“Culture, Future, Church, Gospel,” were the words emerging from a stage-sized screen at the Q Conference in Atlanta in April. More than buzz words, they represented the themes participants explored over two and a half days of presentations, music, movies, stories, and questions.
In fact, questions are at the heart of the Q Conference, which was organized by the Fermi Project, a nonprofit founded to foster discussion about the church and culture.
The Church and Culture
“Culture is everything we live and breathe,” stated Gabe Lyons at the start of the conference. Lyons is the founder of the Fermi Project. (Before that he cofounded Catalyst, a next-generation leadership conference, and served as Vice
President for John Maxwell’s INJOY organization.) And the conference lineup supported Lyons’s claim.
Donald Miller, author of Blue Like Jazz, discussed the importance of narrative story within our postmodern world, and how this understanding can revolutionize the way the gospel is presented. Other culture-expert presenters included Jeff Johnson, BET producer, who spoke on hip-hop culture; Andy Crouch, editorial director for The Christian Vision Project at Christianity Today; and Josh Jackson, Editor-in-chief of Paste Magazine.
The Church and the Future
Lyons then shifted his discussion from culture to a detailed discussion of the future of Christianity, the church, and culture. “Our actions today create culture,” stressed Lyons. Leaders today must be intentionally aware of this reality.
Kevin Kelly is a futurist and editor-atlarge for Wired magazine. Kelly peered into the future to present thoughts on what Christianity and culture will look like in 1000 years. Others discussing the future of the church were David Batstone, cofounder of Business 2.0 magazine; Richard Cizik, Vice President of Governmental Affairs for the National Association of Evangelicals; Susan Grant, Executive Vice President of CNN News Services; and xxxchurch.com founder Mike Foster.
The Church in the World
The Church, as Lyons then discussed, possesses a unique place in culture, which grants it means to influence, cultivate, and shape the wider culture. Three pastors from three well-known churches spoke: Rick Warren from Saddleback Church in California; Andy Stanley from North Point Community Church in Atlanta; and Rick McKinley from Imago Dei in Portland, Oregon.
Each of these presenters were concerned with how the church affects culture within its specific community.The main question the audience was asked was, “If your church left your community, would anybody miss it?”
The Church and the Gospel
Lyons concluded his opening statement by focusing on the gospel to include a more holistic message emphasizing incarnation.
Rob Bell, founding Pastor of Mars Hill Bible Church and author of Velvet Elvis and newly released Sex God, was one of the main speakers on the message of incarnation. Bell, like presenter Kevin Kelly, was allotted more than the regimented 18 minutes, and he offered a beautiful message on becoming a “Eucharist” (a good gift) to our culture. Along with Bell, David Kinnaman, President of the Barna Group, and author and Pastor of Ecclesia Houston Chris Seay offered messages and stories of incarnational living.
Worth the Cost
At around $700 the Q Conference was steeply priced, but to be fair, the presenters, the give-aways, the concert by Switchfoot’s Jon Foreman, the pre-screening of the movie Bella, and the side trips were all well worth the cost.
For all those interested in the future of culture and church in our postmodern world, this conference is a must. Find more information at Fermiproject.com/q.
If you missed Q, you can still experiencethe presentations through Fermi Words, a hybrid of written and spoken words created to provoke conversations. Every month receive 2 streamed talks from Q, plus a commissioned 5000-word essay. www.Fermiproject.com
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Kyle Jones is a writer attending Fuller Theological Seminary Southwest in Phoenix, Arizona
