Verge LA 2009 – Speaker Topics Part III

With Verge LA right around the corner, I will be posting some of the topics that various speakers will tackle, everyday until the event. The basic theme of this gathering is looking at what it means to be missional in imaginative ways. Verge LA is where the next BIG idea meets UNconference. Check out this Verge LA post, to learn more about the event and how to sign up. While the event is free, please register through facebook or leave your name on this blog.

Here is another theme and talk at Verge LA 2009:

Theme: Social Justice and Mission

Title: “Thinking Inside the Box”

Talk in a Sentence: The temptation is to believe the answers to all our problems lie outside of our churches, but what if the answers are here all along, waiting to be discovered, valued and set free?

Talk in a Paragraph: Faith can sometimes be touted as that crazy, sexy, blind pursuit of the next big thing.  And with it, the temptation to find the “golden ticket” out there, somewhere.  But what if a key to mission is as simple as not missing the obvious while in search of the elusive?  What if one of the key virtues of justice is listening, to the voice of our congregations and to the voice of our communities?  Many of our answers do not lie outside of our churches, but in the belief that people right in front of us have something remarkable to offer. It’s about valuing what you’ve got, and ministering out of who you are.  It takes thinking inside the box.