On the way to Pittsburgh, Kirstin and I were both feeling like we didn't know why we were going to Jubilee. Last week was extremely hectic and didn't help our outlook for the weekend. I had just returned from Kansas, leaving only four days to take a mid-term exam, finish two major class projects (which didn't happen), publish a new catapult issue, secure volunteers for World Fare and prepare for the conference and a week-long vacation to Boston. Looking back over the last year, it felt like we hadn't accomplished much. We still haven't finished cultureVision, which is a source of constant frustration, and we've been feeling somewhat directionless lately. So we weren't sure why we were spending money on a conference to promote something so seemingly uncertain.
Though Jubilee didn't bring miraculous certainty, it did provide encouragement for the work we have been doing (such as catapult and the road journal) and challenges for the future.
First, we need to discern our purpose when displaying at conferences. It simply isn't enough to set up a table with some basic information about what we're trying to do with *cino; our vision is far too broad to thoroughly communicate during the brief encounters of conferences. We need to find ways to show what we're doing instead of merely telling. One idea is to create booklets of catapult articles on different topics (music, film, economics/business, food, politics, etc.) to illustrate Christ's lordship over all areas of life, while at the same time providing resources for further exploration. Perhaps we can have one or two of these available in time for the Calvin Festival of Faith & Music in April.
Next, we need to seriously assess the direction *cino is going. Unfortunately, we won't have time for assessment until after I graduate; however, we did realize (again) the importance of the network to both the vision of *cino and (hopefully) the Church. Bringing people together and providing a community for those actively engaging culture is critically important if we are to have any kind of transformative impact on the world. And that's where we think *cino has the greatest potential.
Practically, displaying at Jubilee proved to be more valuable than we thought it would be during our drive in. We introduced some new people to *cino, despite our uncertanties, and were encouraged by wonderful people whom we admire greatly--Gideon and Angela Strauss, the Strausslings (Shimmer and Summer), Peter Illyn, Ken Heffner, Scott Calgaro, Sarah and Pete Landini, Derek Melleby, Byron Borger, Hank Suhr, Dayton Castleman and others.
So, Jubilee 2005 was a good and refreshing experience overall. We're more than likely going to return next year. In fact, I can see us making this an annual occasion ...
