Go for Launch

One of the coolest things about the planning and founding of The Scaffold has been what we might call a convergence of hopes and visions: at several stages along the way, as soon as I've voiced a new idea, I find out others in Hamilton were/are planning (or hoping for) something beautifully similar.

• I suggested something along the lines of a bookstore or shared book room; it turned out two friends had envisioned similar initiatives but either hadn't gotten a response or hadn't had time or space to implement their ideas.
• The Scaffold began to take shape and found a temporary home; and I learned that a church in Hamilton was exploring the idea of a Christian library and coffeehouse downtown.  Will that plan coincide with The Scaffold's need for a new home at the end of 2013?  Too soon to tell, but it's cool that God is drawing things like this in close parallel.
• Perhaps coolest of all: I wondered whether my doctoral supervisor and friend, Dr. Michael Knowles, was planning on having a book launch for his long-anticipated new book; when I asked, he got really excited, as he's been hoping to have a launch/party to celebrate, but wasn't sure where or how to plan it.  Hmmmm.

Enter The Scaffold -- because while it's primarily a space to plan and work on kingdom-building projects, it can also be a place to share thoughts together, and to celebrate the release of books full of really important thoughts.  And no sooner had we begun to plan for this event than four or five more potential launches or author chats began to pop up and fall into place.  Suddenly, this could be a regular thing, encouraging, celebrating, and learning from local authors who have something important to say that Christian leaders in Hamilton need to hear.  That doesn't mean there are no challenges involved.  There are logistics to work out in each case, and finances, too.  And of course there's the tension of asking folks to come to a space designed for sharing books in order to buy their own copies of a new book.  But I think the chance to do that encouraging-celebrating-learning-from thing makes it worthwhile to work within that tension.  It's an exciting new part of this experiment.

Oh, and speaking of, if you haven't already been invited: come to The Scaffold, 500 James North, Suite 200, Hamilton, on Sunday, November 4, at 7:30.  Michael will talk a little about his book, we'll toast its publication, you can ask questions, get yourself some refreshments, and buy yourself a shiny new autographed copy of The Unfolding Mystery of the Divine Name: The God of Sinai in Our Midst, a wonderfully deep meditation on the attributes of God as outlined in Exodus 34 and other texts in the same tradition.  Come hang out and build something with us.