Roadshow California Roll

Following an evening of preaching, reading, singing and dancing, the cast and crew of the Church Basement Roadshow left town at around 10:30 p.m., pulling out of the Sequoyah Community parking lot and beginning the long trek through darkness to Portland after the “Rollin’ gospel revival” wrapped up its’ final California event in Oakland last night. Revivalists Tony Jones, Doug Pagitt and Mark Scandrette have been at this for just under ten days, and have clearly found the rhythm of life on the road even as the subtle cracks of fatigue become apparent. But they’re giving it a whoop, and a push, and they’re giving it all they’ve got; and the Oakland show was no exception to the rule.

These are guys on a mission: not simply to sell books, although this has to be among the most clever marketing schemes yet invented. In listening to the authors either on stage or in conversation, their true motive is to spread the good news that truth is not a timeless, transcendent idea that is separated from the sticky, grimy realities of our daily lives; rather, truth is revealed and made alive in us by Jesus, that Nazerene carpenter who 2,000 years ago taught and lived a God-and-love saturated Way, one in which we are invited to travel and participate.

Instead of re-hashing the content (good reviews can be found here and here), I’ll just point to some highlights from the Oakland show. First of all, the local people and traveling assistants who gave up their time and energy to do thankless, menial labor just outside the heat of the stage lights, shined brightly in their own right. They remained flexible and available and never complained, and working alongside them was a real honor. Ryan played a mean washboard and, never taking himself too seriously, showed us how to get down like a Quaker. Jason’s energy and enthusiasm for the East Bay cohort kept me motivated. Nia’s quiet calm and willingness to serve encouraged everybody she encountered. Andrew patiently set up our house sound sytem, only to find out that the show would be using their road system. He undid everything he had just assembled and still stuck around to help run cables and lights all over the building. James showed up and worked like mad; even though he has never heard of any of the authors and probably remains ambivalent, he simply served because he loves Jesus and the people around him. My 4.5 month pregnant wife, Serena, is a rock star who went to great lengths to help prepare meals (both for the roadshow and the Friday leadership forum), set up, staff tables, and tear down all the way through until we drove away with a sleeping child in the pre-dawn hours of his third birthday. She puts up with me every day, so to tack on this wild project halfway through a pregnancy is an extra grace for which I am not worthy.

The Cobalt Season played an opening 20-minute set, and it was a delight to see and hear Ryan and Holly Sharp live and local. I’m glad they’re Oaklanders, at least for the time-being, and that we got to share space for a few minutes. I was pleasantly surprised to see Dan Kimball at the show with his family. Oakland is a little bit of a drive from Santa Cruz, but they were interrupted from going to the San Jose show by a fire that threatened their house the night before. Thank God the house was spared, and circumstances allowed me to make that connection. I really appreciate Dan’s work both at Vintage Faith and in his writing, because he’s not just propagandizing a particular expression of Christianity, but is very involved and passionate about connecting people to a communal faith in Jesus, and helping overcome objections to Christianity by pointing to Jesus. It was cool seeing him in his family context, with his daughters at play in the church foyer, and getting the opportunity to actually meet outside of the blogsphere. I hope we can reconnect again soon.

It’s probably the effectiveness of an event like CBR in getting local, like-minded, missionally-attuned people into the same room that, in my mind, pays the biggest dividends. It’s also an endearing trait of each of the three authors who are traveling around like troubadors for Christ – this notion that, even while promoting their own perspectives on faith and practice in the way of following jesus, they’re very invested in empowering local groups like ours to take shape and continue our own threads in the narrative.

If you’re in the Bay Area and you’re looking for a generative friendship with others who are struggling to live in the Jesus Way, our fledgling cohort is going to be meeting twice a month at local pubs and coffeehouses. Right now we’re on Facebook and Ning, but if you’re on neither just shoot me an e-mail and I’ll make sure you’re included in postings about future gatherings.