Cohort Meetings?

[John]

Several people have mentioned a desire to get together and take another stab at developing an East Bay cohort.

I'll mention a couple of cautions and toss the ball to the forum-at-large:

- There's an inherent problem with doing an emergent cohort because what draws folks together is usually a kind of post-paradigmatic intuition that pushes back against labels, definitions, charters, etc. Keeping it grassroots requires an openness to "play jazz" with each other and recognize a vision for cohort is probably different for different people.

- We all have existing commitments in varying degrees, we all come from different points in the journey, and we'll all come to the table with a variety of expectations. My opinion is that we should focus on lowest commonality and let more highly-intentional structures crop up from this loose network. For example, if you're looking for a community to engage some regular corporate disciplines, this cohort might be a good starting place for finding kindred spirits, but I'd caution people to avoid placing undue pressure on the cohort to move in that direction as a whole.

With that being said, I'm completely open to helping solidify our online connectivity and set up some informal gatherings. Let me know your pleasure.

[Ryan Dowell Baum]

Hey John,

I'm not yet back in the East Bay from my year in Ohio, but I should be back at the beginning of August. It'd be great to have an emergent cohort to look forward to as I start heading back home. I was thinking it would be cool to have a group that does something like a "theology on tap," (though I know we couldn't actually advertise it as that because the name is copyrighted), but I like the idea of having a group to gather maybe once a month or so over beer/coffee/insert-your-favorite-beverage-here to discuss some agreed-upon-beforehand theological/religious/spiritual topic, and just see where the conversations go.

Grace and peace,
Ryan

[Nichola Torbett]

Hi, John and all--

I would definitely be interested in some informal get-togethers along the lines of what Ryan is talking about above. I really appreciate your caveats. Maybe it's best to think of the cohort as a place for discussion, sharing ideas, and networking. My weekday evening schedule is unpredictable since that's premium time for Seminary of the Street classes, but I would make every effort to attend if something were scheduled. thanks for throwing this out again!

Nichola