Publishing

Discernment vs. Discretion

Kirstin wrote a great piece called “Discernment vs. Discretion” for the most recent issue of The Banner, the Christian Reformed Church’s denomination magazine. As the title might suggest, the article discusses how discretion often gets confused as discernment, which often derails necessary conversations about discernment. Check it out and let us know what you think …
Update (12.3.08): Relevant Magazine picked up a slightly different version of Kirstin’s piece and published it as “Discerning Difference” on their web site.

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Online, Publishing

New catapult site

If you’re a regular reader of catapult magazine, you probably noticed that the catapult site changed drastically with our last issue. We’re proud to introduce a complete redesign of the site that we hope will help foster more regular discussion on the site. We’re still in the process of adding a few more features and we’ll let you know when those are available. Also, you’ll soon be able to support catapult and *cino by subscribing to the magazine for additional features. Stay tuned!

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Event

Practicing Resurrection 2008

Practicing Resurrection 2008, our biennial conference we co-sponsor with Russet House Farm, was another fantastic gathering of folks seeking to live faithfully. In mid-August, approximately 100 people from the U.S. and Canada got together to learn from one another, play music together and to live in a temporary camping community for a week. Kirstin has a great Practicing Resurrection report in the “Let’s Together 6” issue of catapult, an issue that marks our sixth year of publishing the magazine.

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Publishing

NEW *cino book! Eat Well: A Food Road Map

The second book in *cino’s Road Map Series is now available. Eat Well: A Food Road Map features essays, artwork and resource lists that introduce ideas about what faithfulness might look like in the area of food–growing, producing, purchasing and eating.
You can purchase a copy for only $7.50 (plus shipping) directly from the book’s companion web site.

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Workshops

Workshop: Rock and roll (and race)

Rob and Kirstin led a workshop this morning titled “Rock and roll and race” at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The workshop looked at the history of rock and roll, focusing specifically on movements and moments in which race played a significant role in shaping music culture–with particular attention given to significant African-American artists.
While certainly still a work in progress, you can check out our workshop resource page to get an idea of what we talked about or to continue the conversation.

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People

Interview with Kirstin Vander Giessen-Reitsma

Kirstin Vander Giessen-Reitsma, catapult editor and *culture is not optional co-founder, participated recently in a series of interviews conducted by Comment, the journal of the Work Research Foundation in Ontario. You can read her interview here and then, while you’re there, check out the rest of Comment.

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Event

Announcing Practicing Resurrection 2008!

*culture is not optional and Russet House Farm are happy to officially announce Practicing Resurrection 2008!
The dates for this year’s event are August 11-17. Informal camping with field trips, bonfires, swimming and more will take place August 11-14, with the Practicing Resurrection conference August 15-17. We’ll gather again at Russet House Farm in Cameron, Ontario. Our conference theme this year will be Home Economics, with various workshops and activities surrounding that theme, from home building to bread baking, for agrarians and urbanists alike.
Registration is now online. Space is limited, so try to register early if you can. You’re encouraged to come to as much as you can, but we welcome short visits as well. We look forward to seeing you on the farm this summer!

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Publishing

Food art: a contest of sorts

We’re working on editing a new *cino book on food, adding to the Road Map Series that now includes Do Justice. We need a cover image, as well as a color photo for the back and at least one or two black and white images for the inside of the book. If you have a painting, photograph or drawing on the theme of food that you’d like to be considered for Eating Well: A Food Road Map, please send us three things by Friday, March 14: a print quality image file that’s at least 4″ x 6″, a 50-ish word bio and your mailing address. You can use our contact form to get in touch or send Kirstin an e-mail. If your work is selected, you’ll receive a complimentary copy of the book when it comes out in April. Delicious!

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Publishing

Do Justice review

Byron Borger at Hearts & Minds Books reviewed our new book, Do Justice: A Social Justice Road Map, about a week ago and was very complimentary. Check it out and then buy a copy from him (he’s got a free shipping deal going now). Thanks, Byron!

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Publishing

NEW *cino book! Do Justice: A Social Justice Road Map

We’re very excited to announce our first book!
*culture is not optional has just published Do Justice: A Social Justice Road Map, the first in a series of books that we hope will be entry points for conversation about how the Christian community can act faithfully in several different areas of life. Do Justice collects catapult magazine articles, a few original pieces, photographs and resource lists from students, professors, booksellers and practitioners into a 140-page resource that we think you’ll find both enjoyable and challenging. You can purchase a copy for only $7.50 + shipping ($1.00) at the companion site for the book.
Look for more additions to the series over the next several months. We’re planning a food Road Map for the month of April and a music Road Map for this summer.

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