Lightening rods It was a year ago this weekend that Phyllis Tickle came to the church I was serving at for a weekend long retreat to discuss the emergent/emerging church and her then upcoming book, "The Great Emergence" . This year there was another weekend gathering in Tennessee called, "The Great Emergence" . They had additional speakers, ( Tony Jones , Doug Pagitt , Nadia Boltz-Weber , Lisa Samson and many more!) but the main focus was on Phyllis's newest book discussing the shifts and changes occurring in the church today. In recalling last year's mini preview event, I feel so blessed to have had the opportunity to meet and get to know Phyllis as well as Karen Sloan , (author of "Flirting with Monasticism" ) who attended and led a session last year. It is exciting to have people in our lives that are something like lightning rods. People who challenge us, help us focus on the important things, and help us to remember the importance of joy and...