NNCC – Day 3

April 26, 2007

I really enjoyed my time today. It was by far the best day! The first session was with Alan Hirsch. It was tremendous as he spent time explaining the concepts of liminality and communitas. He defines liminality as a situation in which people do not know how to interpret or deal. It is a situation that makes you rely on those around you to make it through. The example Alan gave was an African tribe in which the young men are taken from the womens camp and left in the African bush.

The result is that these boys must learn to depend on one another to survive. The result is what Alan calls communitas. When people are placed in a liminal situation the bond that is built between the people who work together is deep, They become a “band of brothers.” It was very insightful stuff and a great complement to his book.

The nest session was with Neil Cole, author of Organic Church. Neil is one of the brightest people I know when it comes to concept of church multiplication or movements. He came all the way from California to speak for about 30 minutes. In my opinion he should have been one of the main speakers. His basic message was let’s not fool ourselves and think we are multiplying our churches when all we are doing is adding. It was the best 30 minutes of the conference by far.

The great thing was that Neil was extremely generous and allowed us to take him out for lunch after the conference. That shows me his humility. While he could have spent hi time with all of the other “mega-star” pastors. He graciously spent it with us. I was encouraged and some things about what we are doing at Oceanside became even clearer.

Finally, I have to say that I am extremely grateful for my friend and comrade, Dwight. He is a great encourager and a tremendous friend. Thanks Dwight, for everything.

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