ORIGINS at CatalystWest

Beware of "throwing down the gauntlet" before God

“For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God...” (Acts 5:38-39 NIV)
Passage quoted at the Origins Project website





Today is the start of the three day conference called CatalystWest which is being held here in California at Mariner's church. http://www.catalystwestcoast.com/

Part of the conference is something called Origins Lab. I've already mentioned Alex McManus' involvement in this lab in my previous post, "Alex McManus."


The main opening speaker for the Origins lab is Erwin McManus. According to CatalystWest:

"Join Origins designer and curator Erwin McManus as he guides you through an experience that will refresh your soul and reframe your thinking."

The "Origins Labs" feature the following speakers: Dan Kimball, Dave Gibbons, "Mosaic Regional Catalysts", Naeem Fazal (of Mosaic Church in Charlotte, NC), Zac Woodfin, Mark Batterson, Alex McManus, Eric Bryant and David Arcos (of Mosaic LA.)

Also featured are non-profit organizers Jamie Tworkowski (founder/director of the non-profit, To Write Love On Her Arms), Larry Acosta (president and founder of the Hispanic Ministry Center, Urban Youth Workers Institute and Kidworks) and Blake Mycoskie, (founder of TOMS shoes.)

The speakers listed under the "explorer" category are: Alan and Deborah Hirsch, Margaret Feinberg, and Rick Yamamoto.

Rick Yamamoto is described in these words:

"Rick Yamamoto, who identifies upcoming talent for multi-billion dollar investors, is sought for his entrepreneurial investment expertise. Rick's latest project is Talent Spelunking, discovering one's genius through exceptional performance patterns. Rick, researcher for Erwin McManus and co-author of 'The Uprising Experience', is involved in coaching and teaching roles at Mosaic Church."

There is no mention of the fact that Rick Yamamoto is an elder at Mosaic LA. He was one of the original elders of the Church on Brady while the church was still under the leadership of Bro. Tom.

Back at the Origins Project website the reader is told that "a new community is forming" and that:

Origins Project is partnering with Catalyst for the opening day with the “labs.” Origins will include an opening and closing session along with several more intimate breakouts in between. It will be a time to interact and meet others who have this heart of mission. That same day we will be announcing the name of the network, and we hope to have the website ready by that date too.

source: events

But what exactly is this "new" community?

Before the text was changed, this new network was described as a community of:

- Friends, pioneers, innovators and catalysts who want to dream and work for the Gospel together rather than alone.
- Leaders, entrepreneurs, pastors, misfits, and artists who share a high view of Scripture and a radical commitment to evangelism while being faithfully committed to what is expressed in the Lausanne Covenant.
- Missionally-minded people from different backgrounds who use different methods in different cultural contexts but share the same experimental passion and risk-taking heart for serving, loving, and helping people connect to God through Jesus.

source for above: Google cached page



Before the Origins Project website underwent a facelift to its current look, the page featured a write in section where people could ask about this new network. There was one particular question that I felt should be repeated:
(The "Dan" answering the question is Dan Kimball.)

source for below: Google cached page


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4. Roger
Feb 27th, 2009 at 4:55 pm

So, what’s the difference between this Origins Project” and the Lausanne Movement? Since the text at http://theoriginsproject.org/ mentions being true to the Lausanne Covenant, I’m assuming that in principle there is no fundamental disagreement between the two?

Why multiply entities beyond necessity? If you’re going to be another Lausanne - well - why not join Lausanne instead of creating your own organization and the headaches that go with it?

See the Manila Manifesto.

Perhaps I’m missing the point, though. Obviously. You’ve posted snippets of information on the main page, but I fail to see how this network is different from any other. It almost looks as if you’re creating a network because you’re unhappy with what’s out there and you all want something “for you” (with which you think you will be happy). If so… more power to you, but I *really* think you’d be better served by being part of an already extant organization. There are *plenty* of them.


5. Dan
Mar 1st, 2009 at 5:51 pm

Hi Roger!

I don’t know enough about the ongoing activities of the Lausanne Movement apart from the big event that happens every 10 years or so. Maybe someone else can speak more about that as it isn’t something I am too familiar with that.

As you correctly wrote, there are all types of wonderful networks out there! That is the beauty of diversity and need in our world. For us, it was birthed out of relationships and I think as this develops there will be distinctions developed. And if it is something that fuels the passion for mission/evangelism and innovation as we share ideas and dreams and experiences together - that is what this is for. And for the Kingdom, to me the more ways to fuel mission/evangelism the better. That’s what church planters do also as there are always existing churches in a town or city and it shouldn’t prevent someone to plant a new church in that community of they feel God is moving them towards that. I love that there are many networks/communities as long as they encourage movement and momentum towards Kingdom activity and mission. So I hope more networks/communities will be birthed if they encourage people towards mission.

Thank you for your great comments and questions!

Dan

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I don't know who "Roger" is but I felt he had raised some valid points that Dan Kimball failed to address completely so I asked a follow up question:

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8. Yvonne W.
Mar 4th, 2009 at 12:30 pm

To Dan Kimball,

Like Roger stated above, I too am wondering about the need for yet another “network.”

As Roger put it so well,

“Why multiply entities beyond necessity? If you’re going to be another Lausanne - well - why not join Lausanne instead of creating your own organization and the headaches that go with it?”

Your response was that you hoped “more networks/communities will be birthed if they encourage people towards mission.”

I’d like to add another dimension to this question by asking:

When you create another network “like” the Lausanne Movement, doesn’t this detract attention away from the actual Lausanne Movement?

In addtion to this, given the current, global economic crisis wouldn’t the creation of new
“networks”, “communities”, “organizations” etc., etc., put a strain on the donor base for all such groups?

I mean, why dilute the pool of volunteers and financial backers by creating more “networks” instead of helping those that already exist? This is especially true when the “new” ones claim to be similar to the old.

Yvonne W.


9. Dan
Mar 6th, 2009 at 2:20 pm

Hi Yvonne,

Thanks for the input and questions! As I shared a little in the earlier post, in all the conversations I have had with many people and church leaders - Lausanne is not coming up as something that people know about the ongoings of it apart from the bigger events and how they are part of it. What we are doing seems pretty different from what I am reading about with Lausanne and the only reason we brought that in was because they had a doctrinal statement and we were trying to find something to initially use as got started. But from my brief understanding, what we are envisioning seems significantly different in how it will develop. Same passion for evangelism and mission, but the structure and what the community will be like and function seems a lot different from what I can tell.

Maybe others can comment on this, as I don’t know enough to be able to answer your question adequately. And thank you so much for commenting and asking. Great question!


10. Yvonne W.
Mar 7th, 2009 at 2:30 pm

Dear Dan,

You wrote that from your:

“brief understanding, what we are envisioning seems significantly different in how it will develop. Same passion for evangelism and mission, but the structure and what the community will be like and function seems a lot different from what I can tell.”

Would you please elaborate on those differences?

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Dan never answered my last question but I was heartened to see that I wasn't the only one interested in the answer.
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12. Pamela Urfer
Mar 17th, 2009 at 8:40 am

What IS this “envisioning?” or do we have to go to Catalyst to find out?

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Dan didn't answer her either.

Pamela Urfer is the president of the University of California Interfaith Council. A previous question from her was #3 in the list.

Perhaps the unspoken answer to her last question was "Sign up for CatalystWest?"

I hope Pamela made it to the conference.

In any case, CatalystWest opened today and true to their word, the webpage for the Origins Project has been changed.

The new wording on the homepage now states:

A new community is forming

We are a community of followers of Jesus who are passionate about seeing people know God and experience life as He intended. As we are guided by the Scriptures, we will inspire one another to embrace innovation and creativity as a means to fulfill this mission.

The about page now states:

We are friends, pioneers, misfits, leaders, artists and innovators who want to dream and work together rather than alone in participating in God’s mission in this world. We are from different backgrounds and use different methods in different cultural contexts, but share the same passion to love, serve, and take risks to see others connect and experience the transforming love of God in Jesus.

We share a commitment to the gospel of Jesus’ life, death, resurrection and the power of the Holy Spirit, to the Scriptures as God’s inspired Word, to the truths of the historical, orthodox creeds (e.g., The Nicene Creed, The Apostles’ Creed), to the missional vision of the Lausanne Covenant and as we serve on this mission to see others understand God’s dream for them as they follow Jesus.

Note the change from:

"being faithfully committed to what is expressed in the Lausanne Covenant"

to:

"We share a commitment . . . to the missional vision of the Lausanne Covenant."

It seems that Roger's question had an impact.

So, what exactly does this "new" community have to offer that is, well, "new?"

Please view the videoclip on the Orgins Project homepage for a short message from Dave Gibbons of NewSong Church.

"So coming very soon you're gonna find some really great events like
conferences, forums, and some one on one types of gatherings that will be fabulous."
Dave Gibbons, NewSong Church

MORE "conferences, forums and one on one gatherings?" How original.

The jury is still out on whether or not this new network will pass the scriptural challenge of Acts 5:38-39 but I am reminded of another verse from the old testament:

"Unless the LORD builds the house, they labor in vain who build it.
(Psalm 127: 1 NASB)

I guess we'll just have to wait and see which verse applies to Origins.






Yvonne W.



P.S. By the way, the original "Origins Project" webpages used to include this copyright information at the bottom of the page: © 2008 Mosaic & Awaken.

That information has been replaced by © Origins.