NRCAT is asking congregations of all sizes, from every state and all faiths, to join in a public witness against torture by displaying a banner outside their place of worship during Torture Awareness Month (June).

Click here for complete information about the project and to place an order. You can choose from two sizes and two designs, as well as an option to customize your banner to include the name of your congregation. The cost ranges from $100 to $175, including shipping.

You can also purchase a banner from another source or use one you already have. Just tell NRCAT’s John Humphries (contact info below) that your congregation will display a banner in June, so he knows that your congregation and your state will be participating.

Your congregation’s participation will help to raise the visibility of the national campaign in at least 3 ways:

• It will provide an opportunity for members of your congregation to talk together about the continuing shame of torture as government policy and about the role of religious people in speaking out on this moral issue.
• It will put your congregation on record as opposing torture, in a very public way, and can encourage other local congregations to join you in a collective witness in your community.
• It will help NRCAT document a nationwide religious resolve to end torture through a coordinated media effort to draw attention to specific communities with significant numbers of banners, as well as the breadth of participation across the entire country.

At the end of the project, NRCAT wants to produce a poster with photos of banners hung on a variety of houses of worship. They will deliver a copy of the poster to every member of Congress and the President, and they will make it available for purchase.

You can help NRCAT achieve these ambitious goals by:

1. Visiting the Banners Across America webpage (accessible via one of the red boxes in the center of the NRCAT homepage, (www.tortureisamoralissue.org) to get the complete information;
2. Encourage your congregation to purchase a banner and display it during June 2008;
3. Send NRCAT a digital photograph of the banner hanging outside your house of worship so we can post it on the website and possibly use it for a national poster.

If you have any questions or need assistance, please contact NRCAT’s Director for Program Coordination, John Humphries, at 860-216-7972 or jhumphries@nrcat.org.

Sincerely,
Your Name

Recently, I have been reading The End of Poverty by Jeffrey Sachs. The book’s goal is to explain the unique opportunity that exists in our time: to eliminate extreme poverty in the world. Extreme poverty, in this case, is defined as the 1 billion+ people that live on less than $1 US per day.

Now. The book spends significant time looking into various problems that the poorest countries (mostly in Africa) face, from disease to geographic limitations to Western meddling and all kinds of other things. Aside from looking at the problems, it tries to look at real, practical, possible solutions.

One of the most frustrating, from an American perspective, is described like this:

The problem is the complete disconnect between the extent of the initiative [a 2002 aid program created by the Bush Administration] - $5 billion more per year by the third year - and the needs of the poor countries (on the order of $100 billion more per year between 2006-2015 to meet the Millennium Development Goals) and with the commitment of the United States to make “concrete efforts” to target 0.7 percent of GNP [the amount that has repeatedly been agreed upon as aid needed from developed nations]. The $5 billion represents less than 0.05 percent of U.S. GNP. Even more startling, not a single penny of the Millennium Challenge Account had been disbursed by late 2004.

This quote occurs in the context of a chapter that discusses the unanimous opinion that there is a link between aiding economic growth and U.S. national security. It looks into the pragmatic reasons that it is a good thing for us to give aid to help countries get out of extreme poverty.

Throughout the book, a common theme remains that United States foreign policy in the past couple of decades (both Democratic and Republican administrations) has been very good at talking about foreign aid, and very bad at doing anything about it. As defense budgets have risen, aid budgets have fallen, and it is easy to observe that we are not getting more secure.

Times like ours are contrasted with things like the Marshall Plan, in which our country realized that aiding the recovery of Europe, which included foreign aid over 1.0 percent of GNP. Leaders of our country at the time were well aware that an economically progressing Europe would lead to a more secure United States.

Many of the chapters in this book cover things that (should) evoke brokenness and compassion on the part of people in wealthy countries, and should contribute to action. The Millennium Development Goals can make and are making a difference in the world, as businesses and individuals contribute to the transformation of African villages.

But the saddening part is that governments are not contributing in any meaningful way, especially ours. Statistics and surveys show that we as American citizens believe that our government does far more for the poor in foreign countries than it does, and that we would support even more support than we think there is. It’s mind-boggling. While this is not surprising to learn, it is difficult.

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The other day, via this link, I learned that To Write Love On Her Arms t-shirts are now being sold in Hot Topic. You can see for yourself here, and there’s even a nice little description.

I first learned of TWLOHA shortly before Cornerstone, 2006. If you are not familiar with them, go ahead and go directly to the story, and learn. Anyway. In 2006, they were still very new, and many people first learned of them that year at Cornerstone. People would walk through the merch tents, stop at the table, read the story, and then look up and realize that the girl the story was about (Renee) was right in front of them.

It’s a beautiful story, and a beautiful ministry that has been birthed out of the story. Since then, these words have been driven into my mind, and they return often:

We were made to be lovers bold in broken places, pouring ourselves out again and again until we’re called home.

In light of all this, I think it’s a beautiful thing that these shirts are being sold in Hot Topic. I’m not a fan of the store. When I was fifteen (maybe sixteen?), I bought my first Goth CD in a Hot Topic near Charlotte. Back then, it was much darker, both in atmosphere and music. The decor seemed to ooze out of the store, along with the music.

Now, it serves as a sanctuary for the mainstream alternative. Certainly, though, this scene needs a ministry like TWLOHA. My fear is that the shirts will become useless statements that declare a person’s store preferences, but I don’t think this is a realistic fear.

To Write Love On Her Arms is a bold statement in a place full of weak statements, and I think it will stand out there. I think it has potential to have a great impact, from the people who work there (who are often amazing, thoughtful people) to the people who shop there (who, from time to time, are also amazing and thoughtful). There are many hurting people who shop there and need a message like that, and I’m glad it is there.

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