Press Release: The Gospel According To Vonnegut

 

EARTH HOUSE TO HONOR KURT VONNEGUT’S THEOLOGY–BOTH AS AN AGNOSTIC AND A FAN OF THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT

 

Indianapolis, Ind - October 30, 2009 -Kurt Vonnegut fans will gather to honor the Hoosier author on Wednesday, November 11, 2009, 7:00 p.m. at the Earth House Collective, 237 N. East St., located inside Lockerbie Central United Methodist Church, on what would have been  Vonnegut’s 87^thbirthday. 

The third annual Gospel According to Vonnegut celebration will honor the life, theology, politics, humor and local roots of Indianapolis’ most important postwar writer.   There will also be birthday cake.

“Vonnegut focused on the absurd and he found a lot of absurdity in religion,” Mike Oles, organizer for the event, said.  “He comes from a long line of religious skeptics and atheists but his hostility towards religion allowed him to write powerfully-perhaps more so than any other Indiana voice– about the historical Jesus.”

Along with Vonnegut’s riffs on God and Christianity, the gathering will also focus on the writer’s Indiana roots.  It was at Indianapolis’ Shortridge High School where Vonnegut wrote for the only daily high school newspaper in the country.  Meanwhile, Vonnegut attributed much of his moral vision to fellow Hoosier radicals like Eugene Debs and Powers Hapgood. 

Julia Whitehead, President, Kurt Vonnegut Memorial Library Foundation, will be giving the keynote presentation.  Attendees will also hear the music of local songwriter Kate Lamont and see a video clip of Vonnegut’s appearance on  The Daily Show wit John Stewart.

Earth House is located inside Lockerbie Central United Methodist Church, on the corner of New Yorkand East Streets in downtown Indianapolis. 

 For more information, please contact Mike Oles, 317-354-3207.

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Filed under: Indiana history, Indianapolis, community, jesus , Indianapolis, Indiana, Lockerbie Central United Methodist Church, church, hoosiers, kurt vonnegut, press release, sermon on the mount, methodist church, vonnegut, eugene debs, powers hapgood, julia whitehead, library, vonnegut memorial library, hoosier, agnostic, earth hosue, gospel according to vonnegut, birthday

Generate Magazine

GENERATE MAGAZINE came in the mail yesterday. The print is small.  The vision is huge.

Some thoughts and observations.

Affordable. 4 issues for $20.  You can get a second subscription for $14.  $7 off the shelf. Generate is also made more sustainably than about anything else that will show up in your mailbox.   If you are interested in the post-modern/emergent/missional/ Christian conversation, get yourself a subscription.  And buy one for your friend or church or whoever.

[Hardly] No Advertising. The advertising that is there adds to the magazine and conversation.  Mostly ads for emergent books and artists.   Amazing that such a beautiful, sustainably made magazine is affordable with hardly any advertising.

Food Issues. The cover art is from artist Mark Menjivar.  Its awesome (how is that for an art review) but I am most excited about a byline at the end of the article:

The You are What You Eat exhibit is ready to tragvel ato a ny community or gallery that would like to use it as a centerpiece for dialog about food issues.  The exhitbit has custom crates, made with traveling in mind.  For more infromation, visit markmenjivar.com.

That is one of the most exciting parts of Generate.  The story doesn’t end in the magazine.  There is opportunity and ideas to take the conversation to your local community.

Fighting Words. Sometimes the best fights break out in the book reviews and Generate does a good job of making normally staid book reviews interesting.  The book in review is  The New Evangelism: Freeing the Church from Western Cultural Captivity. I haven’t read it, but the reviews and author response make me want to.

Doing Church Differently. The problem with magazines like Sojourners is that they often don’t highlight  the daily life of faith communities.  How they get started, where they are going, etc.  Generate highlights a few communities whose example could help emergents out as they start and restart their local cohorts, churches, and communities.  Generate profiles Presbyertian church planter and indie rocker Thomas Vito.  I will definitely be checking out Welcome Wagon.  I like what Vito says in the magazine, “An organzization made up of 100 churches of 100 committed people will be  far more effective to transform a community with the gospel than ten churches with 1,0000 people each.”

If you love or want to love the emerging church, then please support Generate.

 

Filed under: Christians, Lockerbie Central United Methodist Church, bible, church, community, emergent church, evangelism , church, conversation, emergent, emerging church, faith communities, food, food issues, Generate, gospel, local, local community, magazine, mark menjivar, missional, post colonial, post modenr, post modern, Presbyterian, publishing, sojourners, sustainable, The New Evangelism, Thomas Vito, transformation, Welcome Wagon, You Are What You Eat

Who Killed Indy’s comprehensive smoking ban? or a Sad day for Indy

 

Terrible.  Indy politicians have once again missed an opportunity to improve the health of our community.  There’s a lot of blame to go around about why the city council has once again failed to pass a [nearly] comprehensive public smoking ban.

Mayor Greg Ballard is one person to hold accountable.  Matthew Tully in today’s star writes that the mayor  walked into a closed-door meeting with council Republicans and made it clear he didn’t want the ordinance to land on his desk.” Tully points out that as a canidiate for Indy mayor Ballard approved of a comprehensive smoking ban.

Democrats aren’t blameless either.  First of all, if council Democrats had made a stand during the Peterson era about smoking (or anything, really), this would be a mute point. Indy would have long ago joined the 21st century when it comes to public health.  But Peterson and the council back then weren’t about taking bold stands.

And on the city council, Democrats should feel embarrassed.  Council member Dane Mahern abstained from the vote because, as Tully reported, his father is a lobbyist for the tobacco industry. Heaven forbid, you take a stand that might bump against your father’s business interests.   More so, Mahern had his father host a fundraiser for him within a week of the scheduled smoking ban vote.

This was a chance to be a truly bipartisan and  other Democrats didnt’ show up.  Council member Doris Minton-McNeal, Monroe Gray, and, already mentioned Mahern, abstained from voting.  Their abstentions helped kill the bill and  Minton-McNeal didn’t even bother to show up.

Whatever the reasons, other Democrats who voted against the bill include Duke Oliver and Vernon Brown.

Thanks should go to  Democrats Jose Evans and Angela Mansfield and Republicans Barbara Malone and Ryan Hunter for taking a strong stand for making Indianapolis a better place to live.   And don’t forget to thank Smoke Free Indy.

 

http://www.indystar.com/article/20091028/NEWS08/910280381/Tully++Ballard+threat+helped+kill+smoking+ban

Filed under: Broad Ripple, Indiana, Indianapolis, Indianapolis Star, Indianapolis politics, POlitics, city council, community, community organizing, economy, progressive , angela mansfield, ban, barbara malone, Bart Peterson, city council, comprehensive smoking ban, dane mahern, doris minton-mcneal, duke olliver, Greg Ballard, Indianapolis, Indianapolis politics, Indianapolis Star, Jose Evans, matthew tully, mayor, monroe gray, POlitics, ryan hunter, smoke free indy, smoking, smoking ban, vernon brown