It has been a very long time since I have written in a public space. It was a discipline and a practice that I used to enjoy very much. I spent a lot of time in the past sharing mad ramblings about ecclesial dreams. I wrote about things that I found interesting, enlightening and informative about church. The planning, practice and participation of it. The role of pastoral stewards. The challenges of creating space for two or three gathered in the name of Jesus Christ enabling his presence to be there in the midst of them. The connections I saw between Gospel and the practical out comes of gift culture, creative commons, and open source communities. I found satisfaction and contentment in thinking about these things and sharing them with others.

It has been several years now. A lot has changed in my life. Faith communities I used to belong to no longer exist. Personal choices I have made pulled me in too many directions to feel like I could contribute anything at all to the conversation, much less anything meaningful. I used to tell people that I had fallen off the ecclesial wagon and as time went on I was just too far behind to even try to catch up. One of the mysteries of living into a traditioned story, like the life of following God in the way of Jesus, is that you can take the boy out of the church, but you can never take the church out of the boy.

So here I am. At a different stage in my life. Different circumstances. Different convictions. Different geography – both literally and figuratively. And lately I have found that my old ecclesial dreams are being reawakened. I am feeling a new sense of hope, peace, joy, and love. This Advent season I discover that the embers are still burning. I have found myself loosely connected to some things that are making me think about church in new ways. And I am realizing that I never really fell off the wagon. I have only come to the awareness that the wagon is much bigger than I previously thought. And it is time for me to explore that a bit. And I think I am going to share some of my ramblings about ecclesial dreaming again. Stay tuned.