One thing that I am learning about myself is that I am incapable of writing serial posts. I am a one-post sort of guy. If you want a play-by-play of how things went down, check out Eliacin’s blog…he hits the important highlights.

Instead of a breakdown of how things went, I want to offer some concluding thoughts:

1) I appreciate the message of Brian’s book, though I think it leaves out a central role for the Church.

2) The format of the conference was too intellectual and not radical enough. One new friend (Ted Troxell) and I talked about how Brian’s message is radical (meaning that it seeks to overturn the status quo in pursuit of a new way), but the conference didn’t really inspire tangible change…at least not enough of it.

3) Brian should have had some activist-types who are seeking to live out the message of his book join him on the tour. Ordinary radicals of all walks of life could have concluded the conference better Brian. Even though he tries to share the voices of others in his own content, it would have been more powerful for him to bring some of those voices with him.

4) The highlight was meeting some new friends. There were many respected Mennonites there who affirmed the vision of Submergent. I am hopeful. Though I suspect that they won’t be able to respond quickly to our efforts. This is the biggest challenge with working with Mennonites. I appreciate the Mennonite desire to look at things over the long haul, but I believe that they are overwhelmingly shaped by their past ALMOST to the point that they cannot imagine a future. I know they welcome new voices like mine, but time will tell if they are able to give the keys to new Anabaptist voices from around the world.