Acton Institute – the intersection of faith, economics, AND inquiring minds that don’t all think alike

[L-R - Noel, Rudy, DJ, me, Liz, Abner. Click image for larger picture.]

Stimulating discussion + provocative people = a great experience. Thanks, Rudy, for the invite. I'll be blogging about the various discussion points in the weeks to come. An added benefit: meeting bloggers like DJ Chuang, Marcus Thorne, Anthony Bradley, and Tony Sheng; catching up with Liz, Rudy, Noel, and Abner; spending time with Seattle friends Lina Thompson and Tali and Romanita Hairston; and discovering two dozen or so other urban ministry practicioners that will be fun to get to know better, including Acton founder Father Robert Sirico (originally from Bay Ridge and brother of Tony, a/k/a Paulie Walnuts). A word about blogging: it's strange how blogging has totally altered the dynamics of cocktail party conversations. Small talk subjects like kids, hobbies, and summer vacations become passe if you read someone's blog. Liz and I, for instance, have known each other for years, but I have grown to "know" her so much better since she moved to Florida because of her blog. Abner and I met once three years ago, but we've become friends online, and Tony and DJ came to life from off my blogroll.

P.S. Thanks, Tony, for lending me Divided by Faith. I'll get it back to you in York! (He saw it on my wish list!) Update: Liz has more pics and thoughts from the conference here.