january 21 - finding GOD in the land of narnia

our next regular well gathering will be held on january 21 (note: not the last saturday of the month) under the theme of "finding GOD in the land of narnia".

we're excited about this theme. we need to borrow the following items for this gathering:

• a large wardrobe
  
• fake snow - the cotton blanket things that are on sale everywhere right now (and maybe a bag or three of the loose snow flake stuff as well)
  
• flat screen or plasma screen tv or monitor - for a faux fireplace
• un-lit christmas trees (don't pack yours up just yet...we need a forest!)

more info to come...

new year's well this sunday morning at 10

woefully behind on blogging at this site...

we will gather at a special service this sunday morning at 10 am with many elements from the well. we'll be using the sanctuary instead of the family life center. this will present interesting problems as the room is already smaller than the flc and it's the only service that day so it promises to be wall to wall. very different than the average well experience but we'll make it work.

the theme for this service is "finding GOD in the new year". there will be lots of corporate reading, a four member band will play, and betsy hall will speak.

we'll be setting a prayer closet in the sanctuary, a prayer hall, and a few tables outside the sanctuary. due to the limited space (and chrismon tree) there won't be much room for stations in the actual sanctuary.

so join us on national hangover day at 10 a.m. to contemplate your life and GOD in the new year.

the well resumes in january

for several reasons we have decided not to hold a well gathering in december.

our next gathering will be held on the last saturday of january.

more to come...

please pray

please pray for the grieving community of university baptist church in waco, tx. their pastor, kyle lake, died sunday during a baptism due to electrocution.

kyle was friend to many and an influential leader in the emergent movement.

lynnette has listed links to several blogs and news reports here.

october reflections

the well went quite well this month and we had a much bigger turnout than at previous gatherings. thanks to all who participated in the gathering.

our theme this month was "finding GOD in the desert" and the family life center was turned into a desert landscape with around 700 pounds of sand. rather than a traditional sermon, pastor ken edwards facilitated a conversation in which all of us contributed. We also worshipped through song and hymns, creed, interactive prayer stations, communion and even shared refreshments throughout the service.

we will post more reflections with pictures sometime this week.

if you're reading this...

then you care about the well. if you're in the nashville area come this thursday. and here's the real challenge: tell five friends or co-workers you care about to come to the well this thursday. our attendance has been really low and we need your help to assure this service continues.

the well october - this thursday

it's been a while since the last blog!

our next gathering is THIS THURSDAY at 7 pm. our theme is "finding GOD in the desert".

we will fill much of the family life center with sand as we focus on the good and bad about desert times in our lives. ken edwards and david teel will facilitate a conversation with the congregation. we will have six or seven worship stations including the art station.

join us at 7 pm as we all contribute and create worship through discussion, music, liturgy, interactive prayer stations, food, and a whole lot of sand.

we will set up in two shifts:
1. wednesday night at 7:45
2. thursday starting at 2:00

items needed for the well

we still the following items (you can have your personal items back after the well) for october's well gathering:

• baby food jars
  
• small pool / baby pool
  
• portable personal cd player
  
• large bags of sand (beach sand)
• large cacti (that would be the plural of cactus)
  
  

things we need at each well gathering:

• large persian rugs (for future well gatherings)
• candles
• candle holders
• canvas drop cloths

leave a comment if you think of something else we need or would like to donate something or email me at ecoomer at comcast.net. (spelled it that way to avoid spam).

finding GOD in the desert

this sunday at noon we will meet to talk about october's well gathering. everyone and anyone is welcome to come and discuss our next gathering over food and drinks in the special studies classroom in the adult wing of grace umc.

our theme this month is "finding GOD in the desert" and we will be discussing the desert times in our lives. we touched on this in july but we will focus on it this month. our conversation will be centered around finding GOD in the desert times.

between now and then think about the following and bring your ideas:

• scriptures
  
• liturgy
• visual aids
  
• video & movie clips (feel free to bring a dvd or video)
  
• artwork (print it out if it comes from the internet)
  
• songs (from the church and from the world) & hymns
  
• prayer stations
• other ideas

let's get the ball rolling. leave a comment here with ideas.

here's how to comment:

1. click "comments" below this blog.
   
2. write what you want.
3. click "other"
4. type your name in the name box and (if you have one) your website in the website box
5. in the "word verification" box type the squiggly word that is above that box. it will be something non-sensical like "lymonf".
6. Click "publish your post".
   

saturday - to be or not to be?

forgot to mention that we considered seriously whether or not we should change the night to saturday and were in agreement that it would probably work better for a monthly gathering.

the question is when to do it.

should we go ahead an do it this month? the date would be october 29. trick or treat?

taking the offering

we started to talk about offerings at well gatherings and never finished. considering we spend money it is something we need to discuss. i think we could do one of the following:

1. take a traditional offering (but use wooden baskets or something like that) and as we announce the offering say, "If you are a regular attender of grace umc, we'd like for you to give what you can to help us keep the well going." something like that.
2. or...get a wooden box with a slot and place it by the door.
3. any other ideas?

from today's well planning meeting

Here's some of the stuff we said in today's meeting:

1. theme for thursday, october 27 well gathering - "finding GOD in the desert" (read more here and leave comments). this is a change.
2. all-church wednesday night well gathering (probably christmas time - december 21?)
3. sign-up sheets (with theme for following month listed) for different areas of involvement at the well gatherings by door.
4. coffee, drinks, snacks, etc. at the well
5. what else?
   

this thursday - finding GOD in the ordinary

this thursday at the grace united methodist family life center we will hold this month's well gathering. we'll start around 7 pm and worship under the theme of "finding GOD in the ordinary."

if you'd like to help we'll be at he flc starting around 2 pm and would love your assistance.

come to the well this thursday night at 7.

help

we need your help to publicize the gathering. the best publicity is always word of mouth but you can also help with the following:

a poster is available to post in coffeehouses, grocery stores, college campuses, and elsewhere. help promote the service.

right click to save:
poster 1 - hi-res pdf (two to each sheet)
poster 2 - pdf | jpg

or if you're web-friendly you can post a link to this site on your website or favorite message board by copying and pasting this html code:

<a href="http://thewellgathering.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.graceumc.net/clientimages/28933/thewell/the_well_gathering.jpg" title="click here for the well planning blog" border="0" hspace="3" vspace="3" /></a>

leave a comment here if you put a poster up or let us know the website where you add the code or the link back to this blog.

if you have ideas of other ways to promote the well, leave a comment here.

places to promote/advertise the well

listserv
through the gbod young adult dept
rocketown
local radio station websites
christianactivities.com
cumberland university
mtsu
vol state

where else?

tonight's planning meeting

tonight @ 7 we will talk about:

themes for the remainder of the year
how to support those themes
how/who to advertise/market the well
etc.

august 25 - planning meeting

we have decided it best to make august 25 a planning session instead of an actual service. our next gathering will be thursday, september 29.

it's going to take some time to hit our stride.

more info on the meeting to come.

theme

what theme(s) would you like to see explored at a future well gathering?

pictures of july's gathering at the well

you can now view
a few pictures
of the july gathering
by clicking here.

shout to the lord (angry version)

this is great. read marcus curnow's new version of "shout to the lord" and the reason he wrote it.

mistakes we made, things we did right, and what we need to do next time

these are random thoughts and i invite your comments...

things we did right:

1. the message was well communicated through the sermon/teaching, videos, liturgy, and prayer stations
2. people really appreciated the spontaneity of the questions david asked
3. the water loop cd was effective even if we didn't have fountains or the like
4. the lighting looked good, i think (even though it caused the sound system to buzz)
5. chair arrangement seemed to work really well
6. what else?

things we did wrong:

1. there were not enough people there to help set up / tear down. in fact, for the most part it was four of us
2. we didn't publicize enough
3. too many songs in a row that were unfamiliar (or not all that easy to catch on)
4. the scripture wasn't read aloud (yikes)
5. the liturgy wasn't ready in the computer and therefore there was no read prayer from the congregation
6. we should include more silence in the gathering
7. didn't have enough prayer in the gathering
8. words on screen sometimes didn't match what we were singing
9. no email list / guest book
10. what else?
    

things to do next time

1. i think we should meet twice between now and then
2. at the first meeting we should go over these things (wrong, right, what's next), and figure out the theme (we can do that here too)
3. at the second meeting we should have the basics of the sermon pretty much done (videos, topics, etc.) so that the team can come up with ideas for the stations, projected images, videos, etc.
4. we should then figure out if there is anything we need for the prayer stations
5. concise order of worship at the next gathering for team members
6. let's engage the senses better next time--especially sight and smell.
   
7. what else?

john wesley and the well

i ripped this from gavin's blog. i absolutely love it and think you will too.

this is an actual excerpt from john wesley's diary written sometime in the 1700's and serves as good encouragement for us:

• Sunday morning, May 5, preached in St. Ann's, was asked not to come back anymore.
• Sunday p.m., May 5, preached at St. John's, deacons said "get out and stay out".
• Sunday a.m., May 12, preached at St. Jude's, can't go back there either.
• Sunday p.m., May 12, preached at St. George's, kicked out again.
• Sunday a.m., May 19, preached at St. somebody else's, deacons called a special meeting and said I couldn't return.
• Sunday p.m., May 19, preached on the street, kicked off the street.
• Sunday a.m., May 26, preached in meadow, chased out of meadow as a bull was turned loose during the service.
• Sunday a.m., June 2, preached out at the edge of town, kicked off the highway.
• Sunday p.m., June 2, afternoon service, preached in a pasture, 10,000 people came to hear me.

the well episode 1

thanks to all who came out tonight. it was a very small group but we worshipped none the less and i think we all took something beautiful away from the gathering.

we now begin preparations for august 25 at 7 pm. that's right we've changed the time.

tomorrow, i'll blog on the mistakes we made, things we did right, and what we need to do between now and then.

i'll also post pictures from the gathering...stay tuned.

God bless you.

desert detours

i was looking through kim miller's handbook for multisensory worship vol ii today and saw that there was a gathering where they actually laid out a tarp and dumped about fifty pounds of sand on the stage.

the meadow (green meadow umc in alcoa, tenn) filled the entire sanctuary with sand during lent this year.

we filled our sanctuary with hay for vacation bible school a couple weeks ago. what i'm saying is...let your imaginations run wild. we are quick to say, "the kids will love this," when it comes to planning vbs. the truth is: we love it too.

i'm not neccesarily suggesting the sand thing (i'm not discounting it either), but i am saying that it's time for us to get excited about the possibilities at the well. let your imaginations run wild.

water fountains

we need the sound of water throughout the sanctuary for the first gathering. fountains would be great but so far we've had trouble coming up with any... what else could we do that would be cheap?




best band ever

ideas

the theme of the first well gathering is two fold:

1. why bother with church
2. john 4:1-26

with this in mind, read the verses and leave a comment here... what would you like to see happen at this gathering? what images linger? what would make this question and this story relevant to you?

some stuff we need by the first gathering

1. justin's idea of running water throughout the service is great, so we'll need fountains, waterfalls and the like. what else can we do?
2. 2-3 floor lamps (should be about $15-20 each)
3. modeling clay
4. 2 or 3 drop cloths
5. some 8 1/2 x 11 plexi sign holders (a 4 pack is $20)

what else?

prayer station pictures

Here are some links to pictures of prayer stations and sacred spaces:

http://smallfire.org

http://www.vintagechurch.org/photo/

http://gavoweb.blogs.com/photos/connection05/index.html

http://gavoweb.blogs.com/photos/contemplativeworships/index.html

the well @ grace umc mt juliet tn

The gathering has a name and a firm start date.

The Well will begin July 28 at 6:30 PM.

the well

the well will be an emergent/alt.worship service at the grace united methodist family life center in mt. juliet, tn.

here's what we know (in no particular order) that the service will be/have/do:

• thursday nights once a month on the last thursday of the month this summer... weekly after some time
• 90 minutes - give or take
• targeted to 18-35 year olds but open to all
• interactive
• experiential
• rooted in wesleyan theology
• team planned
• team meetings will first and foremost be prayer meetings

• theme based
• theme will come from scripture
• use media to support theme
• use prayer tables and other contemplative experiences to support theme
• use art (from the community and from the world) to support theme
• ancient / future
• artistic
• of the community, from the community, for the community... a place that cultivates community
• a gathering with no "performances"
• there will be consistency but we won't get stuck in a particular format
• strike a balance between the seeker churches that forget about the devout and churches for the devout that forget about the seeker
• foster an environment that is friendly to non-christians, former christians, nominal christians and current christians while still challenging all who attend
• the launchpad for discipleship in small group activities and classes
• one could even use the e word... emergent

i'll add more bullets as we think of them and have more time, so keep checking this post.

for this post, please only comment about names. write any other ideas you have down in an email to me, call me or leave it on http://www.ericcoomer.blogspot.com/.

when you leave a comment with a service title please list your name, city, and church if you attend one.

dates set

the new gathering will be on the last thursday of each month this summer at 6:30 PM. put it on your calendar. in the fall we will probably move to a weekly gathering.