Session 3: Peter Rollins - Introduction to Tranformance Art
I can’t believe my wish actually came true. Going in to this conference I was really hoping that there would be an opportunity for Rob Bell and Peter Rollins to interact, but I didn’t see that on the schedule of events, so I figured it wasn’t going to happen. Well, it turns out Peter Rollins’ first talk was actually an interview with Rob Bell! Great stuff. I didn’t take a lot of notes because I had already heard most of what Pete said. If you want to see more of what I’ve written about Pete, check out the following (last year’s Minnekon conference is a great place to start). Here are my notes:
Rob Bell introduces Pete and describes Ikon as not a church but “something else.” Yes, this is exactly what I’m interested in. I’m glad he sees it that way. Ikon, transformance art, and even Pete, is “something else.”
“Most challenging to dream new dreams…do something utterly different.” Yes, this is what Rob meant by the “something else.”
“Non-membership course, Last Supper, Omega Course, Evangelism Project, etc.” All this stuff is in my previous notes probably.
“Role of Christian leader, refuse to lead.”
Pete’s pulling out all the greatest hits.
Pete is a mad scientist for sure.
“Powerless evangelism”
“Atheism for Lent – giving up God for Lent to learn and be transformed by the great critiques of Christianity”
“Ikon event is hard to describe” I’m glad it’s even hard for Pete to describe, because I always have trouble describing Ikon and VOID.”
Goes off into rapid stories…great stuff. People are liking it, laughing at the jokes, etc. Rob is really letting him go.
“Preaching must convince the social self”
“We think Sunday morning is the site of resistance, but what if it’s the necessary air vent to keep things going.” Nice.
“We must ask why are there the poor? Don’t just give money for charity without caring about the larger problems”
“Church as flash mob. Quick vision of what the world should look like”
“Often people believe through the minister”
“The structures believe on your behalf”
“Must change the structures!” This is what my criticism of Mars Hill was about – not much change of the traditional worship structure.
“God is that which transforms how I interact with all objects in the world”
“To offend nobody we try to offend everybody”
“Suspended space”
“To see someone beyond the color of their eyes”
“Suspended space allows us to later fight as friends rather than enemies”
“Beyond head, rupture something in the heart”
“I’ve got a lot of energy” – understatement of the day
Transformation – central to everything Pete says. That’s what I love most about what he says.
“Not quenching thirst but making people thirsty”
“Anti-evangelism – when you don’t need God, best place to meet God”
“The Christian position is the laying down of Christianity”
“The prayer is wonderful, but the prayer is not enough”
——————-
Reflections on Poets, Prophets, & Preachers
- Sunday Morning at Mars Hill
- Session 1: Rob Bell - The Original Guerilla Theatre
- A list of who is blogging at PPP
- Session 2 (part 1): Rob Bell - The Story We’re Telling
- Session 2 (part 2): Rob Bell - The Story We’re Telling
- Session 3: Peter Rollins - Introduction to Transformance Art
- Session 4: Shane Hipps - How Technology Shapes the Sermon
- Session 5: Rob Bell - The Fig Tree and the Failure of Language
- Session 6: Rob Bell - Fumbling Around With Your Radar
- Session 7: Peter Rollins - Parables and the Lost Art of Provocation
- Concluding Sessions (when I completely abandon my duties)
- Poets, Prophets, & Preachers: Twitter Highlights
- Poets, Prophets, & Preachers: Final Thoughts
