So Brianne just called and asked me to blog for her… apparently all the good Wi-Fi connections are password protected. I guess you’ll have to put up with dull ol’ Kelsey for the afternoon.

It has been a bit slow in PresbyLand, really, with most of my co-workers out of the office and most of my work devoted to preparing for events months away. And frankly, I’ve missed blogging to you every day. Perhaps it is a bit therapeutic for me to explore issues with you and exercise my writing chops at the same time. Some people have their morning coffee, some people journal, I blog to you.

Who are “you,” anyway? It seems like I most often find out when I offend someone, which has happened once or twice. I know that there are some college students who read regularly, as well as some faithful NNPCW alumnae. I have a couple of old friends that check in once in a while. I also know that some of you out there are my parents’, even my grandparents’ age. Shoot, a couple of you ARE my parents and grandparents (Grandpa Rice seemed very pleased that he got a shout out the other day). You come from all over the country and span all sorts of life experiences. But there is something about this space that brings you by to visit every once in a while.

I was at a conference last weekend in which we talked a lot about community and safe space. Young adults, both those in NNPCW and those in other church contexts, constantly mention safe space for honest questioning and dialogue as one of the most important things the church can give them. They also complain quite often that such space is lacking in our churches. Yet I don’t think safe space for asking questions is a desire exclusive to young adults. Deep down, I think we’re all longing for the same space to be ourselves, the safety to ask questions, and the opportunity to enter into authentic relationships with one another.

But what does it take to create such a community? When NNPCW member Krista Welch from Austin College and I talked about it, respect came to the fore as one feature. A community built on openness is not one where everyone agrees, but one where everyone respects the personhood and the opinions of everyone else. I may not agree with you about the war in Iraq, for instance, but in an authentic community I owe it to you to hear your point of view.

Perhaps this is where people get confused, too—a safe space is not a homogeneous space. Too many churches, colleges, clubs, and other groups claim to be a safe space, when all that really means is that they scare all the “unsafe” people away. And if we come together simply because we think we’re all the same, what happens when we find out we’re not? It doesn’t leave us much room to grow.

Authentic community also requires hospitality. How do we extend grace to one another? Do we honestly open our lives, even when that might require us to risk something of ourselves? How do we model for others the opportunity to share of themselves?

Sometimes I wonder why I write some of the things in here that I do. But perhaps, in my mind, it is all about creating this virtual, online space of authentic community. I guess it’s kind of hard to claim community when I do most of the talking. I know you’re out there, though, and I know your names—from Rebecca to Maisha, Vern to Viola, and so many others. And I hope that when I ask the questions, you feel like you can ask questions, too. I hope you will feel respected here even when we don’t agree, and I ask that you respect me in return.

Maybe that’s why I miss you all when I don’t write. Even though you don’t often reply back, we’re connected nonetheless.

“For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.” --1 Corinthians 12:12-13

Kelsey